Tyre Blowout?

[Bludger]

Don't know whether I am tempting fate here, but I was just wondering what would happen if you were to get a tyre blowout while motoring at 50mph+?

Has anyone had this happen in the Surf? I had this thought while travelling on the motorway last weekend. Because of the quite large profile tyres, I would assume that a blow out would cause the front or back to drop down pretty sharpish which would probably make it fairly difficult to steer.

A fairly morbid thought I know, but forewarned is forearmed as they say.

If it happens, are we talking 'Goodnight Vienna' or just 'Life flashing before one's eyes'?

Might make me triple check tyre pressures and wear when on my next family trip.

Lets hope this doesn't happen to anyone.

[mooter]

i had a rear tyre go on my old car and while scary, I lived to tell the tale afterwards. i think there are so many variables involved though so it would be very hard to say "youll be fine" or whatever. speed/road surface/general driving conditions/location/other traffic/tyre type/tyre pressure etc etc - they will all make up the end result.

[TonyN]

Depends if you have silly airbags or not, who remembers Fieldsy's orginal truck, the old bill reckoned it had a blowout, the air bags came on and Mrs Fieldsy then couldn't see and drove off the road and into a tree.

[BUSHWHACKER]

Depends if you have silly airbags or not, who remembers Fieldsy's orginal truck, the old bill reckoned it had a blowout, the air bags came on and Mrs Fieldsy then could see and drove off the road and into a tree.

If she could see the tree, she would have steered around it, wouldn't she?



just waitin' for Tony to edit his post and/or delete mine!

[TonyN]

If she could see the tree, she would have steered around it, wouldn't she?



just waitin' for Tony to edit his post and/or delete mine!

oops, anyway, whats a "n't" between friends!

arrrggg, Jim lad!

[bundubasher]

When I was in SA, I had a job with their Wildlife society. The boss was away on holiday and so I borrowed the project vehicle for a quick run to the bottle store (aka: The local offie) Anyway I was bombing down a dirt & gravel track leading out of the camp when I had a rear wheel blow-out and we rolled.

The track was a few feet higher than the adjoining fields and I have a fleeting image of the small dog I had in the car (a Toyota Hilux Pickup) fly past my head whilst the horizon turned 180 degrees and we impacted in the adjoining maize field.

Luckily, me and my mate had our belts on and we were unhurt and although the cab was a bit squashed (we were saved by a roll bar behind the cab) when we rolled it back on it's wheels - the engine started first time, problem was that something in the steering was buggered and I just had to leave it there.

[Vultch]

Elk test (mercedes A class)

I had to swerve quickly on the motorway recently to avoid a collision, I was doing roughly 60 mph.... and believe me ..my SURF caught me unawares and she was all over the shop (lane) until i regained control, there was no damage except for a raised heart rate...Having said that the suspension setting was on soft...now for motorways it sits on hard....

[da SLUG man]

my hub fell off at 60mph on a country road... no worries... bit tricky to stop, cos it had taken the front disc and caliper with it, so i was just pumping fluid out the pipe!

parked perfectly!


people coming the other way seemed quite shook up!


also had a front tyre blow out on a 7.5 tonner on th M40 a few years back... the steering went a bit wobbly while the tyre shredded, but i steered to the hard shoulder quite easily...

as long as you keep your head and don't panic, it's not a big problem...

it's a good reason why the motorway speed limits shouldn't be raised though!

[POPEYE]

When I was in SA, I had a job with their Wildlife society. The boss was away on holiday and so I borrowed the project vehicle for a quick run to the bottle store (aka: The local offie) Anyway I was bombing down a dirt & gravel track leading out of the camp when I had a rear wheel blow-out and we rolled.

The track was a few feet higher than the adjoining fields and I have a fleeting image of the small dog I had in the car (a Toyota Hilux Pickup) fly past my head whilst the horizon turned 180 degrees and we impacted in the adjoining maize field.

Luckily, me and my mate had our belts on and we were unhurt and although the cab was a bit squashed (we were saved by a roll bar behind the cab) when we rolled it back on it's wheels - the engine started first time, problem was that something in the steering was buggered and I just had to leave it there.

Did you ever find the dog?
Not a blow out but i had a bottom swivel part on a marina van at about 50mph, the wheel folded out and i went skidding across the road which was a country road luckily, left a nice gouge in the road though,
Also had a propshaft go on a transit (O.C. Sommers) at about seventy on the A3M, the back uj shattered and it took the rear of the gearbox with it, i just heard this loud bang and the arse end lifted and snaked about, i could see the shaft bounceing along behind me along with a nice streak of oil, luckily again there was no one behind me, it put the wind up me but not half as much as the tow to the depot on a short rope by our looney service bloke,
About two weeks after that he rolled the tow truck on his way to one of our vans and got the boot, F**kin nutcase, Those vans were leathal, surpossed
to be serviced, b0ll0cks, they were always braking down or going off the road (literally) one lost his compressor when it came off and went through a pub wall in gosport, and i lost my comp, tow bar, rear bumper & step as i pulled away, the bl00dy vans were more dangerious than dealing with gas mains

[Maverick]

I had a high speed blow out on a fully loaded trailer three vehicles ago. I was over taking a lorry, and the trailer went airborne for a while, finished my overtake before pulling onto the hard shoulder. It was my own fault as the tyres looked like crazy paving, I'm now absolutly parinod about towing, and check every thing at least three times before pulling off, and have been known to pull over just to check I've taken the handbrake off. Saying that I almost overtook my sister coming home from North Yorshire, and she left 1/2 hour brfore me, and has a 3litre, and I was doing the speed limit the whole way.

[DaveD]

Two weeks after getting my Surf offside front blew on me on M40. Going up through the cut near Lewknor. Doing 80, steering went a bit wobbly, guessed there was something wrong by the lumps of black stuff shooting into the air. Truck driver on inside lane saw what was happening and slowed enough for me to shoot over to hard shoulder.

[Snoop]

my dad had a rear tyre blow out on a Range Rover going through a series of S bends on a B road. Due to the combination of oncoming traffic, road and circumstances it resulted in an awful accident involving multiple vehicles. There was no obvious defect with the tyre in question either, the vehicle was well maintained and my dad was an advanced police driver at the time.

Now everyone in my family is paranoid about tyre conditions and pressures, even though it's not something we would have seen anyway. It's about all you can do - as Mooter says, there are too many variables, but considering those four bits of rubber are the only thing keeping you stuck on the asphalt it's worth looking after them - especially in our cases where we drive a vehicle which has a high centre of gravity and maybe body roll which seriously affects the handling of a car in a skid/drift situation (more prone to snatch back).