[IronWolf]

Originally Posted by dreamdiesel

The big gash on the tyre is almost 3 inches long and is on the side wall. Not at the bottom where the tyre has contact on the road. There were 2 people who were trying to convince me that its due to external damage. I made it a point that if it was due to external damage then there must have been a tear at the bottom. I was looking for a complete tyre replacement.. They have some kind of warranty they have about the depth of the threads remaining on the tyre and depending on that the warranty is coevered. They gave a discount of 1k on the same tyre if I intended to purchase one.

Excuses Excuses excuses. Thats all they will give. No one will take ownership. Customer is wrong.

Someone mentioned about staying away from JK and Apollo. I guess thats too late for me.

And they gave a whole 1k off on the replacement tire? lovely.

[watashi75]

Originally Posted by GTO

Your swift swerved not because of a tyre burst, but rather since the two left tyres of your car were on a low-traction surface, while the two on the right had sufficient grip. I have witnessed this sort of a slide several times on our highways, when we take half the car off the road to make way to oncoming traffic.

Yes, this seems to be a more likely reason than a tyre burst. Tubeless tyres don't burst and deflate so dramatically.

[snaronikar]

Good that you and your team are safe and sound. It is always better to stick to the recommended tyre pressure by the car manufacturer. Eg: In Ikon in city drive w/o load, they recommend around 28 & 30 psi. But for long drives with full load, ford recommends 42 and 36 psi. I do keep the same during my long drives.

[docel]

Man !! are you lucky??? That 360 is quite scary , indeed!!! Been in ( and out of ) it myself!!....and coincidence?? the very same JK OEMs!!
I retrofitted the JKs to my 1984 PP ( Premier Padmini, if you guys have forgotten) , tubeless.
The horror trip was from Bangalore-Kuduremukh-Bangalore.

The road was wide, straight at a 5deg slant down and completely empty in front. i was 110 by the old speedo when a drunk ( & at 2pm, too :O) wandered into the road from the left. I honked and he got back a few steps and stopped. Clear road and I carried on. suddenly , the drunk decided to cross the road , afterall....
I rammed the brakes, swerved the car to the right and all hell broke loose:
1. The car lifted off the ground on the right. released the brakes and straightened to ease off the lift . The car levelled and was moving fast into the right side of the road , straight into the gutter. Braked hard and swung the wheel right again. The left wheels on the mud part of the road and the car still swinging right. A loud bang and the RIGHT Front wheel blew out. By now the car was pointed 180deg . Straightened the car and found a bus on the road and me aiming head on to it. Swing the car right again and the left tyre collapsed. The car did a 360 deg from that point on before it stopped, right in the middle of the road.

2. We were 2 in the car- wife & me. Shes pretty much used to these kind of things, during our rallies.

3. The RIGHT front tyre blew out first, although I was turning right , at some good speed. Actually, the tyre was cut about 8" at the shoulder. This was confirmed by the bystanders (including several drivers) & the skid marks on the road. That was where the left tyres were on the mud. Careful examination revealed that the rim had cut the tyre.

4. The LEFT front tyre blew out when I swung the car right. The same cut and at the same place as the Right.

I really dont understand how this can happen. It is logical if they were the LEFT tyres alone, on a right skid.
The tyre pressure was 34; I only inflate at LCD gauge pumps. The tyres had done 60kms on the mother Swift, before the owner changed them to those 'truck tyres'.
The car weight was 1310kgs. , measured 3 hrs later at a weigh bridge.

Someone had an old Fiat and he donated me 2 wheels. He was so happy we survived, that he offered his complete car, if I wanted it. We left the spot an hour after the 540degree spin. There was nothing wrong with the car, whatsoever.

The spin shook me up a bit alright, but the wife was unruffled........till she saw the tyres

I dumped the tyres in the garbage bin after the guys said "whats it doing on a FIAT???". The PP now has 2 brand new discarded JKs on it, and still going fine, after 40k kms.

Funny.....we had 2 Sony handycams , 2 Phone cams and a 7mp Sony -all conveniently dead.

[humyum]

Filling 36 Psi on 185/70/R14 is a big no no.Filling in 29 or 30 in the front and 31 or 32 at the max in the rear is the best,anything more than this and u get a bumpier ride with every small undulation felt in the passenger cabin and on the steering.

