Re: Blown Tire

[Jim Ochi <jochi@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>From: "Bob" <rhoyvald@domain.elided>
>
>Has anyone else had a Bridgestone Potenza S-02 (245/40/17)tire blow out for
>no reason?
>It looks like the sidewall started to separate from the tread on the inside
>wall.
>
>Is this a defect and since this tire was purchased from tirerack is there
>any  recourse?
>
Robert - 

One thing to be aware of - some low-profile tires (like the MXX3) are known
for the tread separating from the tire carcass if you run them without any
air,  making it look like the separation caused the flat when it really was
the other way around.  

Now, about the S-02 - I've had a few (I think it happened to 3 tires in two
sets of S-02s) where the bead of the tire was cracked or had a chunk
missing.  I found this out when I had a new set mounted, and one of the
tires kept losing pressure.  The tire store dismounted the tire and found
the problem - they replaced the tire for free.  I never quite figured out
if it was a defective tire (that's what the tire store claimed), or if they
screwed up and damaged the bead when mounting the tire.

Anyway, you might want to give TireRack a call and see what they say -
they're a pretty reputable outfit and seem to know what they're talking
about...

Hope this helps,

Jim Ochi
jochi@domain.elided

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