All-season tires for 5kcstq -- Sidewall bubbles

[Wallace White]

This bubble was indeed caused by a split in the inside of the tire. Dunlop and
the tire installer (America's Tire, which handled the situation poorly) said
that such a split could be caused by a manufacturing defect or by a
significant road impact. They both claimed that the interior of the tire was
consistent with the latter (I sent a Dunlop rep a digital photo), though I
found it hard to believe I had hit anything hard or sharp enough to do that.

That was three years ago, before the Firestone/Explorer mess. Perhaps the
Audi/Dunlop replacements were after...

- Wallace
  '87 5kcstq 195k


B Vibert <blur at sympatico.ca> wrote:
> A bubble in the sidewall is usually a sign of an open ply splice, ply
> has fabric in it to prevent stretching but the sidewall rubber doesn't
> so it bulges if the ply isn't in that spot.  This is very dangerous
> and could blow at any time.  Since it's a manufacturing defect I would
> suspect Dunlop would have replaced it for free if you complained
> loudly enough, especially with all the Firestone fiasco happening so
> recently.
> I don't know much about the sp5000, sorry.
>
> Burl Vibert
> 1987 5kcstq
> Kingston, Ontario
>
>
>
> Wallace White wrote:
> >
> > It's about time to replace the Dunlop SP4000's on my 5kcstq. I've been
> > happy with them overall. They've done almost 50k miles and have a bit
> > left. Handling and traction have been good, noise fine.
> >
> > My only complaint was that one of them developed a large blister in the
> > sidewall and had to be replaced at my cost; I've since heard that many
> > new Audis had blistered Dunlops, which Audi covered. This makes me a
> > little hesitant about getting more Dunlops.
> >
> > So, how's the SP5000? This would be the symmetrical version, at
> > 205/60-15. I'd appreciate advice on it or other tires that might fit the
> > bill:
> > - H- or V-rated all season
> > - decent snow performance (I drive to Tahoe a few times a year)
> > - good tread life
> > - low noise
> >
> > It sounds like the BFGoodrich Comp T/A is another popular choice. It's a
> > few bucks cheaper but is H-rated (the SP5k is V).
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Wallace
> > '87 5kcstq 195k
> > Menlo Park, CA



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