Well, as a few of you have mentioned before, I too have a sidewall blown on my left rear RE050. I must have ran over something as there is a pretty good nick in the rim as well. The sidewall had a total blow out from the tread to the inner bead above the rim.

I was only driving about 25 mph and didn't see anything in the road. Front tire didn't hit anything and escaped any damage what-so-ever.

After I pulled over and changed the tire, I went back to see if there was any debris in the road. All I saw was a chunk of plastic that looks like it may have come from a vehicle involved in a traffic collision.

I'm about to start calling around on tire and rim availability. The rim could be fixed, but I think buying a new one would be the best way to go.

Boy the spare looks nice.

 

Time for some HRE 840R's Adam! That would definitely look like on your car!

 

LOL. I hate to damage a HRE.

 

True but just think how it will look on your CL55 beast!

 

Thinking more about this I beleive I had a complete failure of the sidewall. The nick in the rim is not even close to the blowout. I think the nick came from driving on the flat tire for a couple blocks before I was able to pull over.

Maybe this tire will be a warranty item after all. I'll have to pick up the expense of the r/r of the rim or a new rim though im sure.

 

I agree !! HRE's all the way ...

 

WHeel went in for repair today.

You guys will be happy to know I found RE050 tires for MUCH less than the dealer charges. PM me for details.

Looks like my blowout will be covered under Bridgestones warranty.

 

That's good news Adam! Do you have any pics of the blown tire or damaged wheel?

 

Adam, you should know better than to put Ford Explorer take-offs on your CL!

 

I remember alllll the RE040s on the IS300s were recalled due to the SAME PROBLEM. They were fixed for 2002 and everyone got free tire replacements. Seems like Bridgestone Potenza RE-series just suck.