Pre-blowout.

I drove up to the mountains late last Thursday night. I was nearly at my destination when I decided my tire was feeling funny (the way it felt on the steering wheel, if that makes sense), but no I didn't have a flat--it didn't feel or sound like a flat. I even looked at the tires once parked in the driveway at the mountain house, but again, no flat tire. It was dark outside though, and only the light of the porch shone on the car.

Friday, in the daylight, before leaving to go do errands, I looked at my tires again. Holy Cow! My driver's side front tire had a huge pre-blowout bulgy spot on it (on the sidewall of the tire). I can't imagine why it didn't blow out on the Interstate while I was driving--doing 65+ barrelling down the highway in the dark at midnight. So scary. If it had blown who knows if I would've been able to keep the car under control. Pretty much scared me to death. I snapped a cell phone picture of it:

The tire still had fairly good tread and wasn't all that old (but it was beyond the warranty period). I guess I was lucky that this was visible on the outside sidewall, and not located on the inside sidewall.

Be careful out there.