Sidewall bubble advice

[ewans]

in 20 years of driving ive never had any tyre problems so looking for advice on best course of action.

Thismorning i had a pothole at 50mph, its was a real cracker of a hole. The front passenger side tyre now has a bubble on the outerside about 3cm in diamiter and maybe 1 cm i height.

the tyres are 4 month old winter tyres and have covered ~ 2000 miles.

Question, can i still drive the car until i get the tyre replaced and how soon should i do that - or to put it anyother way, how serious is this?

thanks

e

[surfinglaxSkoda]

Go back to the Pothole

take a picture of the hole and the tyre

write to the council in charge of this road and get them to pay for the damage

I have successfully done this twice

[sandal farm]

i would have changed the tyre by now and not be driving on it

[KenONeill]

/\ What he said. Also take that that this is a definite MoT failure, and may also be a £400 fine and 3 points for an unroadworthy vehicle.

[Hunty278]

ASAP

[FUBAR]

Go back to the Pothole

take a picture of the hole and the tyre

write to the council in charge of this road and get them to pay for the damage

I have successfully done this twice

Top advice do that!

Again I wouldn't be driving on it at all soon as I saw it id have spare on and go straight for new rubber (having taken pics). Nothing is worth risking.

[czechsmasher]

Take it to a tyre place for inspection but I would bet good money they will say its dangerous and illegal pretty quickly - not what you want to hear unfortunately. Happened to me with a Michelin Pilot Sport 3 with about 1200 miles on it ( although I dont remember hitting a pothole that might have even remotely caused the bump ) I asked them to send it back for inspection to Michelin. After months of wrangling I got a new one from Michelin but that is the exception seemingly. They will probably tell you its a pinch rupture which happens when tyre gets caught between the road surface and the wheel rim. it fractures the walls structure then the air pushes out a bubble from within. Pothole sounds its to blame so get back there and get a pic then get it into the council quick before they deny its ever there and fight them hard! Hit one the other night in the dark in the driving rain, so annoying as you know the pothole is there in the vicinity but you dont see it till a split second before. Checked my wheel next morning and was surprised there was no damage done, touch wood. Puts it in the back of your mind forever on now.

( I hadnt encountered this in 22 years of driving now I am paranoid about it happening again - potholes! argghhh! )

Good Luck

Edited 8 March, 2012 by czechsmasher

[jrw]

Good luck claiming off the council......waste of time

[philnchris]

In Essex, the County Council will only pay out if they have been informed of the pothole prior to the damage incident. How you prove this I don't know, obviously if they have sprayed around the hole for it to be repaired you've got them. Good Luck!

[bouff34]

/\ What he said. Also take that that this is a definite MoT failure, and may also be a £400 fine and 3 points for an unroadworthy vehicle.

It's a specific offence to have any lump, bulge or tear in the tyre. 3points and a FIxed Penalty....

[bobbyger]

you should try living in Belgium, the potholes here have forced me to change the rear springs on my vauxhall signum as one of them had snapped.

[Jim1556]

you should try living in Belgium, the potholes here have forced me to change the rear springs on my vauxhall signum as one of them had snapped.

Perhaps you should move?

[ewans]

thanks for the advice all, getting all 4 changed back to my summer tyres today so while its a pain in the hoop the timing is actualy ok as i was going to swap them back soon anyway.

[cheezemonkhai]

The bubble is a wweakened sidewall and means you're much more likely to have a blow out than otherwise.

Get the tyre off and don't drive it until you have.

In terms of the tyres, if you have a summer set, you could just put those on now, to save a bit of cash.

[wardth]

.............and now imagine all the fun and games if you run 19" wheels aonly you would almost certainly have a buckled alloy to go with the tyre!

Get the alloy checked as well..................

Potholes are a curse..............

[czechsmasher]

In Essex, the County Council will only pay out if they have been informed of the pothole prior to the damage incident. How you prove this I don't know, obviously if they have sprayed around the hole for it to be repaired you've got them. Good Luck!

Send them an email advising them of the problem of potholes in their patch. Keep the email sent for record purposes then when the pothole damages your tyre ( despite your best efforts but we all know all of them are unavoidable despite some superhuman efforts- ie what you do when theres are pothole covering both sides of the car and oncoming traffic with a split second to judge?? contact them again stating they have been advised of the problem previously with a date to back it up. I feel I might have to go down this line unless ERC ( Barrhead, Scotland ) pull their finger out their bum and get some moon craters filled. Octy VRS maybe getting traded for a yeti with monstertruck wheels if things dont change soon.