Can You Still Drive with a Bulge on the Side of the Tire?

[BrantleyAnn]

Tires with sidewall bulges should not be driven on and need to be replaced. Continuing to drive with such a tire poses significant safety risks. A bulge on a car tire indicates that the internal cords have broken. The cord layer serves as the tire's skeleton, and when the cords are broken, only the rubber remains to prevent air from escaping. Additionally, the sidewall is inherently weak, so when the tire's internal pressure is too high, the bulging area is prone to rupture. Some repair shops might use the hot patch method to fix minor bulges. This method involves using high-temperature vulcanization to fuse raw rubber into the bulging area, which then cools and solidifies to seal the bulge. However, this approach does not fundamentally address the issue of broken cords; it merely thickens the rubber at the bulging spot. Long-term or high-speed use of such a tire still carries significant safety hazards.