My grubby old finger is pointing at you AGAIN !

year: 1994
vehicle: hq panelvan 186
place: 5k past stonehenge single lane bitumen
speed: 100 - 120kph
what happened: trip from Andamooka to Longreach had numerous flats on the borefield road and BT sourced tyres from Roxby maree and Mulka station some pretty questionable I was in the back talking to people in front and the left front peeled of casing and blew. It looked like someone had reefed the wheel hard left out of drivers hand rolled about 3 x ending upside down with full fuel tank leaking all 3 abandoned ship pronto. Driver was uninjured. Passanger sustained cuts and a badly sprained kneck and I had moderate bruising from being tumblre dried in the back with tool boxes guns spare tyres etc.
Most impressive thing: built in roll bar behind seats of panel vans (have a look next time) stood up big time and may have saved those in the front

Flute,

Nothing as impressive as Davoes incident, but a 8 tonne UD truck, loaded with new Hino genset($22K), solar pumps x 2($17K), and a couple new Honda bikes. Cargo was worth more than the truck!!

Blew a front tyre coming into the Hamilton River channels, at just over 100 clicks. Stayed on the bitumen, just, and took over 200 yards to pull up. Seemed like 2 hours to change the tyre, as the jack wouldn't fit under the axle.

Have blown the odd tyre in tojo's, but have been lucky enough to keep them upright.

Scarey thing is hitting dry wheel tracks at ANY speed. A recipe for disaster.

Hooroo...

Flute,

Had a rear tyre go at 100kph. Not a good feeling.

The reason that the tyre blows the side wall out is because it all started with a slow leak. As you are driving the air is leaking out, the side walls start to heat up. With the heat the air pressure increasses in the tyre so that the tyre doesn't feel flat. Then without notice the side wall blows out and you are down to the rim trying to stop in a straight line.

The moral to the story, if the tyre looks a bit flat find out why and change or fix it. A slow leak could mean the end of a good tyre.

Wayne

Yes. Blowout front left tyre on Patrol at 100km on bitumen. I was lucky to have both hands on the steering wheel at the time because, even with power steering, it wrenched hard left and it was all I could do to keep control. I ended up in a cloud of dust in the scrub beside the road - somewhat shaken. Thank goodness there was no ditch or something hard waiting! Braking hard in that situation is something to be avoided.

Hi,

Haven't physically experienced a front wheel and don't want to. I am with QLD Ambulance and when we did our advanced driver training we hade to do practical exercises at speed as to what to do if this happens.

Why these type blowouts are so bad is because when they go the vehicle usually lurches over to that side very quickly. When this happens a lot of people overcorrect the steering response and at times then get into an end for end or similar type rollover. This is especially common if you are not 100% focussed on driving when it goes.

Rear wheels going although still not a lot of fun usually are more controllable than front.

Best prevention tips I can think of are to regularly check your tyre pressures and the condition of your tyres, drive to the prevailing road conditions and keep both hands on the wheel and concentrate. Then at least if something does let go, you have a fighting chance.

Cheers

Brian

This is were the Smartire system is useful. Blowouts usually don't just happen out of the blue. The usual sequence of events is that the tyre overheats due to high speed, load and underinflation (slow leak). When it gets hot enough it lets go. By monitoring the temperature and pressure of each tyre continuously and emitting an alarm when adjustable presets are exceeded, the Smartire has you repairing/replacing your tyre before the catastrophic failure occurs. It doesn't take too many destroyed tyres to justify the purchase price - it takes even fewer rollovers!

Hey Flute
I can tell you what happens at 160 when a front tyre lets go on gravel. . . . . appart from your life going whoosh and your undies filling with brown stuff, you roll over and over and over and over and then over one more time to come to rest on your roof with dust in you eyes and nose. Then you have to wait for the dust to clear so you can see that you have killed your mate and realise you have no feeling in your legs. . . . .
There is a time and place for everything and 160 should be reserved for the race track with the rescue crew there waiting

Had an entire front wheel come off....on the clyde mountain with van in tow. Praise the lord we were only doing about 30kph & on a hairpin bend.... only damage was to my undies...needed a new pair. Cause... dealer rotated tyres & the chimp who had been trained to do the job forgot to tighten up the wheel nuts....

did a tyre atv 200kph at portland dunes, on the front, apart from the noise, was hard to tell at first.

Yes blowouts do happen. In the NT I can remember 2 fourbys having blowouts at high speed in recent years.

Also interesting to note that lots of people drive at 160 every day, all day, in the NT and people are not getting killed every day from high speed. In fact high speed crashes are relatively uncommon considering that 160+ is common.

Sean

I've had a few blowouts, mainly from using dodgy tyres. They're all that a poor prospector could afford.

Golden rule - DON'T touch the brake pedal. Don't even think about it. Just ride it out until it stops. Use the gearbox to slow it down. But even then, only when yer speed has dropped off naturally.

I've rode 'em all out and never come within cooee of a rollover. Maybe i was just lucky. But I musta been lucky about 20 times!

Bilbo

Flute

I don't know what sort of 4WD you drive but why 160km/h.

Suggest you go and do a recognised 4WD course and an advanced driving course and then you should become a good enough driver to slow down to the speed limits.

At 160 km/h in a 4WD you are an accident waiting to happed - blowout or not.

Totally agree with Kumanura on this. They aren't designed to do this, even though they can do it.

I've done it myself in a dire emergency but I wouldn't take it it up as a hobby.

Bilbo

It happened to me about 200Kms south of Kulgera heading for the centre. I have a GQ 4.2D Patrol with 3/4 roof rack. Loaded for two weeks for two adults and two children. Before I left I talked to lots of people about what I needed and what to watch out for, and tyres came up as a main concern. The wife and kids were flying out to Yallara and I was to pick them up, so I drove from Sydney on my own. Anyhow to get to my point. In the three days it took me to get to Yallara I came across a car loaded with what looked like the same amount of gear about 2 minutes after it rolled. I don't know why it did but gear was all over the place. The next day was when my rear right hand tyre blew, the same as what the other chap said it was going down slowly and then let go big time. I had a glove box full of tapes (no CD player) and I noticed a tapping which was the tapes going from side to side so I started to slow down from 140 to stop and have a look and at 80 she just let go. The tyre had self destructed and peeled with the metal flying around the rim. I let the car come to a stop with very little brakes used, It caused $1,500.00 worth of damage to the old girl. It is easy out in the middle of nowhere on your own to let the speed drift up. I was always very careful not to go over 110Km after that. I am grateful it was not a front tyre that went but if it is a slow leak you can get some warning. The point that is worth noting though is I was told to get a cargo barrier before the trip which I did. After seeing the car that rolled and feeling the tyre go on me I can only say if you ever go away with gear in your 4bee get a cargo barrier. Also I had a hell of a time getting a replacement tyre out there. Next time 3 spares is what I would take. Also keep the weight off the roof. I hope this is of use. Ken

Guys,
Had a (big name big$$$$) tyre truly delaminate last year, entire tread came off, smashed up the Front RHS of the Patrol fairly badly but caseing was still inflated - 40psi. It was a very hot day going around 120kmh. Most likely caused by plug repair (professional one), no way Ill trust a home plug repair again.
Tyres were 80% worn out didnt pursue warranty.
Buy 10ply tyres???, since upgrading to their 10ply rating havent even had more than a nail hole. Usually I wreck a tyre or two every year.
Better give them credit Cooper STC 10plys
JR