[COMMUTER]

It is safe to keep an eye on the tire rot too. My car is parked in the open mist of the time. I had kept it coverd with TPH covers almost every single day. The paint had been conserved well but the tires which remain exposed to the hot sun. This had left them stricken with tire rot in just 2-3 years. I am using Michelins and have done 68,000kms in them, they still have safe levels of tread on them but the tire rot had made me opting to change them.

Tire rot will set in in tires that hadn't been driven at all too.

[2000rpm]

Not directly linked to this incident but a tip I follow.

I always check tyre pressure at the start of a long journey and inflate the tyre one point extra (33 PSI), especially when I know that my tyres are old.

The reason for tyre burst is mostly low tyre pressure than high tyre pressure. High tyre pressure does make the car a little more bumpy, but thats a trade off I choose to make, especially on the Mumbai Pune Express Highway (which should be renamed as the TYRE SLAYER highway!!)

[BhayanaV]

It has been discussed earlier on this forum also. Stock tyres are mostly exclusive products, supplied directly to factories, reason being they are extremely cheap. And I have always found them excessively hard, so they can survive for long, even though built at a cost. But they develop micro cracks due to this and can burst under certain conditions.

[sarav100]

Been there, done that.
My Figo’s stock MRFs gave similar warning signs at about 45K and I drove the car for about a week with caution. Then on Saturday, when I was driving to tyre dealership, the noise and vibration became unbearable due to alterations of wires inside the tyre, just like your tyre dealer told you. About 2 kilometres short of my destined tyre dealer, one of the tyre busted at speed of about 40 kmph and the auto rickshaw besides me, who was keeping close due to their usual driving habit in NCR, got it’s impact and it was full of dust, which I believe got spread from road due to the impact from burst. Somehow, very slowly, I covered those 2 kilometres and switched to Yokohamas and decided that day to never ever ignore the warning signs again.

So, in favour of everyone’s safety, never delay the periodic maintenance and change all spares and components as per their desired life in terms of years as we can never see how the underlying structure of rubber/ metal might be weakening with time.

[ike]

I don't see anything strange in old tyres giving up their ghost, this was bound to happen. Glad to know everyone are safe.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by PetrolHead2272

If you look closely at the top of the tire in the picture given, you'd notice the wires that cut the rubber of the tire leading to the tire burst.

You need to understand the way a tyre is constructed. This is not a strange case at all, but a usual failure in an old tyre where the rubber has lost its elasticity. Those wires actually form the skeleton of the tyre, while you can consider the rubber to be the flesh. Once the flesh is decayed due to age, it peels off the skeleton, and is unable to retain air - leading to total tyre failure.

[ganeshk4]

This has happened with me. As far as I know, its a clear case on having puncture in front tyre. I was once driving on Pune-Banglore highway and car started to move left. I also suspected alignment issue. Then left movement increased, so I stopped the car and checked all wheels and voila! Front left wheel was punctured. Since then I have made a habit of stopping in between now and then to inspect wheels.

[ramprebagar]

Originally Posted by voldemort

In addition — I'm pretty sure you already do this, but mentioning it here for the benefit of the community — check tyre pressure regularly, more frequently if the car tends to sit idle (I don't know why, but I have observed that my cars' tyres loose pressure faster if it's sitting idle).

Tyres do loose pressure faster when they are idle . Was told once by a tyre dealer . I do notice it in my Bike which I use for a ride once every 2 weeks . In spite of having Nitrogen filled in the tyres of my Bike , I need to top up every time I take it out for a ride.

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by batish

I'll go against the tide here, and tell you that maximum tyre's life is 10 years

Agreed. With tires filled to the right pressure and the car driven regularly, I know people who used their tires for 10 years. I personally would change very old tires before highway journeys.

[kamilharis]

Glad to hear that everyone is safe.

Like everyone has suggested it's always safe to change all the tyres every 5yrs or 60000kms at least in Indian driving and climatic condition.

My car (here in Saudi) went for a tyre change before its 3rd year (run 80k+ kms.), even though the thread left on the tyres were excellent, I spotted a few fine wrinkles like cracks on the tyres and I went for the tyre replacement immediately. And moreover, the temperature here hits 50 degrees regularly and I think even in India the temperature is around the 40s these days. Risking with tyres & brakes on a car = risking your life.

[driver52001]

It's not really an unusual thing. Your tyres were very old and this was a direct consequence of that. Hope you had changed them a bit earlier. Glad you were careful and no untoward incident happened.

[Aravind_M92]

Old tyres and hot climate should aren’t the best for highway rides. The rubber becomes hard and brittle. And during highway runs, temperatures may rise very high and the rubber being hard cannot expand. The burst was imminent.
Rule of thumb. Replace tyres every 4-5 years even if your run isn’t high. My cars stock tyres (MRF ZVTV) barely lasted for 25k kms and was almost bald. Experienced a tyre puncture (luckily not a burst) on a highway run and decided to replace all four

[syednizamudeen]

Thanks to the Almighty for keeping you and your family safe.

Even a tyre that has not done 20,000 Km but 8.5 year old is an invitation for danger.

By looking at your pictures, I can sense your tyres are very well worn out and did at least 60,000 Km on the odo.

Cars like City should have a tyre life of 40,000 - 50,000 Km if ridden on very well laid roads and driven properly.

For some, 40,000 Km is a big bonus.

Even if your tyre conditions are pristine and there are chances of tyre bursts happening in the conditions like a sharp splinter or rock sitting on a pothole might tear the tyre and cause a burst. (has happened to me with 1 year old tyre with less than 10,000 km done).

Rotate, balance and align the tyres every 6 months religiously so that the tyres wear out evenly and check the tyre pressure whenever you visit a petrol station to minimise the chance of tyre burst and look keenly for tyre wear and be prepared to replace the tyres for a safe and comfortable ride.

[rkw]

Originally Posted by PetrolHead2272

In short, he said that the tire bursted due to wear and tear of wires inside them due to heat and less usage.

Glad that you & family are safe! Tyre bursts can be very serious at high speeds. I feel that more than "limited use", it is the age which is the primary factor. Tyres should not be kept more than 5 years even if not worn out on account of less use as the rubber compounds start losing the desirable properties. "Limited use" here is to be seen as a proxy factor because in normal use, you would have changed the tyres due to wear anyway. So thumb rule should be either tread wear or 5 years whichever earlier.

[PetrolHead2272]

Originally Posted by syednizamudeen

By looking at your pictures, I can sense your tyres are very well worn out and did at least 60,000 Km on the odo.

The car itself has barely crossed 23000 Kms