Bang!

[SteveM]

Today I got my first blowout while driving (in almost 30 years of driving!). I was driving on a secondary 4 lane road (2 each direction) accelerating from a stop. I went to change lanes to pass slower traffic, and as I crossed the lane divider dots, a loud BANG jolts me to attention. I pulled onto a residential side street to find the left rear tire completely flat.

I have to say that the E46 jack is quite the mechanical marvel. It was probably the easiest roadside tire change ever. I have no idea what caused the tire to fail suddenly. I'm pretty sure the tire pressure was OK, I set it (all 4; none were low) Wednesday and it was in for service Thursday. I'm almost positive I didn't run over anything - I'm pretty attentive to that sort of thing.

The tire had a large gash running from the inside edge of the tread to the lip of the rim. No damage to the rim whatsoever (whew!). Oh well, the rear tires need to be replaced anyway, they were down to the treadwear bars (Michelin PS2).

I feel lucky for the following reasons:
1. The tire failed during daylight hours
2. I wasn't on the freeway
3. No apparent damage to the rim
4. I was the sole occupant of the car

OK, I feel better now. :)

[rumatt]

Sounds like about as positive of a blow out experience as is possible.

[clyde]

as I crossed the lane divider dots, a loud BANG jolts me to attention.

I have no idea what caused the tire to fail suddenly.

I'm almost positive I didn't run over anything

The tire had a large gash running from the inside edge of the tread to the lip of the rim.

Best guess...

The tire had a small aneurysm in the sidewall and it hit the Botts dot at just the right angle and speed to cause it to fail.

[SteveM]

Yeah probably. It's weird, the tire is torn all the way through to the bead.

[Sharp11]

Wow, I've never experienced a blow-out in over thirty years of driving (plenty of flats, though).

This is probably the best case one can make for run-flat tires as a blow-out, though it can still happen, is much less likely to send you into the weeds.

I did read about a guy who drove around for some time on a flat rf tire and didn't know it was flat.

I haven't reset that low pressure sensor for the rf's in quite awhile (nor have a checked my air pressure), better do so.

Ed

[3LOU5]

I've only had one blowout. It occured when I was driving my old '88 Ford Ranger XLT 2wd, and I was following this one rusty old pickup on an interstate highway. I found it odd that something was amiss underneath his ride; the back half of his exhaust system was just hanging and visibly quite loose. Because it was rush hour, I couldn't get out of my lane to avoid any possible future bad event (hint, hint).

Next thing you know (like you didn't see this coming), his exhaust falls off and was directly in my way. I had no choice but to run over it. :irate:

So I hit the thing at 60 mph and BOOM ! my LR tire blows. The noise sounded like a 12-gauge. I suppose it was a good thing that the rear blew, as it would have been a handful if it was the front. I pull over on the shoulder of the interstate.

The bad thing was the blowout was on the left. It's really quite an experience changing a flat on the shoulder as big diesel rigs come flying by and pelting you with little rocks. I've never changed a flat so fast in my life. (Well, I did another time, but that's another story).

And, because the spare was underneath the bed, I had quite a nice souvenir left on my white shirt. :eeps: