# Bridgestone DriveGuard sidewall tears



## SunDogBC (Sep 12, 2016)

This isn't really a question or anything. It's more just something to think about for anyone considering Bridgestone DriveGuards.

I have a set with about 20 months and 35K miles on them. One of them has developed tearing near the inside rim for about 1/3 of the way around. I don't recall hitting any potholes or other such hazards that might have cause it. My assumption is that it's a defect in the tire so I plan on claiming under my "workmanship and materials" warranty.

It took my quite some time to figure out where the squeaking rubber sound was coming from. It almost literally sounded like a frog croaking.

Apologies if the images are too large.


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## crazy4trains (Mar 30, 2011)

What images?


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## SunDogBC (Sep 12, 2016)

It appears that the "photo sharing" service I picked doesn't actually share the photos. So I switched to photobucket.


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## crazy4trains (Mar 30, 2011)

You may not recall hitting anything but it appears from the first few images that you have impacted something. Looks like the wheel lip is deformed slightly right where the defect starts to show.


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## luigi524td (Apr 4, 2005)

*Tire issues*



crazy4trains said:


> You may not recall hitting anything but it appears from the first few images that you have impacted something. Looks like the wheel lip is deformed slightly right where the defect starts to show.


+1 ... :dunno:


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## SunDogBC (Sep 12, 2016)

That's entirely possible. I thought it odd that the tearing is over 1/3 of the way around but maybe over time it simply spread. If there's a positive side to this, it's that I've been driving on it for a few months at least and it hasn't ripped completely off.

I can't say for sure but I think what you're seeing as a deformity is just the effect of the tire flexing and rubbing off on and/or "polishing' the aluminum. It's getting replaced this Saturday so I'll be sure to ask them then to check the wheel for damage.


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## SunDogBC (Sep 12, 2016)

So I had ordered two replacement tires and showed up on Saturday to have them installed. The guy took all four tires off to check for problems and found that all of them had the same tearing to some degree and needed to be replaced. His guess is that they were running on extremely low pressure for a long period of time and the sidewall was the only thing holding them together. He was actually quite surprised that they didn't disintegrate on me like big rig retreads.

Because I had only ordered two replacements and they didn't have any other run-flats of any kind in stock, about my only option was to get non-run-flats. I picked "Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 Pluses" mostly because I've had those on another car of mine and was quite happy with them.

And given what I know now, along with the fact that I only have "_Flat _Monitoring" as opposed to "_Pressure _Monitoring" and was never given any indication of severely low pressure, I just feel run-flats give a false sense of security making them kind of dangerous.

If I learned one thing from this, it's to check my tire pressure manually and regularly and to not rely on the monitoring system. That, and to sign up for BCAA (roadside assistance) for when at some point I get stranded with a flat and no spare. :tsk:


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## [email protected] (Jun 10, 2003)

It looks to me as if it would be chronic under-inflation. Its hard to tell without removing the tire from the wheel. Checking your air pressure manually as its your best defense against running low air pressure. They are not as accurate as a quality gauge and sometimes these sensors go bad and do not work properly.


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## shree2009 (Nov 11, 2015)

3 sidewall rips out of 4 tire under 10k miles swapped back to continentals. First one was with a month then two together. Never had this on contis 110k driven! Tonnes of reviews on this! Safety issue since normally rely on tpms and never check sidewalls!


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## jaye944 (Jul 5, 2015)

Good advice, I know someone who told me there tire had a puncture, the low psi thing never came up, the readings on the tire pressures all read normal.

You MUST check for yourself, oil, water, tires and lights

all those new fangled good awful sensors which do it all for you, are to be taken with a pinch of salt


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## crazy4trains (Mar 30, 2011)

shree2009 said:


> 3 sidewall rips out of 4 tire under 10k miles swapped back to continentals. First one was with a month then two together. Never had this on contis 110k driven! Tonnes of reviews on this! Safety issue since normally rely on tpms and never check sidewalls!


Looks like it could possibly be impact damage. Possibly combined with low air pressure.


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