Bubble in sidewall, problem?

Jeepman56 · **Posted:** Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:47 pm

Today I noticed a bubble in the driver's side rear tire. It sticks out about 1/4"and is the size of a large egg. The tires are General Grabbers and are 10 months old with just under 7,000 miles on them. THe pics below don't display it the best but it is right next to the "AT2" part of the lettering. Should I get this fixed/replaced or is it just no big deal and strictly a cosmetic issue.

Any help is appreciated, thanks for your time. -Nate

Inc · **Posted:** Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:18 pm

I had a set of firestone tires on my tj and one did this and it eventually grew bigger and one morning at breakfast I heard a nice pop and blowing sound from my driveway. Tire blew out. This was back when firestone had issues with all the blowouts though so hopefully this isn't an issue for you.

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:02 pm

Ply seperation in the sidewall more than likely hard to tell from the picture, , could of hit a curb/rock etc the wrong way and caused it. I would at least have it checked out real soon at the tire dealer, if you push in on it does it feel soft?

curtis · **Posted:** Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:33 pm

X2
It looks like a broken ply in the sidewall. Iwould get it looked at ASAP.

jason thompson · **Posted:** Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:02 pm

just had the same issue with our MTR's
tire was shot ,much worse ,vibes over 60
we think it was from a hard hit on a root but not real sure
we now have that tire as our spare
this is a great reason to have 5 tires all the same and to rotate them as such
the MTR's are all about 1/2 gone having to drop $200 for 1 tire would have sucked big time ,I only paid $250 for all 5
now I am praying to not have any more issues for about a year
then I can get some 17" wheels and the KM2's

Inc · **Posted:** Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:06 pm

Sorry o be off topic, but , Jason you'll have to let me know about those KM2s. I wanted them when I bought my Trxus but they didn't make the right sizes.

jason thompson · **Posted:** Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:52 pm

incubusmike wrote:

Sorry o be off topic, but , Jason you'll have to let me know about those KM2s. I wanted them when I bought my Trxus but they didn't make the right sizes.

more OT ,sorry
dude that will not be until next summer
we have 20K of tread still to go on the MTR's
and will probably buy a new DD for the wife before we buy new tires for the KJ
this is a very long term plan

Jeepman56 · **Posted:** Wed Jul 23, 2008 10:51 pm

So if I keep it as a spare it will be fine? I just don't want to be somewhere when I actually need a spare and have it blow on me.

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:06 pm

no matter if you run it or not it will keep getting worse, air is seeping out between the plies in the sidewall, better get another one, sorry

Inc · **Posted:** Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:36 am

The last thing you'd want is for it to fail on you if it ever came down to you having to use it.

Jeepman56 · **Posted:** Thu Jul 24, 2008 3:23 pm

So I brought it in today to see if they would cover it under warranty and they will.

This was just the situation I needed to replace the spare under the girlfriend's radar as I only had the 4 tires done originally. I will post pics of the setup ASAP.

InCommando · **Posted:** Thu Jul 24, 2008 8:16 pm

That was a blow-out waiting to happen. Highway speeds on a damaged sidewall like that are not worth the risk, IMHO, especially on the front. Congrats on it being covered!

Guest · **Posted:** Thu Jul 24, 2008 8:58 pm

incubusmike wrote:

I had a set of firestone tires on my tj and one did this and it eventually grew bigger and one morning at breakfast I heard a nice pop and blowing sound from my driveway. Tire blew out. This was back when firestone had issues with all the blowouts though so hopefully this isn't an issue for you.

The Firestone issues were not sidewall related, and weren't blowouts. The tires never actually lost air when they came apart.

Inc · **Posted:** Fri Jul 25, 2008 12:48 am

ThunderbirdJunkie wrote:

incubusmike wrote:

I had a set of firestone tires on my tj and one did this and it eventually grew bigger and one morning at breakfast I heard a nice pop and blowing sound from my driveway. Tire blew out. This was back when firestone had issues with all the blowouts though so hopefully this isn't an issue for you.

The Firestone issues were not sidewall related, and weren't blowouts. The tires never actually lost air when they came apart.

Regardless of the issues that firestone had, the sidewall on my set of firestones blew out as in lost all the air from a hole. And my family also had a grand cherokee with firestones that came apart and exploded, as in lost all the air and shape or resemblance of a tire, on the highway and almost caused an accident. My issues may not have been what the majority of firestone tires' "bad batch" experienced but I'll never own another set regardless.

Bubble in sidewall, problem?

Who is online