Blow front tire, what do you do?

[whporwil]

If you saw the video last week of the Class A blowing a tire and going off the road. I'd like to hear what is the right way to react. I've heard don't use your breaks, what's the answer?

[427435]

rgatijnet1 wrote:
You guys must think you are driving dragsters instead of a Class A because you seem to be afraid of using the accelerator. Actually flooring any Class A, either diesel or a gasser, may just barely make up for the extra drag of the flat tire. 427435 mentioned about swerving a few feet to the left when you had your blowout. Might have been a problem if you had a truck next to you. From my experience, flooring it will offset the drag just enough so that you don't drift a few feet to the left.

First, there's usually 4' or more between vehicles on a 4 lane highway.

Second, the move to the left happened far quicker than anyone's reflexes.

Third, the steering wheel is in my hands and I can quickly use it. My foot is usually not on the accelerator (CC in use).

Bottom line, a driver's first effective reaction is to make proper use of the steering wheel-------------not think about looking for the accelerator.

[rgatijnet1]

Advice from one more expert. Driving through a blowout

[Cloud_Dancer]

Now that you've thought about it, here's how it sits,.....sez me:
At the very first indication of an unusual yaw, if you do not instantly, automatically, intuitively tighten your grip on the steering wheel, AND decisively apply appropriate amount of turning force on the steering wheel in the direction that counters the yaw (give you 2 seconds),....you'll be in more trouble than you thought.
The repeated instructions by the experts to press on the accelerator is motivated by the fact that they know you'll instantly react with your feet, AND they know it's better to train yourself to NOT press on the brake pedal, therefore they want you to press the accelerator. They know that at cruising speed your motorhome is really not going to noticeably accelerate. But, if you at least just keep the power where it was (until you establish CONTROL of the vehicle) your chances of completing the mission will be excellent.
Think in terms of how you would program a robot driver. Relax, have a good time.
Except, at some point, big brother will tell you that your days of driving a big motorhome are over. That's probably 15 years away for me.....:B

[rgatijnet1]

You guys must think you are driving dragsters instead of a Class A because you seem to be afraid of using the accelerator. Actually flooring any Class A, either diesel or a gasser, may just barely make up for the extra drag of the flat tire. 427435 mentioned about swerving a few feet to the left when you had your blowout. Might have been a problem if you had a truck next to you. From my experience, flooring it will offset the drag just enough so that you don't drift a few feet to the left.

[427435]

Blaster Man wrote:
On my blowout, there was no violent pulling to the right, just some shaking of the wheel, and a slight tugging to the right. JMHO, but since I went through this, I don't care what the "experts" say, the last thing I wanted was more speed, so accelerating made no sense and never crossed my mind. As an old helicopter and airplane pilot, maintaining control was my first thought, slowing and getting off the road the second thought.

X2

No amount of gas pedal will make up for proper steering to regain control.

[Blaster_Man]

On my blowout, there was no violent pulling to the right, just some shaking of the wheel, and a slight tugging to the right. JMHO, but since I went through this, I don't care what the "experts" say, the last thing I wanted was more speed, so accelerating made no sense and never crossed my mind. As an old helicopter and airplane pilot, maintaining control was my first thought, slowing and getting off the road the second thought.

[jwmII]

The Michelin video on how to handle a blowout is excellent advice but even that won't help you if you are not doing a thing or two ahead of time. Don't drive bored. Just sitting there daydreaming with one hand or less on the wheel isn't going to help you. Drive with both hands on the wheel. When that front tire (front in particular) blows, All kinds of things are going to happen. That particular corner of the vehicle is going to drop and a lightly held steering wheel is going to spin in the direction of the blown tire and the vehicle will be headed off of the road and across the median or into trees or off into a canyon before you will be able to gain any semblance of control. At least with both hands on the wheel and with the driver maintaining a fair degree of alert they might be able to hold the vehicle somewhat in its own lane and apply the throttle, or whatever to get the thing straight and under control.
It doesn't matter how new your tires are. New stuff fails too.
Safety First. Accidents don't happen, They are caused.

