Blowout, bad and good luck

[427435]

Took the MH on its first trip this year (600 miles round trip). The tires are Goodyear G670 245-70-19.5 that are now 8 years old. Pressure has always been 5-10 psi over needed (I have weighed it and I check pressures every morning). The MH also sets inside a shed when not in use (little UV exposure) The tires also looked fine inside and out (had a tire booted 2 years ago due to picking up a screw).

We were headed home on Sunday at 67 mph (on cruise) on I94. The LH front tire exploded, and the MH jumped a couple of feet into the passing lane. I got it straightened out and then tapped the brakes to kick off the cruise. Then moved back into my lane and let it slow down (lots of steering needed throughout this process). When it was slowed down enough moved onto the shoulder.

Called our insurance company (Progressive) and they had a couple of guys there in about 40 minutes, and we were on our way again in an hour (glad I had a spare tire even if it was 14 years old). I had considered changing it myself, but I wanted some more flashing lights. I didn't really want to work on the tire without that and without being able to both work and keep an eye on the traffic. We did end up being an hour late for a party!!!

Interesting thing was that the guys only had an impact wrench, some sockets, and some air jacks-------no torque wrench for properly setting the lug torque. I gave them mine (set at the right torque) to use. Their air jack was also too tall to fit under the front axle, so I had to block and use the levelers to get the tire off the ground.

The good luck (besides having a spare and the right tools) was that there was nobody beside us (or on a 2-lane highway). It was also tricky getting the MH straightened out without losing control-------------it would have been very easy to over-correct.

Yes, I know I was pushing the age thing with these tires, but had decided to wait to next year as no long trips were planned this year.

Your experience may be different.

[Dog_Trainer]

PortWentworthSam wrote:
You are very lucky and blessed to come out the other side of this without damage to your m/h, yourselves or others. You seriously need to think about that.

This blow-out could have ended with a horrific crash that could have taken out an entire family leaving a tragic mess behind for others to clean up and live with. Driving with 8 YEAR OLD TIRES just because they look good is irresponsible at best. Especially in a motorhome that outweighs most vehicles on the highway by TONS.

Instead of thinking about "Gettin another year outa these old tires" think about the people you are endangering on the highway and the children you just might kill in a wreck you cause by having dangerous old tires.

I'm sorry to be harsh here. This is a perfect example of people that put their wallet ahead of common sense and safety on the highways.

And where are your facts and figures for the number of people killed and maimed over these blowouts of 8 year old properly cared for and inflated tires ? many tire sites such as Michelin quote 10 years. Please we have enough of these BS non factual posts without this one.

[427435]

Some followup to some of the questions.

I did not hit the gas-------------instinct was to get it straight first.

There was no warning or any tread separation or even a little wandering before the blow-out. I didn't inspect it closely (it's now in the spare tire carrier where it will stay until next spring), but the sidewall was blown out in one area of the tire.

As for age, it sits in an enclosed shed 40+ weeks of the year out of sunlight (and with the jacks down to take the load off things). It normally gets driven a couple of times in the spring and summer and then a 6-8 week trip in the fall. If 6-7 years is the recommended age for MH's that sit outside year-around(where is that written?), shedding should add another year or two. There was also no weather cracking.

There were 48,000 miles on the tires with uniform wear (no rivering). The tread wasn't down to the wear lip between the treads, but getting close.

It has now been winterized and is ready to go back in the shed. Next spring, I will need to do some tire shopping.

[J-Rooster]

Any tire new or old can blowout! You did all the right things in a tough situation! I'm glad everything worked out for you to get safely off the road.

[Daveinet]

One comment about old tires. We really don't know why the tire let go, so there are a lot of assumptions made. Steel belted tires normally fail due to tread separation. On the 3 motorhome tires that I have had blow, all of them gave a small warning before they let loose. The tread began to separate, which caused a small amount of vibration first. The vibration went from noticeable to really bad just before the tire let go. It would useful to know if it was tread separation and if there was a warning vibration first.

