Low profile hernia - check the piks - 19K kms on this one
(having a ****ty run with motors at present... Mark gave me the goods on my 4wd clutch replacement - here's hoping )
Brand Hankook Optimo K415 front curb side tyre... car 9-10 months old.... mum's taxi
My original thought was driver damage - but can't see any and the rim is still mirror smooth - is this typical of low profile tyre or is it possibly a manufacturing error - So the QU - chances of some refund ???
Cheers
AP
I have a friend that works for another tyre maker, claims like the one you have are normally done through the seller / fitting company and they then claim through the maker. Sort of out of your hands.
You won't get a refund, the best you will hope for is a new tyre fitted and balanced on the car.
I had the same issue and never got a refund. I had 17" Low Profile Pirelli Dragons ($255 a piece) for my old Falcon and got a hernia in about the same spot. I went back to the dealer to see what their response was and got nothing from them.
Mine happened about 4 months after getting them. There was a slight rub mark about 10cm away from the hernia which they said was the cause. The mark was about 2cm long and about 5mm wide, you almost needed to be hugging the wheel to see it. Mine wasn't quite as big as your but about the size of a 20cent piece.
If I knew now what I knew back then I would have fought them for a refund or exchange. But silly me got Maxis after and hated those tyres even more.
Go to a couple of dealers before you go back to where you got them and get a few different responses that way when you go to where you got yours, you will know if they are on the same page as everyone else with their response to the problem. If there's is different you will have them by the balls as they say.
Good Luck
Quote Australian consumer law at them.
The goods must be:
- Fit for purpose
- Of merchantable quality
- Perform as described
Surely getting a hernia like that with no visible damage breaks all three rules.
What are those marks in the first picture?
While we're on the subject, fitting low profile tyres on Mum's taxi? Why? What were you thinking?
Hit a pothole? With 19,000 on them might be a hard one to get a refund.
Low profile FTL.
i had that with all four bridgestone allrounders or (out of rounders) as they are know in the industry. never ever again brigestone you aresholes
This looks to be a typical cord separation in the side wall. Common name is side wall seppo.
Not unusual and should be claimable.
Big tip, if you know, or mates know a large truck or earthmover tyre outlet other than one of the big places like Bridgestone/Michelin /Goodyear. Get them to take a look and give you the verbal typical industry slant on what it is, and what caused it so you have some knowledge to back your request when fronting for support by outlet.
This is, if you are sure the side wall hasnt impacted an object to cause the issue
Not sure on Hancook tyres, where they are made, but large earthmoving,anything that is ex Asia or USSR area is classed as second tier tyres and never fitted to front of earthmoving units. We see this example from Asia built tyres who haven't the exact moulding process in place yet.
Regards
I am with IKW - after 19,000km I reckon you're pushing it.
Could have hit a brick at 110kmh for all they know
But I'd still try!!!!
Mineral's on the money.
Most likely what you would find under the bubble if you tore it open is a crack next to one of the radial wires which then either
a: tore the inner lining and let air from the tyre through and caused the outer layer of rubber to peel away and form the separation
b: caused the separation through heat expansion alone.
If there is indeed a crack inside, there's a few things they could cry void warranty on, like running the tyre at inadequate pressure or running over something like a brick really hard. scraping the sidewall of the tyre along a curb etc wont cause a separation like that. If anyone ever tells you that, they are full of doggie doo doo.
On the unlikely chance there is no crack and the outer layer has just separated and come away, then its well and truly a manufacturing defect, and they should help you out in some way I would think.
I'd check out the warranty conditions are for your tyre, if they say no we cant help you out, get them to open the damage up in front of you to confirm there is a crack there.
(I should probably point out that I used to repair tyres for a scrap, all day, every working day of the week for 4 years in a truck tyre retread factory. And I used to see this sort of thing all the time
)
Mate, you should see the side wall wear & tear on my wife's car! The Maker's Mark (Logo's) were completely worn, and massive gouges into the rubber, etc. She must mount so many kerbs!! Pure disgrace! 
Not to mention all the panel damage...
Just bought 4 new Good Year tyres for the price of 3... Good Year just finished a month long deal... Into the panel shop in a in 2 week time for a general make-over!
^ Chances of refund... ZERO. Chances of a replacement tyre, pretty good...
You can do that sort of damage without leaving a mark on the tyre. It's not from grinding the tyre up against a kerb. That does leave a mark and it mostly just rips up the sidewall.
If you hit a pot hole or rock it can deform the tyre almost to the rim which makes huge deformation in the sidewall without leaving a mark on anything. In the process of the deformation it can separate the rubber from the internal wall structure in a small area in the deformation. Once the air bleads through this it collects under the outer layer and slowly increases in area until such time as it finds somewhere to escape. The tyre then goes down, mostly slowly because most of the tyre structure is still in place.
The problem is really those stupid little low profile tyres because any small compression from the road surface results in a large deformation in the tyre wall.
Throw them away and get some proper tyres.
Give it a try but it will be totally up to the dealer(it will more than likely come out of their pocket) whether they want your patronage as to whether you get a replacement or not but with that many km's I wouldn't expect anything. As for crap tyres(car tyres that is as yes there is only one factory capable of producing decent high speed loader tyres) coming from asia it all depends on the quality of the factory. The worst tyres come from a certain old factory in Australia that used to make the out of rounders.
Does this remind anyone else of the body board bubbles that used to show up in the old Morey's when you were a kid?
the plus in handling outweighs any negs
Great lot of info' thank you...
No joy with the replacement from dealer - a lot of tyre damage locally due to pot holes - this is a council responsibility - can try there.
Replaced today - could not see much of anything on the inside either....
Re-this type of tyre.... She WMB Obeyed (runs her own business) - is a master MISTRESS of bargaining on a new car - and wanted a 7 seat Holden Captiva plus xyz accessories which came with this model. The lowish profile tyres were incidental but would have cost to change (loosing bargaining position). This is a nice car but low profile tyres are more of a smart accessory than a necessity handling wise - it also has down hill traction control - weird combination. I will try and find a steep smooth track (
) and try this out!!
I fall into the normal profile camp as pros do not out way the cons - exception being for my 2nd car - the really fun low profile whizz machine with more horse power than commonsense...
Cheers
AP
