Team-BHP - Montero Tyre Burst. 4 Killed !

"Dr Shivinder Singh Sandhu (50), and his wife Manveen Sandhu (46), principal of Spring Dale Senior School and director of Punarjyot, died in a car accident near Bikaner in Rajasthan this afternoon.

While Dr Sandhu and his wife died on the spot, Baldev Sohi, his cousin from the UK, and their friend Ajay Singh Pandit, a journalist, succumbed to their injuries in Prince Bijay Memorial Hospital, Bikaner. Eyewitnesses told The Tribune from Bikaner that a tyre of the car they were travelling burst and the vehicle fell into a ditch at Gazner village, 30 km from Bikaner."

The Car was a New Gen- Montero (May 2008)
Is this possible that a car with such great off-road heritage and known for its ability to transverse continents can fail due to a tyre burst ?

I thought tyre burst was a thing of the past , but on seeing this, I don't think stringent quality checks are done by the manufacturers and such incidents are more than unbelievable on cars that cost nearly half a crore !

Please put light on this topic .please:

It depends on the maintainence by the owner. If he has ignored his tyres or decided to run on worn tyres thinking nothing will happen, this is bound to happen.

I met a customer some time back who was planning a road trip to Rajasthan from B'lore. His Elantra had 3 bad tyres. Two were completely worn and the tread on one was sheared off by a glass piece and he was running it using a tube(in a tubeless tyre).

He refused to spend the 16k for 4 new tyres that would keep him safe. He was like "I'll come back from the trip and then change the tyres".

In this case, if the tyres were overinflated, or the tyres were damaged to begin with or the tyre hit an obstacle on the road, the tyre could have burst.

In this case, being a new car, it must be that the tyres were wrongly inflated. Typical situation if you check tyre pressure in (a) non-automatic air dispensers, (b) fill in or release air when the tyres are hot, as would happen during long drives.

As a precaution, I never check air pressure during my long highway drives, until I have come to a complete halt and the tyre has had at least 1-2 hours to cool down. I also never check at the roadside air shops because their meters are invariably wrong.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hvkumar (Post 1129674)

(a) non-automatic air dispensers,
(b) fill in or release air when the tyres are hot, as would happen during long drives.

I stopped filling air when the tyres were hot after seeing this advice in our forum

As pointed out its better to run as it is rather than checking air in a non-automatic air dispensers

Quote:

Originally Posted by hvkumar (Post 1129674)

... I also never check at the roadside air shops because their meters are invariably wrong.

Not sure if you have mentioned this elsewhere, HV, but where do you think is the best place? Or rather, let me ask you, how do you ensure that the reading is right?

I use once of those pen-type pressure gauge sticks. Do you think they are right?

I normally find the automatic dispenses correct, since I cross-check with 2 different pumps in my city and both of them match.

I also carry my own tyre pressure meter, but unfortunately their quality is so bad that they also get decalibrated after some time. I also have a air pump in my car, but unhappily its meter has stopped working.

To give you an example, during the entire 6,000 km 6-day GQ Dive in Dec 08, I did not check air pressure even once, not trusting any pump en route.

Tyre pressure woes again... something I have experienced ever since I bought my 1st bike! ...Sigh!

Have you guys noticed another thing? Four wheelers chock full with max possible passangers inside, and luggage in the booth and roof carrier, probably having run several km, waiting for an air fill at a petrol bunk. :eek:

Needless to say, nobody from the vehicle gets off while the air is being filled. Need I say more...?

That said, I'v found automatic gauges at most petrol bunks to be faulty. Its high time oil companies give equal importance to the caliberation of its air pumps as they do with petrol caliberation! I suggest that all of us lodge a complaint to the oil company when we find the air calibaration to be off the mark.

But this is not usual for a new car, of course it would depend on the "abuse". Very important to identify the root cause of tyre burst. Should contact the manufacturer of the tyre, dealer must help you in that. They will have experts to analyze the failures.

About maintainance - I usually check air pressure at the gas station once a week. Normally, i do it in the mornings close to my house. I have tried at 2-3 places, fortunately, did not see too much variation. I also ask for tyre rotation at the time of servicing. For my previous car (Maruti 800 AC), I had a flat tyre just once in 5.5 years (40,000 kms) and it was on NH-47 ("big size nail was the culprit").

Quote:

Originally Posted by hvkumar (Post 1129758)

I also carry my own tyre pressure meter, but unfortunately their quality is so bad that they also get decalibrated after some time. I also have a air pump in my car, but unhappily its meter has stopped working.

Michelin is selling its branded digital pressure gauge in India through some select dealers. But it has two problems a. the reading is in BAR and not psi (so you have to be good with numbers to do the conversions quickly) b. it costs Rs 2.5k . I don't know how dependable they are but they look and feel absolutely brilliant. I have seen good user reviews for the model in Amazon and other international fora.

Regarding the unfortunate accident, one never gets to know the full truth in these cases. There could have been a lot of possibilities. It's possible that there was some prior accidental injury to the sidewall and the owner never replaced the tyre on time. Otherwise I doubt a new Ford Montero will have badly manufactured tyres.
The other day there was a similar accident in Calcutta that claimed four young lives. That was also a Ford but I think Ikon.

people whether they own a lambi gaadi or a M800, the tyres last forever on these vehicle it seems. most either have tread depth below the minimum recommended depth or even worse, gone bald.

also its better to fill in less air before a long nonstop trip, about 2-3 psi lower than the recommended value, since in a long run the tyres heat up much more and get less time to cool down. people tend to overfill air to get more "mileage" which can burst the tyres on a highspeed run.

I find the air pumps at HP petrol bunks okay, they use the same company's meters everywhere at least. IOC pumps dont have a standard pumps all over.

Accidental death due to tire burst in an SUV as good as Montero. I don't know whether they were wearing seat belts, tires were inflated as recommended, which set of tires was used, etc. but when one's time is over even if one is inside a T-90 Battle Tank, nothing works.

May their souls rest in peace!