[sreenivass]

Originally Posted by dreamdiesel

This incident happened almost 3-4 months back sometime in April 08 on the way to Pondicherry. If I think of it now I shudder about that day and how lucky I was to get out of it unscathed. It was peak summer time. Just before leaving from Bangalore filled up 36 in the front tyres and 33 in the rear as mentioned on the sticker (I run the swift ZXI tyres and alloys on my VDI) for recommended tyre pressure at the shell fuel pump on Hosur road.

....................
I guess that was my luckiest day till date.. Maybe I should have rushed to a lottery shop and got a couple of lottery tickets. I sure would have hit the jackpot!!!

36 seems pretty high, added to that the air pumps show lower value than really filled. I am glad to came out without a scratch.

Please check the max pressure your tires can handle, it is generally printed on tires.

[dreamdiesel]

My Swift VDI initially came with 165/80/R14 and during delivery I upgraded to 185/70/R14. The company recommended tyre pressure on the B pillar recommends 36psi in front and 33psi for rear. I used to refer this any time i fill air.

But I have recently noticed on the Swift Dzire the sticker on the B pillar has different recommended tyre pressure for both 165/80/R14 and 185/70/R14. I dont remember the exact figures. But now I maintain a safe 33psi in the front and 31psi for rear.

In Swift Diesel the tyre pressure in the front is more than the rear coz of the extra weight in the front.

[udaydesai]

Machine that had fill air must be faulty. It happen with me,i filled up my zen and was not happy about it so did a check at next petrol pump, i was suprised to find my tyre pressure was 36 psi

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by dreamdiesel

185/70/R14

Have upgraded the tyres to this size in Swift, can anyone help me with the right tyre pressure for this size? I guess for Zxi its less than 33 PSI, which is recommended for Vxi and Lxi (165/80/R14)

[watashi75]

Recommended tyre pressure for Swift ZXi with 185/70/R14 tubeless is 29 psi, both front and back.

[Ice]

Originally Posted by GTO

Dreamdiesel, I am glad that you & the other occupants of your car got away unscathed. Undivided Indian highways pose unique challenges.

From your description above, here is what I think happened : Your swift swerved not because of a tyre burst, but rather since the two left tyres of your car were on a low-traction surface, while the two on the right had sufficient grip. I have witnessed this sort of a slide several times on our highways, when we take half the car off the road to make way to oncoming traffic.

I think GTO is spot-on here. tubeless tyres don't burst. Tubed tyres burst when the tube within the tyre gets punctured (much like a balloon), and the force of the deflation forces a gash in the tyre wall.
But tubed tyres don't have tubes. Hence, the sudden, explosive deflation does not occur. In fact, this is touted as the biggest reason to go for tubeless tyres.

Its very likely that the dual-traction levels caused the incident.

Thank God you guys are ok, though!

[aah78]

Originally Posted by Ice

tubeless tyres don't burst.

Actually, a deflated tubeless tyre with a worn sidewall will burst if you try to fill it up.
With a nice loud BOOM!

If you're driving on a worn tubeless tyre, the internal pressure (as well all know) increases due to heat and this can cause the tire to explode.

[Ice]

Originally Posted by aah78

Actually, a deflated tubeless tyre with a worn sidewall will burst if you try to fill it up.
With a nice loud BOOM!

If you're driving on a worn tubeless tyre, the internal pressure (as well all know) increases due to heat and this can cause the tire to explode.

I stand corrected. Assumed that the tyres were in good condition, but you know what they say about assuming anything....

[dreamdiesel]

Originally Posted by watashi75

Recommended tyre pressure for Swift ZXi with 185/70/R14 tubeless is 29 psi, both front and back.

But what about the Swift D on 185/70/R14 tubeless? The front is heavier.

[Danindica]

It was the weight. Most of our small cars are fully loaded and ought to be driven in the spirit of a people mover at three passengers and luggage.

(Five people + good luggage + fuel + curve + road edge + 90kmph) - (only repairs and a 30%discount) = some really good karma

Not making light of your "driving event". Had a tire blowout myself once and know what a shock it is.