[Gotago2]

Glad to hear you all are safe. Last year my wife was not in favor of my spending around $500 for Safe-T-Plus steering assist at a rally. But back in Aug we had a blowout going through Miami on a three lane road doing about 40 MPH. I was in the right lane with cars to my left and a curb to my right. The RF tire blew (sounded like a cannon going off) the MH just kept tracking straight with very little effort from me and I was able to pull into a turning lane before stopping and calling for assistance. Now the DW said next time she sees the salesmen that sold and installed the Safe-T-Plus, she will give him a hug and a thank you.

[7ofus]

For the OP: Let me guess - A hole around the middle of the sidewall and about the size of a silver dollar?

[rgatijnet1]

Good save and minimal trip interruption.
I grew up driving with recaps, since it was a long time before I could afford "new" tires. With recaps, way back when, you sort of got used to blowouts or tread separation. The first thing I learned was when you heard the boom, you floored the throttle. You did not let off of the gas or hit the brakes until you had things under control and then you did things slowly.
I've forgotten how many blowouts I had but some were approaching 100 MPH and I never had any trouble controlling the vehicle to a stop. In some of the televised police chases, you will see the criminal still driving after the spike strips, if he doesn't make any drastic steering or brake inputs.
Have never had a front blowout on a motor home but I'm sure if I do I will use the same response as I did with the recaps.

[TucsonJim]

I'm sure you now see the problem with driving on expired tires, and you'll replace all of them before hitting the road again. But for an additional investment, please consider purchasing a tire pressure monitoring system. If you'd been using one, it MAY have given you an indication that things were amiss before the air elected to escape.

Oh, and don't fall into the trap of putting one of those ancient tires back as the spare. You need fresh tires, even for the spare.

[turbojimmy]

Glad you pulled out of it okay. As a new RV driver, a blow-out is always in the back of my head. I hope if it were to happen I'd have the presence of mind that you did. As others have said, your knee-jerk reaction would be to correct the trajectory. I have 7 new tires (spare included) but that's no guarantee. Anything can happen at any time.

[rvis2005]

EIGHT years old? I'm not the only person that knows this is a very risky proposition. Change your tires at five years for the safety of your family and mine.

Folks there's so much evidence that tells us to change our tires at five years.

I'm glad no one was hurt in this situation.

Tommy

[Chopperbob]

Will they change a inside rear duel? Some won't.
Just saying.

[Bucky1320]

dbates wrote:
Progressive insures under an RV policy not an auto policy so their Road Service is designed for recreational vehicles and covers is about the same as GS. That is why I switch from State Farm to Progressive plus got better other coverage for the same money. I still have State Farm for my toad and home though.

What all is included? I have Progressive, and never saw mention of these services in my RV policy.

[dbates]

Progressive insures under an RV policy not an auto policy so their Road Service is designed for recreational vehicles and covers is about the same as GS. That is why I switch from State Farm to Progressive plus got better other coverage for the same money. I still have State Farm for my toad and home though.

[DoubleVeteran]

Mark, glad you are OK. Pretty scary!

One thing to note; your tires are about 1 year past the recommended 7-year replacement date. If one blew, my bet is the others are pretty close behind. Mine were 10 years old when I bought my rig. I replaced them with Firestone 560's; great riding tires, and a much better value than Goodyear, IMO.

Larry

[PortWentworthSa]

You are very lucky and blessed to come out the other side of this without damage to your m/h, yourselves or others. You seriously need to think about that.

This blow-out could have ended with a horrific crash that could have taken out an entire family leaving a tragic mess behind for others to clean up and live with. Driving with 8 YEAR OLD TIRES just because they look good is irresponsible at best. Especially in a motorhome that outweighs most vehicles on the highway by TONS.

Instead of thinking about "Gettin another year outa these old tires" think about the people you are endangering on the highway and the children you just might kill in a wreck you cause by having dangerous old tires.

I'm sorry to be harsh here. This is a perfect example of people that put their wallet ahead of common sense and safety on the highways.