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Help! Sidewall bulge in Itegrity tire

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by Speedwing, Sep 25, 2009.

  1. Speedwing

    Speedwing Junior Member

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    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    OK I just got done rotating the Goodyear Integrity tires and I found this massive bulge in the sidewall. This tire only has 20,400 miles on it. Can anyone help me out as to what my options are for getting this replaced. Goodyear Dealer? or back to the Touota Dealer (Performance Toyota in Reading, PA.

    Thanks ..... I'm glad I got it off the front for now .... but do not want to drive it any more than needed until it is fixed.

    Bob
     
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  2. Genoz World

    Genoz World ZEN-style living

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    LAST time i had a bulge in my tire i knew the tread was separating and the tire was not deemed "safe" to drive on.

    Take the safe road and get another tire. You dont want to take a chance with this tire with you/your family.
     
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  3. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    You might get a free replacement for it. If these are the original tires I'd try the dealer first. If they whine or don't have any in stock try calling Toyota USA customer service. Otherwise go to Goodyear.

    BTW those are excellent pictures. What is the camera?
     
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  4. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Take this as a message from somewhere telling you it's time to get rid of those crappy OEM tires before they get you killed. I gave mine away at 8,000 miles.

    Tom
     
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  5. mindmachine

    mindmachine Member

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    Tire warranty issued are covered by the tire Mfg warranty not the car Mfg.

    However I agree with the previous post, get rid of the carp integrities and get some decent tires, I got rid of mine on my 07 at less than 1000 miles.
     
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  6. Speedwing

    Speedwing Junior Member

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    After sending the pic to a friend in the tire business .... he said it is due to a pothole hit and Goodyear will not warranty it. Toyota service listened to my problem .... but said it was a Goodyear issue. The bulge is really soft and I'm not trusting it at all.

    I had my friend order up a set of Bridgestone Potenza RE960 AS Pole Position (H-rated) in 185/65R15 and I'm replacing all 4 tires. I'll sell the two better tires on Craigslist for cheap.

    Thanks for your opinions and help!

    Richard S...... Camera is a Panasonic DMC-TZ1 and I absolutely love the camera. I did those in close-up mode. It has a 10X optical zoom with Leica lens. I've reccomended this model to a lot of friends and we all are very happy owners.

    Bob
     
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  7. Boo

    Boo Boola Boola Member

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    +1 on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1.

    I have the TZ3, and I think the latest iteration is the TZ6 which has, among other things, a 12X optical zoom.

    I'm hoping that the next TZ model will have some new low light technology, like Fuji and Sony have in some of their new compact cameras.

    :focus:
     
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  8. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    Hi Bob,

    I think you'll be happy with those tires as handling should be substantially improved. I had a set on my 2004. The only issue I'm aware of is that treadlife is less than other tires that are popular with group members.
     
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  9. tochatihu

    tochatihu Senior Member

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    Take that tire out of service now, please.
     
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  10. hobbit

    hobbit Senior Member

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    What pressure were you running in it most of the time?
    .
    _H*
     
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  11. Speedwing

    Speedwing Junior Member

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    I always run 42 front and 40 rear. PA has some pretty nasty potholes and I can think back to at least one occasion of me driving possibly inflicting the damage. Toyota service tech did not catch it at a recent state inspection!! The tires are wearing evenly edge to edge so that makes me happy that I have no alignment issues.

    Car is basically out of service until new tires get here Wednesday.

    If the Bridgestones ride smooth and handle well ... I'm happy with 40K of tread life. I know the Michelin Hydro edge are supposed to be 90K tires .... but I'm concerned about ride harshness and long term rubber condition over the years to rack up that mileage.

    I put high traction soft compound tires on my MINI that last longer than these crappy Integrity tires ..... and the MINI is a hoot to drive in corners.

    Bob
     
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  12. Celtic Blue

    Celtic Blue New Member

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    That is correct. There is an obvious gouge/abrasion from striking something.

    Bad move, hope you have good insurance! The Integrities may not be great, but the last set of Potenza's I had cost me a car just a few days after they were mounted. The brand new pieces of crap were inflated to ~32 psi, had just been rechecked by me within 24 hours of the accident. One developed complete tread separation from the sidewall on the interstate at 70 mph and exploded without warning on a curve. Rollover. Real fun.
     
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  13. Speedwing

    Speedwing Junior Member

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    Shawn,

    Sorry to hear that .... but mostly found good feedback on these tires here on the forum. I'll do some more internet searching about issues with these tires. I've heard similar issues like yours due to improper mounting techniques by the installer. Installer went way too high on pressure to seat bead and damaged tire.

    Thanks for the heads-up.

    Bob
     
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  14. Celtic Blue

    Celtic Blue New Member

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    I heard nothing but good about them as well from Tirerack customers, which is why I purchased them. The installer comments are baloney from Bridgestone. The rubber in the bead on mine was no good. The compound was so weak I could peel it with my fingernail. :eek: Bridgestone tried to claim it went flat, etc. but since I had checked the tire in the previous 24 hours, it was running fine, and I've personally changed tires that have been run low/flat (worked in a shop when I was young), I know better. I saved the tire for a year considering filing suit against Bridgestone.

    Let me repeat: it didn't run low it wasn't overinflated, it EXPLODED with ~32 psi set pressure that I had personally checked. This on the driver side rear of an Accord, which has a 60 front/40 rear weight distribution. The whole tread completely separated from the sidewall. The sidewall then collapsed and the rear dug in. Nobody signalled that there might be a problem on a busy road, there was not indication in the handling that a tire might be low. Between the explosion the lack of any warning, the "low inflation" scenario was bullocks.

    Bridgestone/Firestone has had problems with quality control on their compound--see the Explorer problems for an example of how bad they screw up on a regular basis. I thought they were well past that when I purchased those tires. I was wrong.

    I had OEM Bridgestones on my '91 240. They were awful, lasted 12,000 miles before they were bald, and I drove it delicately during that time. This despite alignments and tire rotation. The two worst sets of passenger car tires I've ever owned came from Bridgestone and both were hazardous.

    I would never ever recommend putting any Bridgestone on a car. I do however have Bridgestone Revo's on my Tundra (predated the failure.) I keep a pretty close eye on them and as soon as another manufacturer produces a comparable tire, I'll switch manufacturers and not look back. If one blows out I'll dedicate the next 10 years to shutting Bridgestone down.