Hi All- I have a 2009 Honda Sport Fit

I've had several tires develop a buldge and one blow out over the past two years - both the dunlops and the bridgestones--stock size 185/55/16

I'm assuming that the cause of the buldges are hitting "pot holes" albeit they must be fairly small ones (with the exception of the blow out which did involve a fairly deep hole 9 - 10 inches and a bent rim).

I need more durable tires. This situation is getting to be too expensive.
Would a 205/50/16 hold up better even thought the aspect is smaller?

How about changing the rims? Can I just change the rims and put on a more traditional size tire, something with a little more distance between the rim and the road....

 

One (or more) of following three things is happening here:
1) The roads in your part of Illinois are appallingly bad.
2) You have terrible luck
3) You are careless about hitting potholes and curbs

In decades and hundreds of thousands of miles of driving I have never had a casing failure. I have only seen a tiny handful of casing failures on other cars and most of those were tires with known issues. I have had penetration flats but that is a different situation.

Going to a lower profile tire is very unlikely to help your situation. You might try 195/55R16. There is a wider selection of tires in that size than the somewhat unusual stock size. 195/55R16 is slightly less than 1.8% larger in diameter than the stock size so your odometer and speedometer would read slightly slow.

 

Remember, aspect ratio isn't a fixed number, it is... well, a ratio. The 205/50/16 has roughly the SAME height as the 185/55/16 tires. 50% of 205 and 55% of 185 are 102.5 mm and 101.75 mm, respectfully.

It was suggested to me, that a lighter wheel (and tire) might have a slightly better survivability. The reason is that the less weight there, the quicker and easier it is for it to move on impact, to transfer the forces onto the suspension instead. Basically, the sooner the wheel starts moving up in reaction to a bump, the less likely it is to compress the tire and come into contact with the bump.

I have followed that suggestion (after nailing a pothole that caused a bulge AND a tiny little hole in the sidewall in the bulge), but the result is a bit biased, since I'm being more cautious anyway (new wheels, wouldn't you be more cautious?).

LostHighway

while it's true, I consider chunks of roadway in Illinois as horrible, the pothole that finally took out my stock tire was par for the course of any road in the country. I think it wouldn't have been so bad, if I wasn't in the process of taking a curve at the moment. So, when the outside edge of my outer tire hit the edge of the pothole, it mad an ideal situation to highly compress the tire (and nail the wheel itself too). I can't say for certain what caused the hole in the tire itself, but a bubble is enough reason to get a new tire anyway.

 

Let me clarify, I don't drive the car. My wife uses it.....My wife and i have also driven hundreds of thousands of miles, and frankly, I don't recall any blowouts or buldges in those years. Many of those miles were driven in an escort sedan and then escort wagon (I've got a 98 with nearly 200K)....a fairly small car but with more "traditional" tires with a larger aspect (distance between rim and road)...

Granted my wife is a less carefull driver than me (imho) but I guess the point is the sport tires on this fit (and possibly other vehicles) are simply less able to handle potholes and bumps that in the past were not a problem.

I was hoping that I might be able to buy new front rims for the fit that could handle a more forgiving tire or possibly purchase a better quality tire for the current rims. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to be able to change my wife's driving habits

 

get a tank.

also check your psi often. dont just rely on the TPMS. it only lights up when psi is super low like 28psi. give it 32-35 cold (in the morning before sun hits it).

 

You could try switching to the 15" steel rims from the base Fit with their 175/65R15 tires. If it were me I'd probably opt for the Yokohama AVID ENVigor tires in that size but the General Altimax HP might be another option. Either way given your track record I'd opt for the extra warranty.

As Kenchan noted you should also be checking your tire pressures regularly and running on the high side (or slightly above) the recommended pressure.
I should have listed low tire pressures as possible cause #4.

If that doesn't work you're going to have to consider a completely different type of vehicle like a Crown Vic or some sort of urban assault vehicle with the meatiest tires available.