Front tire exploded!!

[zigg]

For those of you who don't believe that there's a God, think about this....

I was driving around the city the other day, and it felt like when you have the 4x4 hubs locked and trying to turn on pavement. The front end does a weird bounce/jump thing. It's really scary.

Mine was doing just this. I got out and checked the hubs. I jacked up the front end and rotated the tires just to be sure that somehow the front axle wasn't turning. I even had my buddy drive the truck while I watched from in front to see if I could see anything, and couldn't figure it out. So, we went for breakfast and when I came home, I pulled into the driveway and shut it off, and about 3 seconds later, there was a huge explosion!! The passenger tire just came apart and shredded right off the rim!!

The really scary part is that the next day I had to do a 300 mile round trip all on the hwy, with my tractor and trailer in tow. That would not have been good to happen at highway speed. As it turns out, once I got out on the hwy, the trailer blew a tire just exactly the same way!! I was going 60mph, and there was a big bang, and then the trailer was all over the place. Got it under control, threw the spare on, changed my pants, and back on the road.

I'm hoping I'm about done with blown tires...

Zigg

 

[dsblack]

Yes, and glad it all worked out. You need some good.

 

[swampdigger]

Blowouts scare the crap outta me. Last summer me and a buddy drove all over the province in a beat up '86 Ranger with 4 mis-matched tires, while towing a tent trailer. Three blew up, but all were in good circumstances.

Load E rated tires with 85 psi behind them probably make a bit of noise when they go.

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

The guy I bought Goldie from had a similar incident except the tire was the spare in the bed of the truck.
Something bout high air pressure and big tires.

Glad things stayed safe.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

IF ONE WENT---THE REST ARE SOON TO FOLLOW

I see and here this every day.

Contrary to popular belief, steel-belted-radial tires are JUNK.

It is all they try to make, so we really haven't much choice; but, if half the technology invested in trying to prove that radials aren't a bad idea had been spent on improving BIAS tires, you would never hear of a failure.

The bumping you were feeling was a BROKEN STEEL BELT, that should have been obvious, when you were looking for it.

For generations, people have grown up with a belief that tread depth is a good indication of how safe a tire is and how much longer they can put off replacement.

That was true with plain old BIAS tires.

BUT, radials are a completely different animal.

A radial tires tread depth will far outlast the integrity of the casing.

A radial tire casing starts to break down, the moment air pressure is in it.

The sidewall cords, having no cross plies, immediately start stretching and weakening.

After the sidewall outgrows the diameter of the heavier tread construction, the layers of different materials start to seperate from each other.

Many times, I have had a customer ask "are you sure those tires are the same size as mine? They don't look nearly as big."

Well, the reason they don't look as big is that they haven't begun to lose their shape and are not as big; but, give them time, and they will soon stretch to the same size.

Look closely between the treads of your radial tires and you will see little cracks around every tread, all the way around the tire.

This is your casing starting to seperate.

Once the casing seperates and weakens enough, the steel belts will start to twist and seperate from the rest of the casing.

That is why tire manufacturers have been pushing for tire AGE LIMIT laws in congress the last several years.

They have been putting date stamps on radial tires for the last twelve years, or so.

FIVE years is the legal limit that tire manufacturers want to set for radial tires; anything older than that and the cops can ticket you and make you buy newer tires.

Tire makers know that radial tires are JUNK, they are just so much easier/cheaper to manufacture that they don't want to go back to the more expensive to build BIAS.

We had some little old ladies, in a big old car of about ten years old, to come in with wet drawers on.

They were driving along, down the little-traveled interstate, when all of a sudden, BOOMMMM!!!!!, an explosion goes off in the trunk.

Their first thoughts were of terrorists and mad bombers.

There was not another car in sight, coming or going, so that ruled out any sort of collision.

What they found, when they got home to unload the trunk, was the never-used brand-new ten-year-old steel-belted-radial spare had finally given up, and exploded in the trunk.

I have had people bring in cars, complaining of shaking/shimmying, to have the tires explode, sitting in the parking lot waiting their turn in the shop.

