PSA: Check your tires!

[Gunslinger808]

So you don't end up the idiot on the side of the freeway.
It's that time of year where temperatures rise and tires give out, make sure your tires are good, and your spare is too.

Coming home from fishing yesterday had the driver front tire grenade on me and the wife.
Doing 70 mph while headed down Hwy 60 it decided to throw a little excitement into an otherwise great day.
Ended up pulling off on the center median after a few tense moments.

Didn't do any real damage to the Tahoe, just some scratches that are no big deal, I've seen blow outs eat the whole quarter panel before.
Got it changed and got home safe, it could have been tragic so I'm happy just having to buy a new tire.
The only aggrevation was at least 10 DPS and other LEOs passed without even a wave or middle finger salute.
Oh, and I've got to take the darn thing off again as I didn't put the center cap on, oh well.

 

[snubbyfan]

Thanks for the heads up.
We invested in 4 brand new knobbies for our 4wd Tacoma last year right before the snow started. The old tires were dry rotted and almost bald. I'm just hoping the tires on the Yaris hold out until we can save up to get them changed.

 

[Hunter8282]

Dang... glad you're both OK!

 

[boatme99]

Glad you're all ok.
You never know with tires. I've had a brand new Michelin blow out on me. I've seen a few Dunlops on new Mercedes go, too. Enough to know I'll never buy Dunlop tires.

 

[Maddog 521]

Glad ya'll are ok after that. I checked ours last week and all were 12 to 17lbs high. Check weekly. An old Harley rider told me years ago. 34-40-7---34 in the front--40 in the rear--and check them every 7 days. That's for a geezer glide of course.

 

[LVSteve]

Do you think it was dry rot? I had to swap the boots on my SUV last year because the sun had killed the originals around the sidewall. Plenty of tread left.

 

[old bear]

That could have gotten nasty, glad that on one was hurt.

Thanks for the reminder, I had my car in the shop, for P.M. yesterday and had them check the tires.

 

[LVSteve]

That could have gotten nasty, glad that on one was hurt.

Thanks for the reminder, I had my car in the shop, for P.M. yesterday and had them check the tires.

Yeah, but did they set them correctly? I have lost count of the number of techs in this city who read the max pressure on the tyre and use that figure. I've even had a degreed Mech Eng. argue with me at work that this was correct. Lot of folk got the wrong end of the stick over the Ford underinflation issue, and it was ALL Ford, I don't care that the jury awarded against Bridgstone, too.

 

[cass]

Glad you're OK. Question - I also run BF Goodrich AT on both my Jeep and ranch truck because of the great sidewalls and our cactus. If I recall, the tire recommends a tire pressure of around 60 psi (?) but I never run more than 50. Were you running at full psi?? That blowout looks scary.

 

[dmar]

I don't know about OP's tire, but I get a little nervous with all these "made in China" tires out there these days. They make such quality items, of course it makes sense for our tires to be made there, too....! I ask where my tires are made before purchasing them. Aside from our daily drivers, I drive a Corvette, a Harley, and have young kids; I don't mess around with **** tires!

 

[LVSteve]

Glad you're OK. Question - I also run BF Goodrich AT on both my Jeep and ranch truck because of the great sidewalls and our cactus. If I recall, the tire recommends a tire pressure of around 60 psi (?) but I never run more than 50. Were you running at full psi?? That blowout looks scary.

You've just given the perfect example of why I don't put LT tyres on a passenger vehicle, they require way too much pressure. When you run over a dime you can tell it it was heads or tails.

 

[Kanewpadle]

Definitely could have been worse. Glad you're ok.

 

[Gunslinger808]

Yeah, we got lucky, it could have been real bad.
I sorta feel sorry for the idiot that was right on my bumper when it happened, I took a quick look in the rearview just in time to see his little car get showered with parts of the tire.

And cass, I run mine at 40 psi, never had a problem before.
It's the third set I've had on my 94 Tahoe (lifted so they're 35's).
Run the exact same tire/pressure on my wife's Dodge pick up.

 

[Frank46]

I was going out with the wife for some seeds and plants for our garden. Was going out,as the driver front tire had a partial tread separation. Had driven the truck the other day but didn't notice anything odd. Going to replace all 4 and when the tire was flat you could actually see the cracks on the sidewalls besides the separation. Most of my driving is limited to country roads and when we go into town. Weird that it would happen in the driveway though. They are 7 years old. Frank

 

[Road Rat]

Glad everyone and the car are okay.

I had a similar blow out last year down near St. Louis. Only blow out I've ever had.

On the interstate doing about 75 in the left lane when this lovely, loud, noise let me know that all was not right. I looked in the right outside mirror and saw parts and smoke......and, fortunately everyone near me just backed off!!

An exit was only about a hundred yards up so I hit a hard right turn and got off the interstate. Found a place to park and called the towing service.

My tire looked about like yours. I took it to my tire guy when I got home and he said he didn't think he could fit it!!!

 

[LVSteve]

I was going out with the wife for some seeds and plants for our garden. Was going out,as the driver front tire had a partial tread separation. Had driven the truck the other day but didn't notice anything odd. Going to replace all 4 and when the tire was flat you could actually see the cracks on the sidewalls besides the separation. Most of my driving is limited to country roads and when we go into town. Weird that it would happen in the driveway though. They are 7 years old. Frank

Advice from the tyre industry is 6-year old tyres are a ticking bomb. I used to think it was a gag to sell more tyres until I saw what the sun could do here in Vegas.

 

[rwsmith]

Oh My Lord

It looks like you hit an IED.

 

[McGivern]

Looks like that WAS the IED!!!

 

[K1500]

Probably under inflated. LT tires require MORE pressure than P-metric tires of a given load. It is contrary to most peoples intuition, but it is true. There are charts to help set the proper pressure, but 40 pounds sounds a bit too low to me.

 

[LVSteve]

Probably under inflated. LT tires require MORE pressure than P-metric tires of a given load. It is contrary to most peoples intuition, but it is true. There are charts to help set the proper pressure, but 40 pounds sounds a bit too low to me.

Again, why run LTs on a Tahoe or any other passenger vehicle? I see lots of CLAIMS that LTs have beefier sidewalls, but I've yet to see an offroad magazine kill a designated off-road P rated tyre with rocks or cacti. Even my tyre guy didn't try to upsell me to LTs. He rackons it's a fad/fashion.

Those that do fit LTs always complain about the ride being harsh, even on the highway. Given most off-road vehicles spend 95% or more of the time on asphalt, do you REALLY need LTs?