a little info about tires...

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

OK...everyone has heard about the Firestone rollovers on SUV's but the real problem doesn't just effect SUV's or Firestone...

I had it happen to me this weekend...first...I am really good about taking care of my vehicles...do all the recommended service plus...I had even looked closely at all my tires sidewalls last week and checked all the air pressures...

The tires that are on my truck are the ones that came on it when it was new...I didn't really like them (#1) they are Firestones and #2) smaller than I really wanted)...I decided when the truck was new to go ahead and get some wear out of them before changing them out...anyway they had 48,000 miles on them but had tons of tread left and I couldn't see any visible circumferential sidewall cracks...

The real problem with the "new" tires is that all the manufacturers got in a "mileage" war a few years back...part of the way they got all that mileage was to make the tread part of the tire extremely hard...plus they softened the sidewalls to absorb some of the stress...which created a new problem...bonding this "hard" tread section to the softer "inner" tire...and it is very difficult to tell when a tire is worn out...you rarely ever see tread getting worn off anymore unless they are high performance "soft" tires that you are supposed to change every 25,000 miles...

Everything I learned growing up about tires is now wrong...at one time you could just look at the tread on a tire and know to replace it...they had "tread depth" markers that once you got to those you knew to replace it...another way if you wanted to really push one to the limit was to use a lincoln penny and insert it (top of the head first) in the tread...if you could still see Lincolns head from the side then the tire was "legal"...state inspections still use this standard...

anyway...We did a little day trip up to Salado Saturday...a little shopping and then lunch...then back to SA...I was sailing back through Austin on the upper deck in the left hand lane...(typical Austin traffic running 75 mph bumper to bumper) when my left rear tire slung the tread off...it literally just came unwrapped...it got very exciting there for a few seconds...it did $1600 damage to my truck in about a second...I am just lucky that #1) it was on the back...and #2) it didn't even blow out...just slung the tread off...

If I had blown out a front tire instead you would have been reading about me in the paper Sunday morning for causing a 20 car pileup...even if I didn't roll...

I actually drove on the tire for several miles (without any tread) getting off the freeway so that I could change it without getting killed...

on further inspection with a magnifying glass I found tiny little circumferential cracks on my other tires right at the corner of the tires where they "touch" the ground...not even down where the tread is bonded to the inner core (which is where these new tires normally show that they are breaking down)...and that is exactly where the other tire failed...

anyway...

the moral of this story is to:

#1) check your tire sidewalls with a MAGNIFYING GLASS...not just visually...and do it TODAY....

#2) if you have ANY cracks get them checked out by a professional...you CANNOT judge by tread depth...I still have over 1/2" of tread on these tires and they are history...

#3) New tires are expensive but you and your loved ones lives are irreplacable...if you have sidewall cracks at all...REPLACE THEM...they will fail at the very WORST time....

OK...I'm off my soapbox...

BTW...if you replace your tires I am told that (at least on truck tires) that Michelin and B. F. Goodrich are the best out there as far as having good strong sidewalls and the best tread/tire bond...Firestone/Bridgestone are the worst...

[ducks]

somebody is waiting for basketball season to start

[MannyIsGod]

glad yopu were able to control it.

i had a front blowout a few years ago on 35, bridgestone tires. it was fucking scary, but i was in a car and was able to control everything.

my escort came with bf goodrich tires, and although the tread depth is still great, i'm changing them soon because i already have 60k on them, and they are showing signs of sidewall wear.

cc is right on though, you need to keep track of your tires especially if you drive a truck/suv.

[CosmicCowboyXXX]

somebody is waiting for basketball season to start

you've obviously never had the pleasure of a high speed blowout...I blew a front tire on my vette at 90 once and am just damn lucky I had three lanes wide to get that bitch stopped...

[ClintSquint]

http://www.adage.com/century/graphics/icon_michman.gif
"I totally agree! There's so much riding on your tires."

[Useruser666]

I orginally had one of the Firestone recalled tires on an old '92 ford F150 but had since replaced them many times. The last replacement I bought were Wilderness AT's. Then the recall came out and sure enough those were on the list too. Since the truck originally had tires on the list and since the tires on there now were on the list, I got a check for $480.00 bucks and went out and bought 5 brand new tires with that. So, in other words, thank you Firestone!!!.

Incidently, I put some Goodyear AT's on that same truck and had 2 of the steel belts break on them which was only discovered after replacement.

Anyone know if the Goodyear MT/R's are any good?

Useruser666 :eyebrow

[Shelly]

When I got my rims we had Dunlops. We were driving back from CA and heard this noise but thought we had hit some tire piece on the freeway (it was dark). Didn't see anything wrong with the tire and when were about in BFE Fort Stockton the next day, we kept hearing this weird noise. Pulled over didn't see anything. Hear it again, pull over and I had this huge chunck of tread missing from my rear passenger tire. Luckily, we had a full size spare. Switched to Kumhos and had no problems (minus bent rims :( ). Stock rims have Pirelli tires.

Glad no one was hurt, CC!

[sportcamper1]

Well here is my opinion...take it for what it is worth...I have seen the introduction of radial tires & the big push in the 70's...I worked as an alignment mechanic while in college...Michelin was the only tire manufacture at the time that did not have problems...

Firestone & the famous 721’s were exploding on a regular basis....They came up with a cool name....”Tread separation”... The reality is that as a Firestone tire ages the rear tire that drives the car.... (Even though your truck may have limited slip) wears down...Then blows up often without warning...COOL HUH?

I have been having blow outs with Firestone tires since my 1st F-150 back in 1981...I just experienced tread separation on a set of Desert Duelers with 20,000 miles on them on an older Chevy Suburban...The tires were 8 years old...The car sits in the garage most of the time & the sidewalls just weakened...

I think Bridgestone tires (even though gobbled up by Firestone) generally are excellent tires & that the Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo Tires are the best truck tires I have ever owned....They are now on my 454 Suburban...

www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Dueler+A%2FT+Revo& (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Dueler+A%2FT+Revo&)