Blown steer tire!

[JohnEd]

Dallas,

Along those lines of thought:  I recently read a post where a guy related his hair raising tale of a front tire blowout at 70 MPH.  He said that one of the things that experience taught him was that adrenalin is BROWN.  Well, I peed a little after figuring out what the heck that meant.

John

[Busted Knuckle]

Bryce, I don't understand your point about trying to make a tire dealer take responsiblity for a tire that you think is questionable.  I don't understand why your dealer has a say in when you replace a tire.  Do you lease the tires?    Are they responsible for replacing them  at no cost to you if you damage them on the road?

I guess I feel that the operator is responsible for what happens more than a few miles down the road from an inspection.  I think what you're saying is that as the operator, you've taken that responsibility and called a tire into question, then the dealer tries to talk you out of not running that tire.  That I just don't understand unless it's their tire and they are taking the financial hit.  My tire dealer would roll out a new one and hand me the bill, he sure wouldn't try to talk me out of it!

EDIT:  just wanted to understand!  I confess I had a bit of a brain fart and totally didn't think that BK's tires would of course be under warranty!  I apologise if my note above sounded wrong to anyone.  

Brian

Brian no offense taken.
Those who know me know me well, and no that when I pay good $ to keep top notch tires on our coaches (especially the steers as noted above) I expect quality service!
I am anal about drivers curbing them or running them low on pressure, etc.! We check them in the shop on a regular basis for pressure and wear! I also have a tested usable gauge on every bus, and all my drivers know if they even think a tire is low, I expect them to check it!
If and when we see a problem, or even a slight blemish I personally take the wheel & tire to my local tire guy for his "professional opinion!" (Keep in mind he doesn't sell me my tires, just does the mounting, and balancing, So he's got no financial loss or gain in this!)
If he says there is a problem or he doesn't trust it, I have him dismount the tire and it goes for a 50 mile ride to the distributor where I buy them direct!
If they claim (as they used too all the time until they got to know me and how persuasive I tend to get) "aw there ain't no problem with that tire, go ahead and run it, if something happens we'll stand behind it!"
After 2 failures on tags (if I think it's got a problem it don't go back on the steers!) They learned I mean it when I tell'm "put it in writing, be sure to note the tire brand, size, date of mfg, serial # and that you take 100% responsibility!"
Both times I had them say there wasn't a problem I had trouble one the tread came off, and the other time the side wall blew out!
I ain't asking the distributor to cover old worn out tires, but if it's still on the steer of one of my buses, you can bet YOUR bus it's still under warranty! (and that is a fact you can bank on!)
I've had older tires blow out on the tags or drives too, but those are tires that ran out of warranty long before.

Is it possible the tire was fine & it was the rim that failed?

If the bead cracked, that could have made the 'boom' that your dad heard. It would have been very difficult to see the crack in the rim - especially if it was from the inside & hadn't worked all the way thru (which it hadn't since the tire was still holding air when your dad looked at it).


Rims fail too - sometimes as a material flaw, sometimes from damage inflicted during mounting/ dismounting, sometimes just hitting a pot hole just wrong, sometimes it is from cosmic ray arrival.

Glad no one was hurt & it was a short delay.
Sometimes, it pays to be a good boy scout & Be Prepared!

Kyle it was the inside side wall that blew! But rest assured the wheel will be examined and a new valve stem installed before a new tire goes back on it!
  BK 

[letz4wheel]

I have had 3 steer blowouts in 17 years of driving trucks. Funny this is...none of them were fun! Glad all was well in this case!

[luvrbus]

FWIW, in my travels across the US I would say 95% of the blowouts and flats on trucks and buses on the side of the interstate it is always on the steers why?.



good luck

[bevans6]

they are loaded heavier per tire than the tags or duals?  The steer tires have a lot more side loading, and get curbed more often?  Just a thought.

Brian

[trucktramp]

FWIW, in my travels across the US I would say 95% of the blowouts and flats on trucks and buses on the side of the interstate it is always on the steers why?.



good luck

I think this is because when a steer tire lets go you stop and cannot go any further until it is repaired.  When a dual lets go there is still another tire to carry the weight.  Most trucking companies would rather avoid the wait and road service costs and have the driver limp into the closest tire shop. 

During my time on the road I was lucky.  I never lost a steer tire  because I watched my steers like a hawk.  Just lost drives or trailer tires.   Most all of those were repaired at the closest tire repair/truck stop.  I have seen many that have lost steer tires and sometimes it was not pretty.  Often they were in the middle of the highway (commedian strip) sometimes on their side because they reacted incorrectly.

[Busted Knuckle]

FWIW, in my travels across the US I would say 95% of the blowouts and flats on trucks and buses on the side of the interstate it is always on the steers why?.
good luck

Clifford,
I believe Trucktramp hit the nail on the head!
Back in the day when I was trucking all but the dumbest of the dumb would limp into the next tire shop to get a dual fixed!
The dumbest of the dumb would drive on it (usually unnoticed) until the other blew! Then they had no choice to sit and wait for a service truck!
Even the mega fleets were saved by the smart dispatchers & shop foremen making the rookies driver slowly to the nearest place of repair!
FWIW   BK 

[bevans6]

The only time I blew a tire was on a school bus full of kids, an inside rear.  I just called dispatch, they sent another bus and they drove it back to the yard to fix.

Brian

[buswarrior]

Blowing a steer tire can be a routine event, if you handle it right!

http://www.michelintruck.com/michelintruck/toolbox/videos-demos.jsp#TheCriticalFactorCD

physics can be a wonderful thing, if you use it to your advantage.

happy coaching!
buswarrior