Quote Originally Posted by MirageSEFan View Post
I recently hit a pothole with my drivers side front tire. Afterwards, I had the exact same bulge on my sidewall. Luckily, I did not damage my wheel. I did however, throw out the alignment. My tire only had about 5,500 miles on it at the time. I had to order a new one from Sam Club for about $145 with tax, mounting and balancing. I'm thinking you must have hit something. The sudden increase in pressure, from hitting a pothole, will balloon out the tire at the weakest point. In this case, it's the thin sidewall. It really sucked for me to replace a fairly new tire due to this kind of damage. These tires are very fragile compared to other tires I have owned in the past.
I guess it's possible I hit something, but my point was about how fragile these tires are, like you mentioned. I didn't hit anything substantial, there is no damage to my wheel, and my alignment is perfect. I only looked at the tire because a strange rubbing sound got louder and louder over a course of a few days, and I was surprised to see the bulge. I fill my tires to 40psi, so maybe the bulge occurred when the tire temperature increased, or when I hit a minor bump? Either way, it's unacceptable, especially since I previously had two small leaks and then had another hole form in the sidewall.

Sorry this happened to you too. $145 to replace a fairly new tire with another of the same is a bummer.