I have a relatively new VW Golf with 7,500 miles on it.
Yesterday I blew out a front tire driving 70 MPH on I-95 after hitting a pothole.
Should I simply replace the one tire or is it better to replace 2 tires and have matching tread wear?
Thanks for your help!
If the tread isn’t worn too badly on your other 3 tires, you can just replace the blown tire. Otherwise replace 2. After 7,500 miles you can probably get away just replacing the one tire
Maybe a road hazard warranty on the tire?
When you get a new tire, if it has significant thread difference from the other front tire (more that 2/32) then you can swap front and rear. The difference won’t matter on the rear tires, as this is a FWD car.
However, this is a temporary solution, as you should periodically rotate the tires. Do you have a full sized spare? you could use that matched with the new tire and use the other front tire as the new spare.
edit, should be “significant tread difference”
Should be ok to just buy one tire is my guess. The tire store is the ultimate arbitrator, they deal with this kind of problem every day. Good ideas above to rotate the tires going forward to try to equalize the tread wear over time. Ask the tire shop which tire tends to wear the fastest, left or right. Usually it is the right. Whichever it is, put the new tire there.
After hitting a pothole severe enough to blow out a tire I would have some concerns about the possibility of suspension damage and alignment.
After a new tire you might consider getting an alignment done. If the alignment is off then odds are something is bent.
I’d worry about rim damage, too. That could be hidden on the inside of the rim.
Impacts hard enough to destroy a tire can lead to wheel bearing issues. Two cars in my circle that had a similar tire failure after pot hole impacts needed wheel bearings shortly after. Good luck.
A new tire should not have any of its threads/cords showing through the tread. This sounds to me like a used tire that should be avoided at all costs.
Got thread mixed up with tread. Meant “tread difference from the other front tire”.
I agree, check wheel bearings, check for rim damage, and have an alignment done.