 

[subway]

well if things come in threes you should be covered now, glad you are safe and able to type up your stories.

 

[rubberfish]

I also spent a few years in a tire/front end shop,
and the majority of my customers were clueless
when it came to their tires. All they know is that
they can be rather pricey for some sizes.

Good info MIDNIGHT RIDER.

 

[IHWillys]

Excellent post Midnight Rider. I learned from another source about the aging of radial construction casings that doesn't occur with bias plys. Michelin says 7-10 years life span for their radial casings.

I also have my own old radial tire story. I totaled(not by insurance by my own estimation) my 1955 Pontiac Chieftain when I tapped the brakes rather suddenly to avoid a truck with horse trailer in tow pulling out ahead of me. I didn't hit anything, but when I tapped my brakes the passenger front tire blew out, I went sideways, then lost the passenger rear tire. When that happened, I was along for the ride and headed toward the Big Thompson River(highway 34 in Colorado). I didn't get wet but the Chief stopped on it's lid. I had that car for 16 years, built it from being a $25 parts car into a driver. Went through multiple engines and transmissions. I was sad to see it go, especially in that condition.

I was written a ticket. It was a $15 no points ticket. It was for driving on old tires. Not bald tires, old tires. The tread depth was over 50% of new but the tires were old with the cracks that Midnight described. BFG Radial TAs.

Ken

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[Freight_Train]

Yep,I can vouch for the Radial Vs Bias thing.I have some Bias tires that date older than most people here on the deuce(some over 50,yes,Fifty year old).THey are checkered,Cracked,worn down,cut but still run on down the road without problems.I am going to replace them when I get the money.Sure,I do have Tubes but still,Bias might not handle like a radial or ride like a radial but for Gods sake.If you want a tight handling smooth riding vehicle then why the hell are you driving around in a 3/4-1ton truck in the first place?.....or in my case a 5 ton truck(2.5ton off 5 ton on road cap).

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

OVER AT FLAMETHROWERS

I made these same comments, over at the Drama Stop, and got flamed so bad that I smoked for days.

Of course, anything I seem to say, over there, will get me knocked down.


By the way, IHWillys, you sure have some interesting "stuff" in the back-ground of the bottom picture.

 

[Agnem]

I had a dump truck blow a tire right next to me once. Talk about loud. It's enough to cause a wreck just from jerking the wheel in involuntary response. I've never had a tire blow, but I did have a bias ply come apart on a trailer due to underinflation. I hope those tire age laws don't come to pass. I can get a lot more time out of my trucks tires since they are garage kept and out of the sun.

 

[argve]

I have always changed my trailer tires every 2 years because I always seem to loose one while on vacation when I try to get the third year out of them - One of the tire shops I took the TT when we first bought it said I didn't need new tires but I told him I don't care you will either sell me new ones or I will go some place else that will, a couple of hours later I picked it up. Now on my pickup/cars I have found that I can run them for about 4 years after that is when I seem to have problems. I don't know if trailer tires go through more stress from just sitting around or if the construction is different, I know on a tandem axle set up like RV Trailers they go through a lot stress from turning sharp when putting them in the site or in the driveway but even my single axle boat trailers it would seem would die a quick death.

Now I was watching a program on tires on the history channel or discovery channel yesterday and I got the impression that bias ply and radial tires are pretty much of the same construction except that the radials have steel belts around a the bias ply then the tread is put on.... I wasn't watching it real close but only half way while I was sitting here on OB.NET...

 

[rubberfish]

I don't know if trailer tires go through more stress or if the construction is different,

From what I've heard about you,
you need to be looking at speed rated trailer tires.

 

[shorthair]

it's always an adventure when you lose a steer tire, done it twice in a semi the last one at 80+ mph ended up in the sand median in new mexico almost brand new tire too less than 10,000 miles on it.

 

[swampdigger]

The official spare tire for my truck is an old school bias ply on a split rim

They certainly get warm after driving for a while on them!