Bulging sidewall on stock Conti

This morning before driving my car (luckily) I noticed that the sidewall on the front driver's side tire was bulging out in one spot roughly an inch. I checked the pressure and it was 37, which is what I generally keep the tires at. The size of the bulge is about the same size as the circle created when you touch your index finger to your thumb.

Anyway, I just thought that was odd. I've never had that happen to a tire before. I guess I'll probably have it towed, since I assume it's not safe to drive on and I'm not sure I want to bother putting the spare on.

its common with the stock crap conti's. you'd have to call the manufacturer of the tire to get a replacement because the dealer doesn't deal with that tire issue.

govegan said:

bulging out in one spot roughly an inch

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Pothole damage. Will not be covered by mfg. warranty. I had the same thing after a pothole hit....including a bent wheel. Check your wheel carefully on both the inside and outside edge.

$170 for a new tire.
$425 for a new wheel.

I kept the old wheel so I can have it straightened and have as a spare. Welcome to the world of low profile tires......

Well that's annoying. I was hoping I could combine two trips in one since the dealer has my parts in to fix the leaky rear windshield wiper fluid nozzle.

Do they just replace the one? Or is it not a problem having one tire with 0 miles and 3 with 12,000?

i had a bulge on my crappy conti too and i didn't hit any pot holes, lol. but yes it does happen from hitting a pothole in most cases.

Sorry not sure about the mileage variances. Maybe someone else can chime in on that. I would venture a guess and see what the tire depth is between your tires and a new tire?

IFRCFI said:

Pothole damage. Will not be covered by mfg. warranty. I had the same thing after a pothole hit....including a bent wheel. Check your wheel carefully on both the inside and outside edge.

$170 for a new tire.
$425 for a new wheel.

I kept the old wheel so I can have it straightened and have as a spare. Welcome to the world of low profile tires......

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Well that's extra annoying. I don't remember having hit any potholes, but it's not like I could ever prove something like that.

If that's the cause, I'm surprised I've never had this happen before. The roads here are generally terrible for a few months after each winter and my 95 GTI Vr6 had low profile tires as well.

govegan said:

Or is it not a problem having one tire with 0 miles and 3 with 12,000?

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Not a problem. Mine happened at 15,000.

And seriously, check your wheel carefully, along the lip inside and out. Mine was bent, but not enough to lose air pressure.

Many years ago I had bulges (separation of out layer) on two Bridgestones after about 1k miles. I finally convinced the tire shop that I didn't damage the tires by hitting potholes and it was a manufacturers defect since one tire was a LF and the other was a RR and you could see several other very small bubbles / bulges developing on both tires. I got both replaced free. I had no issues with the other two tires going forward.

So, good luck at the tire shop and inspect the tires for other possible separation (very small bulges / bubble). Look on both sides of the tire.

Plus 3 Golfer said:

I had no issues with the other two tires going forward.

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[sarcasm]

Did you have any problems in reverse?

[/sarcasm]

Turns out the VW dealer I was already planning on taking it to this week is also a Conti dealer, so hopefully they'll be more willing to budge on it, but we'll see.

I guess I'll be putting the spare on tonight and checking it for damage before taking it in. Hopefully they'll replace it - if not I guess I'll be accelerating my plans to get separate winter/summer tires. The previous plan was to get winter tires before next winter and then replace the Contis when the tread wore down.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

The bulge isn't that big of a deal and you can drive on it if you're having it replaced really soon. I lucked out and had the dealer replace mine for free, it didn't come in until a few days later and they had me drive on the bulge until then.

Also, these tires are crap and can't wait to replace them. Any time it snowed this winter I could count on not making it to work.

frugality said:

[sarcasm]

Did you have any problems in reverse?

[/sarcasm]

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pun? yes

sarcasm? no

frugality said:

[sarcasm]

Did you have any problems in reverse?

[/sarcasm]

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No, probably because I never hit a pothole in reverse.