Tire Pressure Kablooey! - GreenHybrid

Wangofree · #1 (**permalink**) 05-22-2007, 04:17 PM

Well, so much for keeping "higher" pressure in my Dunlops! This blow out happened a couple of weeks ago while we were on the KS Turnpike, running between 65 - 70 miles per hour. Up until this, I've kept our tire pressure at around 48 psi. I figured with a limit of 51 on the sidewall, this should be ok.

It turns out this tire had some "road damage", ie a puncture, and that caused the blowout. With that, the tire isn't covered by the dealer, or tire manufacturer, even with only 12,000 miles on it.

For those interested, this was the right front passenger tire. At this speed, the car handled extremely well - no side to side, no severe loss of control. It looks terrible because the rim ate the heck out of it before I could slow down and pull off the highway. If this happened in town at a slower speed, it wouldn't have looked so bad.

I had fun taking this into the dealer and telling them I had a small problem with my tire and wondered if it could be repaired. They busted a gut when I opened the trunk and showed them this.

Oh well, lesson is, do what you think is best, and be prepared!

Mike

IMAhybrid · #2 (**permalink**) 05-22-2007, 06:36 PM

Wow, dramatic photo!

tbaleno · #3 (**permalink**) 05-23-2007, 02:34 PM

What does this have to do with tire pressure? How did it get punctured?

livvie · #4 (**permalink**) 05-24-2007, 08:15 AM

I agree... tire pressure alone wont cause that. Do you know what puntured your tire? You could have had a blow out had the tire been at a lower psi if what you ran over ripped the tire instead of a simple puncture.

lars-ss · #5 (**permalink**) 05-24-2007, 09:22 AM

Opinion echoed - high pressure had nothing to do with it.

That "whatever" you hit would have blown the tire regardless of pressure.

Wangofree · #6 (**permalink**) 05-25-2007, 03:55 PM

Well, well fellas, think whatever you like. Whatever let's you sleep at night.

What caused this? Not sure as a hole was evident on the inside of the tire. Perhaps a nail or some other object.

For my peace of mind, I'll probably run the tires a little lower than 48 psi.
This car periodically has to negotiate some gravel roads in addition to freeways and city roads. Since this is my wife's primary vehicle, I feel that running at a slightly lower pressure will give the tire some "cushion" to absorb hits from gravel, etc.

If I ran our HCH on nothing but highway, I'd get the pressure up as high as possible.

Mike

Harold · #7 (**permalink**) 05-25-2007, 04:20 PM

Mike, at least the rim looks OK. H

Wangofree · #8 (**permalink**) 05-26-2007, 04:57 AM

Yeah Harold rim is ok. I had the tire guys eyeball it, and it wasn't damaged. It tracks straight as an arrow, and that's one concern I had.

The rim definitely "chewed" up the tire after the blowout.

The cool thing was, before I could get the donut spare out of the trunk, a Kansas State Trooper pulled up behind me. I figured he'd put on his flashing lights for me while I changed the tire. Nope, he pulls out a Craftsman hydraulic jack, and before I could get the spare out, he has the tire off the car. "We" (or should I say he) had the tire changed in under 5 minutes. We were back on the road in no time. I have nothing but admiration for these men and women.

Mike

gumby · #9 (**permalink**) 05-26-2007, 08:58 AM

I've heard of that happening before (the trooper help), too (but not always). Their goal is to get the hazard (your disabled car) back on the road ASAP, before someone hits it or you. A nice bonus is that some of these officers have changed enough tires to figure they can do it much quicker than the average "Joe" - so that's just what they do.

Delta Flyer · #10 (**permalink**) 05-26-2007, 09:20 AM

Yeah - hope the rim is fine - check for a slow leak.

My two CRX HFs came with Dunlop tires, but they handled much better in wet weather with Bridgestones. Honda apparntly realized the difference and put Bridgestone's on the Insights.