Blew out a tire - tire light works!

[TmanP]

The family (me along with my parents and sisters) is on a 13 day road trip from MN to the west and back across New Mexico and Texas. I was driving on I-20 west of Shreveport when the TPMS light popped on in the Sienna. I planned to pull over at the next exit to check things out. Within 10 seconds, a low whining noise came from the rear of the van, getting progressively louder. I then felt a gentle pull to the right and started to smell smoke. I popped on the hazards and eased to 60 mph, then worked my way onto the shoulder. I stopped amid a cloud of smoke. My dad and I went to survey the damage: the tire was essentially gone, and the hubcap had fallen off and disappeared. The back bumper partially popped off. The rear half of the van was covered in black dust and I noticed a gouge in the paint near the window from a tire shard. I started loosening the lug nuts but was unable to get 4 of the 5 off: one lug nut snapped off entirely just from trying to remove it by standing on the wrench. (I weigh 140 pounds and was unable to loosen the nuts by standing on the end of the wrench. I suspect over tightening to the tune of 150-200 ft.lbs.). The Sienna received a tire rotation just last week from the Ford dealer… also, the tires were Michelin Defenders that were a year and a half old with 30-40k miles on them. Still 4-5/32nds worth of tread on them. We got a tow to town and were situated at a hotel within 2 hours. It was fairly scary but I was glad to have kept control and stayed calm. Unfortunately, in the hour we waited for the tow, many people failed to move to the opposite lane for us (maybe 1/3 or 1/2), and some even honked at us, even though I was five or so feet off the road. I'm not sure what caused the blowout, as the tires seemed fine and I don't remember hitting any debris. After a tow to a tire shop and a few hours we were on our way. ($100 for a used tire to get us home, and three wheel studs - they broke another two trying to remove them.) It seems the lug nuts were far over 80 ft lbs... oh well!

 

[Warstud]

I seen alot of blow outs on my way home from work Friday.....it was around 100 degrees outside.

 

[maxdustington]

I think you got pretty lucky the tire shards did not do any serious damage to the quarter panel, bumper or perhaps even the brake line. I've read about cars wiping out the QP when the tire pops while doing a burnout.

 

[Starman2112]

That could've been a lot worse. Glad everyone is okay.

 

[eljefino]

Take your receipt to the ford dealer that screwed up. They might be able to hook you up with something. Maybe a free oil change for a beater. I wouldn't use them for anything nice though.

 

[Patrick0525]

Scary and I am glad everyone is ok. For 5 yrs, I packed an electric impact wrench and recently needed to put it use for a similar event. It was handy. Out of curiosity, was the spare tire properly inflated?

 

[skyactiv]

I was taught when I had to get my CDL for UPS that when you blow a tire on a semi, you floor it.

Narrated by a former Nascar driver.

 

[atikovi]

Maybe if you're the only one on the road.

 

[michaelluscher]

Originally Posted by skyactiv
I was taught when I had to get my CDL for UPS that when you blow a tire on a semi, you floor it.

Narrated by a former Nascar driver.



Why does this seem like a terrible idea on a FWD car/minivan, crossover?

 

[doitmyself]

Glad that everything turned out o.k.. I would be concerned that the rest of the lug nuts are also over-tightened with possibly damaged studs (stretched). Proceed cautiously.

 

[Virtus_Probi]

Glad things worked out OK!
I posted here a couple days ago about a blowout occurring on I93 in NH when we were coming back from a quick 4th trip...the tire separated as an intact hoop and ended up hitting the MB that had shed it after it pulled over. I was freaking out slightly because a semi was maybe 2 vehicles behind the MB in the right lane and we were kinda trapped next to it, but everybody stayed in control and we had no issues.

 

[JMJNet]

Glad things work out.

When a tire blow out like that then driven with just the wheel, the lug nuts tend to tighten up a lot.
I experienced it with a friends car with a flat when I helped her put on the spare at home, which means she drove it for a few miles with a flat.
At least she was not on a freeway at >60mph.

 

[user52165]

Very inconsistent quality on those Michelin Defenders.

 

[oldhp]

The dealer who rotated your tires should loosen and re-torque all the lug nuts. That's stupid.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted by michaelluscher
Originally Posted by skyactiv
I was taught when I had to get my CDL for UPS that when you blow a tire on a semi, you floor it.

Narrated by a former Nascar driver.



Why does this seem like a terrible idea on a FWD car/minivan, crossover?


Floor it on a big rig that has a load and it's going to... well accelerate is probably not the right term, but certainly counter the extra drag. Smaller vehicle, yeah I agree, floor it would be bad, no need to drop down a few gears (automatic trans going to do that). Different kinds of vehicles, different response.

 

[billt460]

I seen alot of blow outs on my way home from work Friday.....it was around 100 degrees outside.

High temperatures are one of the reasons that most of people out here that I talk to, run at or near max pressure on a warmed up tire. When it's 115F in the shade, you are looking at pavement temperatures in the stratosphere. (Especially on blacktop).

The less flexing the tire does, the cooler it runs..... That is assuming you want to call running in those kind of temperatures, "cool".