I am positive its not good lol but can I still drive on the tires? Just had 2 newish tires mounted (rears) and each of the tires has a small bubble on the outside side wall. grrrrr

Thoughts?

:o i thought it was the old front tires that fucked up...thats shitty :(

I would not drive on tires with sidewall defects (bubbles). If it still has tread try to get a replacement from the manufacturer ... they would not have any way of disproving you were not the original purchaser not that even matters where a manufacturer defect is concerned. Go talk to a tire dealer who sells that brand - not necessary to go to the selling dealer.

:(

+1.

Do not drive for a long period of time on a bubbled tire as you are at an inceased risk for a blowout.

Tire warranties suck. What they may try and tell you is that the bubble may have been caused by impact. This means that is could either be a pothole, or driving with lower air pressure than recommended, or a combo of both.

That sucks T. My side wall busted on me 2 weeks ago, took the tires back to a local tire shop (toyo dealer) and he contacted Toyo directly and eventually got them to cover the tire at a "prorated" cost. Which was bs, cause they base it on tread usage and these tires are less than 2 months old. I ended up paying half. Be careful, the first toyo lady told me I was running the wrong tire size and it was my fault it busted. I'm running 295/25/21 96Y<---important info. Everyone runs this and she said i had to run 99Y and they weren't covering anything. We called back and another lady corrected that for me!! This is my sob story, hopefully they warranty your tire.

Good luck!

In many cases sidewall damage is caused by impact ... that would NOT be covered by a manufacturer's defect warranty but by road hazard coverage IF provided by the manufacturer or purchased by the consumer separately. Low profile tires are sitting ducks for poorly maintained roads :(

In my experiences, especially with low-profile tires mounted on large diameter rims, sidewall bubbles are usually caused by an impact with a pothole or something.

If and when the tire is dismounted, it'll be easy to tell if the bubble is from an impact or from a defect since the impact bubbles usually have sort of a crease or "cut line" on the inside of the tire, just behind the bubble. Bubbles that are a result of a manufacturing defect usually do not have a crease...

Meh, f%Y$ Michlen, gonna order some good ol falkens :)