Interesting tire story

Yesterday I helped a neighbor change a tire on his truck. He was motoring down the highway, running about 70, when the thing exploded. It bent the lower part of the fender back, crushed the forward part of the rocker panel up enough to make the door hard to open, and flayed a ragged patch of paint off the driver's door down to bare metal. He pulled off and found that the entire tread section was gone but the tire still held air. Large areas of steel belts were clearly visible. All the while we're talking, he keeps saying "the tire was brand new". Personally, I thought the sidewall looked a bit old even if the tread looked good, but I wasn't going to argue with the guy about his tire. After we get finished putting on his spare, I asked him "Where did you buy the tire?" He said "It came on the truck when I bought it new." The truck in question was a 1990 Toyota.

Natural selection. Hope he doesnt breed. 21 years old aint new genius.

I see it happen all the time, maybe in not such dramatic fashion though.

"But that thar tire haz dem good threads on um"

'I know sir, but your 7 year old tire has shifted its belt, that's why it looks like there's a cancerous growth on it."

"I thunk the balanisun iz off. just do dat."

ugh.

I once saw a sufficiently old spare pop its belts while still stored in the trunk.

and this is why exploders had that rollover problem.

I see so many SUVs with their sidewalls worn down to the white it is not funny.

mad_machine wrote: and this is why exploders had that rollover problem. I see so many SUVs with their sidewalls worn down to the white it is not funny.

I remember one TV car show recreating those Explorer tire blowouts. They used a rapid deflating valve to bring the tire completely down in a series of tests from 30-70 mph. The vehicle stayed dead straight even at 70.. unless the brakes were applied. To me the tests were total legit. Once the lawyers got a hold of the rollover crashes the rest is history.

Kinda reminds me tho.. back in about '68 my uncle from Mi was driving the family to Pa when a front tire blew out on the ol station wagon at turnpike speed. He kept it straight, let it slow n pulled off the road. I remembered his words of wisdom since then... etched in my brain... NEVER hit your brakes in a blowout.

Guess they don't teach that anymore.

Been there done that, my 1986 GMC Van coming out of Cola. SC at 70mph the rear tire desintegrated and I managed to get to the shoulder and limp to the nearest exit (1/4 of a mile) Got it home on a replacement I had to purchase from Wally World, the other rear of the set let go a few short weeks after I got the beast home. Lucky for me this time it was just sitting in the driveway and I found it exploded. No fun. It's true they don't teach blow out survival in Driver's ed anymore. It's my own fualt I knew the tires were old and I was planning to replace them when the funding was available.

LopRacer wrote: Been there done that, my 1986 GMC Van coming out of Cola. SC at 70mph the rear tire desintegrated and I managed to get to the shoulder and limp to the nearest exit (1/4 of a mile) Got it home on a replacement I had to purchase from Wally World, the other rear of the set let go a few short weeks after I got the beast home. Lucky for me this time it was just sitting in the driveway and I found it exploded. No fun. It's true they don't teach blow out survival in Driver's ed anymore. It's my own fualt I knew the tires were old and I was planning to replace them when the funding was available.

Whats drivers ed?

Fit_Is_Slo wrote: Whats drivers ed?

An archaic act of teaching our youth to actually pilot a car with some skill, not just giving them a brief over view of the laws they are expected to follow and the grave financial and social consequences for failing to pass their written driver's test.

I doubt they teach parallel parking anymore either.

Todays driver seem to think the brake pedal is a dual purpose thing. One is a switch for the brake lights and the other is to put the brakes on for any occasion, curve, down hill, intersection, another vehicle 100 yds ahead. Name it.

LopRacer wrote: I doubt they teach parallel parking anymore either.

no need... now you can buy cars that will parallel park themselves

I think the importance of tires isn't explained well enough by parents and other "adults."

Have you ever watched the average person by tires? First tell them they need to replace one and they will insist they don't if it still holds air, then they buy the cheapest relatively round object that can be sold and expect it to perform and last like a top dollar piece.

Wally wrote: Have you ever watched the average person by tires? First tell them they need to replace one and they will insist they don't if it still holds air, then they buy the cheapest relatively round object that can be sold and expect it to perform and last like a top dollar piece.

yup... and I think it gets worse as the tire gets bigger and more expensive... then they are more likely to go down to the used tire place for that replacement... LOTS of "good looking" tires down there... back in the day of 13-14" tires you could get decent quality tires for not much more then the crap tires... and that was within the last 5 or so years....

my escort needs to rubber and there sure isn't much in the way of 13" rubber anymore

iceracer wrote: Todays driver seem to think the brake pedal is a dual purpose thing. One is a switch for the brake lights and the other is to put the brakes on for any occasion, curve, down hill, intersection, another vehicle 100 yds ahead. Name it.

I see you've driven with my mother-in-law.

The pedals in her van seem to be digital instead of analog.

Shawn