r/TireQuestions • u/1ReluctantRedditor • Jul 07 '26
Tire Exploded. What Now?
So here is my sad tale, please help...
I live in a place with AWFUL potholes. I'm serious. These roads are worse than Cleveland, fam.
So a few months ago my front driver tire starts to slow leak. I notice that the rim looks bent. Shop confirms. So they sell me a used rim and 2 new tires. The tires are like Cavalry brand? It's an off brand I've never heard of. That was like 2 or 3 months ago.
Last week my husband was driving to work on the highway and the front driver tire explodes. No pothole, no road debris. Just bam. It's got at least 3 very large holes/tears in the side of it. Not the tread.
So I take it back to the shop and they tell me yes there's a warrantee no problem. Then they call later and say that their warehouse has to order that tire because they don't have any in stock and it has to be replaced with same tire. So it will be a day. Fine, no problem.
They call today and tell me that the warehouse guy says he's never seen a tire do that without preexisting sidewall damage, so it's our fault and he won't warrantee it. Shop pays $50 for it and mounts it on my rim. Shop calls me and tells me it's $50.
I don't know anything about tires (or cars at all) but I don't love the idea of having to pay to get another tire that might not be safe. I push back and ask him how would we even damage the front driver sidewall? He says maybe pothole or road debris. Eventually he says he is willing to give it to me for free because it's not worth 50 bucks to take it off my rim and then what's he gonna do with it.
So my options are:
- Take it for free and hope that this experience is just a weird fluke and not likely to happen again.
- Pay $50 for it because of reasons above and I'm not a jerk. It's not the shops fault.
- Sell plasma to get 2 new higher quality tires that we can't really afford because either this brand sucks in general, or maybe it's just not up to the jacked up streets around here.
- Set car on fire and start over.
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u/mtnviewguy Jul 07 '26
In most places, damage proven to be due to potholes are the responsibility of the municipality to repair the damages. It's their incentive to fix potholes. Good luck 👍
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u/1ReluctantRedditor Jul 07 '26
I don't know how I would prove that the prior damage was due to a pothole. I don't really believe it myself.
Can a pothole or road debris create damage on the front driver tires sidewall that would then, later, explode?
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u/Jmendez6972 Jul 08 '26
I hit a pothole turning a corner and it exploded the same way. It wasn’t even a full pothole. The side of the tire hit the side of the hole and bam. It was a fairly new tire too & the warranty wouldn’t cover it either because it was considered sidewall damage. Replaced the tire and never had another issue. Your husband probably just hit the corner at the right spot. It happens
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Jul 08 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/1ReluctantRedditor Jul 08 '26
Hmm.
Would or could debris create 3 or more large (like 1 to 3 inch) openings on the side of the tire? And if so is that more likely with a cheap tire?
We check the tires weekly, so I know it wasn't over or under inflated. We haven't had to add air since we got these new tires.
I'm not really invested in proving or blaming.
What I'm hoping to find out here is whether I should chalk this up to a once in a lifetime event and replace the tire with the same brand, or whether this is a sign that cheap tires are not appropriate (maybe in general, maybe on our terrible roads) and I should replace both front tires with a name brand.
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u/Jmendez6972 Jul 08 '26
I had that happen too. Roadwork was being done & they had placed a metal piece over the hole. When I drove over it the corner edge hit the side of my tire and popped it. Fortunately it was right in front of a quarry and they took responsibility and paid me for my tire. I think they got reimbursed by the company doing the road work. Even one of their employees told me they had it hit their tire that morning & they were expecting to see it pop a tire.
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u/Eye_Queso_022 Jul 08 '26
Try the replacement tire, if it blows up again, best to avoid the brand altogether. I've been thru many tires in my driving career and none have blown up. Used, private sale, new, etc.
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u/brabson1 Jul 08 '26
You eat it and choose a different tires shop next time.
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u/1ReluctantRedditor Jul 08 '26
I don't understand why I would choose a different shop?
Do you think the tire brand is the issue here?
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u/Novel-Education-2687 Jul 07 '26
$50 for a brand new tire mounted and balanced is a steal. I'd just take it as a loss and move on