Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Road Safety (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-safety/)

-   -   How to handle (and prevent) a Tyre Burst / Blowout (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/road-safety/128829-how-handle-prevent-tyre-burst-blowout-24.html)

Hello all

I had a tyre blowout on Mysore express way last week and providentially I could pull over to the left most lane. The car was Innova fully loaded with 5 adults and luggage riding on Michelin 205/65 R15 energy XM2. I had 3 elderly passengers too.

Mysore expressway is a nightmare if there is a puncture or any other emergency. No shoulder space at all ! Luckily there was a tow vehicle passing by and the good Samaritans instantly got down to work and helped change to the spare.

The affected tyre is not usable and the spare has cracked as well due to prolonged non usage

Now these tyres are not available in the market. The dilemma is the three good tyres have hardly 12k on them. So question 1. Can I change two tyres alone to a different brand - in here either Yoko or Conti of the same rating... 2. between Conti and Yoko which comes closest to Michelin in-terms of road noise and comfort? 3. Any other suggestion?

Thanks much.

(Mods: I had posted in the choosing right tire section too. Pls delete it there. Apologies for the inconvenience)

Get the new tyres at the rear as the Innova is RWD. Other 3 can be inspected & better ones put up on the front & the last one as stepney/ spare. Just to save life of stepney/ spare, get it checked & inflated at regular intervals.

For brand of tyres, I prefer Continentals, but the forum swears by Yokos. It boils down to personal choice & maybe few more suggestions.

PS : you may move your post to Tyres section too.

Thanks much, replaced the rear tyres with Conti UC, sourced from Tyresnmore. Seamless experience, from calling to getting the tyre replaced at the door steps, took about 4 hours!

Drove the car for 25 kms on airport road to check on the comfort and road noise. Pleased so far.

With this experience, I would recommend everyone to check tyre pressure and condition before entering MEW- especially on the return journey. I always do that, but missed it this time, and paid the price.

How old was the blowout tyre and how many kms it had covered till then?

The tyres were replaced in April 2021. And have approximately 12~14k Km’s on them.

Hi Subbu,

This might sound a little impolite but in the interest of all passengers and your safety, please don't take it otherwise. I'm curious to know the implied meaning of your sentence that when you say that good Samaritans helped in changing the spare do you mean that you didn't have the tools to change the tire or you were not aware of changing one by yourself. Considering that most of us here drive our cars more frequently and extensively ourselves both on highways and otherwise, also when we have women and elders isn't it wise to check the below?
1. Puncture kit
2. Checking the spare wheel before we go on a journey even if it is a known and frequented one.
3. This might sound utterly ridiculous but knowing the route would probably be handy, of course on pure hindsight.

I'm not judging you at all and please forgive me if I have it wrong. Its' just the thought of this happening during late evenings and on stretches other than dual carriageways or highways then what would be the recourse one would take which drove me to think of the above. Also, I'm being intrigued in true BHPian spirit which over the years has not only made me identify blindspots in my day-to-day approach and learn a lot of new things but also change a few habits too. Cheers

Hi,

Where did I say I did not have kit / did not know to change? It looks like I may have implied so. It was a stroke of luck that an emergency vehicle was passing by, they stopped, changed and went in about 10 minutes! Thats all there is to it. What I meant by check before you enter MEW was- check the pressure and visually for any potential issue. Yes not to have checked the condition of the spare was a mistake, but the fact is it still served the purpose

I hope this helps.

Tyre companies say that bursts are more likely in underinflated tyres than overinflated ones. @admins! May I please post a poll to validate?

Poll: What was your last filled tyre pressure before it burst?
Less than 30
30-35
35-40
40+

As a newbie on this forum I don't have access to create polls.

Well that's the general consensus. An under-inflated tyre, let's say 25 PSI, has more sidewall flex than one which is inflated to 45 PSI. Over long distances and high speeds, this flex weakens the sidewall + generates much higher heat due to friction. If you ever get a chance to drive on a punctured tyre for a while, just feel the sidewalls with your bare hand when you stop for repair. Compare the temperature to other tyres and you'll see a noticeable difference. This variation amplifies when high speeds are involved, and the building air pressure inside has nowhere to go but escape through the weakest spot in the tyre. This is what leads to a sudden blowout without any external impact to the tyre. Under-inflation is a more likely cause in these cases than overinflation, although the actual blowout cause is a really high pressure buildup in the tyre. Overinflation on its own, without any external impact or a weak point in the sidewall, has lesser chances of causing tyre blowouts.

Mixed opinions do not validate anything. It would be just counting up opinions. A single well-informed post is worth so much more. self-driven has done it.
Indeed, under-inflated tyres "suffer" more than correct-pressure tyres.

Tangentially, I learnt something new about tyres yesterday. I was asking the internet about at what age they should be replaced, regardless of remaining tread depth, for comfort as well as safety. The internet says 5 years, and so does my trusted FNG. But it also told me that unused tyres harden quicker than used tyres. If new tyres have sat in a godown for a year, they have done more hardening than they would have done on a vehicle.

Punctures are extremely common. Thankfully, dramatic blowouts are relatively rare.

I had always wondered what a tyre blowout would feel like. Well, last week while coming back to BLR from Goa, i found out.
My Jeep Compass Firestone tyres are mid 2019 vintage but had run only 36k km (car was bought in dec 2019) The front left had seen 2 punctures a few years back but otherwise from visual inspection things looked fine.
Somewhere around Chitradurg, after driving continuously for 4 hours at speeds between 90 to 120, on the right most lane while overtaking - suddenly the front left dipped and luckily i was able to maneuver the car to a stop on the left most lane while avoiding 2 cars. Luck definitely played a part in this otherwise things could have gotten complicated.
On inspection, the two old punctures had come come undone again and the tyre got 1 or 2 more cuts at the treads. Was very surprised and after changing the tyre with an unused spare, went to the tyre shop further along the road for inspection. Initially, i thought that maybe it was over inflation of tyres but the other 3 were at 32 psi after cooling down a bit.

I guess this is down to the age of the tyre (close to 5yrs 8 months from manufacture) hence have decided to replace all 4 with new Goodyear Wranglers.

Edit: On a side note, the spare is the same spec 98H tyre (rated to 210kmph) on a steel rim, but the manufacturer has put a sticker to keep it below 120 kmph. Wondering what could be the logic for that.

Thanks for that detail. It explains why Maruti Suzuki recomments a 5psi higher pressure for extended high speed driving. Will be careful when I hit the highway next :thumbs up