[Cloud_Dancer]

Driving a vehicle on public streets and highways is a very responsible job. In case it's a large motorhome with passengers, even more so.
Let the experiences of other drivers be a lesson, every time you hear about it. All you can do is train yourself to be the driver who can handle emergencies. Put yourself in "responsible mode". Talk to yourself,.....ask yourself, "what if....., what will I do?" Do you do this all the time you're driving your motorhome down the interstate, at 65 to 75 mph? In my case, yes I try my best to do it. And, in my case it's at 65 mph.
But, perhaps I have an advantage. Intentionally, and/or by happenstance, I learned to NOT be startled/surprised whenever something happens suddenly. Also, I learned to relax while driving at high alertness,....and the same while flying a high-performance aircraft.
Many cumulative hours in a full-motion flight simulator, while training how to handle all kinds of emergencies, really works for preparing real-life emergencies. I can attest it works for me.
I've also handled a few tire failures at high speed in racecars.
And, I managed one front tire blowout while driving a Tiffin Allegro, with General tires. Also, I had a rear-inner tire failure on my first motorhome, an old Winnebago on a Dodge chassis.
Now, if I screw up a front blowout while driving my big Dutch Star, and I live,.....I'll let you know.

[427435]

Four pages worth, but I'll bet that there isn't one person in ten that will think to hit the accelerator when a front tire blows (big explosion) and the MH jumps one way a couple of feet. Especially not if the MH is on CC.

More important to remember to not hit the brakes. Concentrate, instead, on steering and avoiding over steering.

[Cloud_Dancer]

Orbital physics is the hardest for people to conceptually comprehend, just try to explain the difference between centrifugal and centripetal, and/or gyroscopic.
In event of a front-tire blowout in a motorhome, it seems like intuition drives you to immediately apply the brakes. If you do, you probably will be guilty of asking these forces to work against you. Of course, there are other forces that come into play, one of which is gravity. Since all the weight of the vehicle is resting on all the inflated tires, this means that if a front tire is deflated, there is a weight shift towards the opposite front tire and the same-side rear tire(s). In this case, if power is applied to the drive tires, the vehicle will have a tendency to yaw away from the deflated tire. Whereas, if power is removed from the drive tires, the yaw tendency will be the opposite. More the reason to not even touch the brake pedal, especially if the vehicle is in cruise control when the front tire is suddenly deflated.
In short, how the driver reacts to a blown front tire might determine whether there's an accident, or an incident.

[msmith1199]

koda55 wrote:
The reason you push the accelerator to the floor is not to pick up speed. You only push it momentarily to lift the weight off the front so you can get control. If your rv did not instantly pull to the side that the tire blew on you were fortunate. Every vehicle I have driven always pulled to the bad tire side.

To lift weight off the front? I understand the theory behind that, but DP's aren't known for their swift acceleration. I really can't see a lot of weight being lifted off the front by flooring it.

[MPond]

koda55 wrote:
The reason you push the accelerator to the floor is not to pick up speed. You only push it momentarily to lift the weight off the front so you can get control. If your rv did not instantly pull to the side that the tire blew on you were fortunate. Every vehicle I have driven always pulled to the bad tire side.

I doubt that accelerating at highway speeds in most class A motorhomes will lift any weight off the front tires.

The reason you step on the accelerator is because the centripetal force of a tire accelerating or maintaining speed (not decelerating from the drag of the blown tire) is a stabilizing force that helps the vehicle continue straight ahead.

It's the same force that keeps bicycles and motorcycles upright and balanced on 2 wheels.

[gemert]

Blaster Man wrote:
I had a blow out last week on I 55, south of Joliet, IL. Going 60 with the cruise on...35k diesel pusher, with 295/80R22.5 tires...right front blew. The last thing I wanted was more speed, so I tapped the cruise off and slowed to a safe speed before getting off the road. The most dangerous part of the whole experience was awaiting Good Sam with the street side of the coach 18" from bumper to bumper 18 wheelers. The curb side of the coach was as far off the road as I could get it...next to a 45 degree embankment. There was no control issue, therefore, increasing speed would have done more harm than good.

Not an expert but your cruise control probably added some power initially to compensate for the drag on the blown tire. That power probably helped you not lose control. Just a thought!

[koda55]

The reason you push the accelerator to the floor is not to pick up speed. You only push it momentarily to lift the weight off the front so you can get control. If your rv did not instantly pull to the side that the tire blew on you were fortunate. Every vehicle I have driven always pulled to the bad tire side.