What tire pressure are you running up front? Have you tried raising it? Try 40-45 PSI up front, you'll probably find the car handles better, too. With 18" wheels you NEED to be careful about potholes, also.

Living in New York City You Cant Be Carefull About Potholes...... No matter what you will hit one ATLEAST every 20 min of driving. They are unavoidable at most times. do you think if i downsize to a 17" (being the sidewall would be thicker) it might help me with my problem? (usually before the tire blows i get a bubble on the sidewall and within a week it usually goes out completly).

Well, 17 is as low as you can go, it should provide some extra protection..you may also want to see if another brand would help out..

im sure there are many people that would be willing to swap rims with you.

Before swapping rims, try 45PSI in your front tires. You're probably running about 35 right now? Give 45 a shot. If that doesn't do it, find someone who will trade.

18" in Manhattan can be a pain in the (__X__). My cousin who lives up there has developed several bubbles on his tires, and he has 16" wheels. It's inevitable like you said, you might consider downsizing, or increase pressure. Or you can trade with me, I have star spoke 44s:lmao: . New York potholes can bend 15" wheels:yikes:

Gadgets said:

Living in New York City You Cant Be Carefull About Potholes...... No matter what you will hit one ATLEAST every 20 min of driving. They are unavoidable at most times. do you think if i downsize to a 17" (being the sidewall would be thicker) it might help me with my problem? (usually before the tire blows i get a bubble on the sidewall and within a week it usually goes out completly).

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Alright ill try the 45psi. If it dont work i dont know if i want to trade or just buy a set of AC Schnitzer 17". And about trying another brand i did (the car came with dunlops then i tried kuhmos and i was going to try michlin next but its starting to look like i will be paying the price of the car just for tires if it keeps going like this.

I drive around NYC a lot, and it is an absolute bone jarring ride. I can't even imagine doing it on 18" rims.

Too much PSI will blow your tires, but too little PSI will dent your rims. You have to find a good setting in between.

The other word of advice (which is equally difficult in NYC) is to slow down. By slowing down you reduce the force that you hit the potholes with, which will help protect your tires and rims.

That said, there is only so much you can do. I was going up 8th Ave yesterday around the Port Authority, and it felt like all 4 wheels were going to be trashed. And that was taking it slow!

The first time i blew my tire i was only going about 15mph. I was on 7th ave. I was in the right lane i felt the pothole and didnt think anything of it at first because it wasnt a big pothole or anything and about 1 min later i noticed i was almost riding the rim (i had a 1/2 inch slash on the tires sidewall). The second and thirds where both on the BQE.... Where i can honestly say i was going fast enough to blow them out (about 80 to 90 mph). And the lates one (yesterday) i was on 3rd ave (in brooklyn) doing about 5 mph (if you have been on 3rd ave in the past month you would know they are trying to repave the street and are only succeding at making it worse but i have no choice since i work on 47th and 3rd.

I've given up trying to drive around NYC for any extended period of time. I find my way to my favorite parking spot, and then it's subway and walking. I figure I have enough road hazards to deal with getting to the parking space.

Oh, I should, of course, warn you NOT to exceed the rated pressure of your tires.

LOL, I drove my previous car for 3.5 months with a bubble in the sidewall without popping the tire. Everyday I would be sure it was about to go, but I guess an angel was with me. :angel: I sold the car with the tire like that. Wonder if it's still there...

You canadians have totally flat roads, as I recall... Didn't even have hills.

It's funny, the way I caused it to bubble was coming through a decreasing-radius downhill hairpin while doing about triple the limit. That and FWD don't mix well for the outside front tire. Made the most frightening sound...:yikes:

Nick325xiT said:

You canadians have totally flat roads, as I recall... Didn't even have hills.

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What?!?!

I live in Canada, and I wouldn't claim to have tried 1/10th of our roads.

Yes Ontario can be really flat... Quebec less so. You can find some really cool roads out east and west however!

I suspect you are not serious!

Nick325xiT said:

You canadians have totally flat roads, as I recall... Didn't even have hills.

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Only part of canada I've been to is Ontario. (Aside from Vancouver.) Hence, I can authoritatively state that all of canada that has passed before my eyes is dead flat.

:lmao:
Now what would I think about the US if I based my entire opinion on my visit to Butte Montana? Its one big open pit copper mine and the entertainment consists of the Evil Kneivel museum! j/k

To be honest I have found some difficulty in finding decent hilly roads here. A short trip to Gatineau park in Quebec is muy best bet close to Ottawa. The Niagara escarpment has some nice roads but it is a 4-5 hour drive from here (its not a small province).

Cheers,

A.

Here, OTOH, I can drive on hilly roads...
Roads reclaimed from swamps...
Roads that are straight as an arrow...
Twisty curvy ones...
All sorts of fun.

There's the twistiest, most inclined, narrowest and abandoned back road about 5 mins away from my house. It's one of those small ancient roads that actually joins my town with the next one, but no one really goes down there because of the truly scary turns. This is where I damaged my tire. If you've ever seen bol's video of his tribute to his car, take that road and scale it down. Come summertime I'll go down and take some pics for you guys to drool over.

There are good roads around here, you just have to know where to look. :thumb:

I think the Canadians are getting defensive.