[fscott]

Pod Car picked up a vibration last week. I thought I'd lost a wheel weight, but it turns out that the right front tire had a bubble under the tread and was getting ready to fly to pieces. So I'm driving the truck (20mpg, yuck) right now.

I'm just curious to see if anyone else has had this happen to a POSenza.

Fred

P.S. I'll be selling two rear tires with only 18K on them as soon as I get the tires changed. I'm keeping the other front tire for a fullsize spare.

 

[The Citrus Smoothie]

Out of interest, what PSI did you keep your tyres at?

 

[fscott]

I ran stock pressures, 38 in the front and 35 in the rear. The tires were rotated once, I'd guess at about 10k miles.

When I first noticed the vibration I immediately checked all four tires and they were all within 2 pounds of normal. And this was the first time I had checked them in about a month, so I don't think that low pressure was a factor.

 

[The Citrus Smoothie]

OK so not over-inflation. Possibly the very hot tarmac in Texas or just plain flaw in the tyre?

 

[fscott]

Found the culprit

OK, so it's not a flaw in the tire or Texas heat or anything else. I just dismounted the tire and found a patch on the inside. And now I remember.

A week after getting the car in the summer of 2000, I picked up a nail in that tire (At the time it was a rear tire). I had it patched at the Honda dealership. And looking at it now, I can see that the blister begins immediatley after the patch. So when the tire's rolling, the patched area touches the road, and then the blistered area touches. So the delamination began at the puncture and spread downstream from there.

The tire lasted three years with that patch, and only recently began to fall apart, so I guess I shouldn't complain.