Tires

[Xaisk]

While driving home on the interstate I had a tire blow out. All of a sudden the car just starts violently shaking up and down and I keep driving until it stops about 10 seconds later. I pull over and look at the tire and the tread just ripped entirely off of the tire except for a small layer on the outside of the tire. In the process the sucker took out one of my OEM mudflaps =(

What the heck causes this to happen? I was still able to drive home on it, just took it nice and slow since I had no tread.

Also what is a good brand of tire? I was running some generic Firestone tires.. My dad says he hates Firestone because they dont seem to good of a quality. Tires probally only had 13000-15000 miles on em if even.

[88lxi-shortram]

Overinflated tires are a huge problem. Alot of people don't know that the tire pressure on the tire sidewalk is actually not what you're supposed to fill it to. The correct psi for any vehicle is labeled on a sticker in the doorjam. The ones on the tire sidewall are the maximum the tire can hold. And since the tires heat up b/c of friction if they're inflated the max the air inside the tire expands and causes stuff like that to happen

[car6289]

Shrapnel on the interstate perhaps? I came within feet of running over a bicycle on I-84 just west of Hood River, Oregon a few years back.

I have had great success with Hankook tires. I ran a set of Hankook Mileage Plus all season's for almost 100 K miles with no issues. I'm currently running on the same brand and model of tire but changed over to 14" rims/tires as 13" Mileage Plus tires were no longer available.

As 88lxi-shortram said make sure your tire pressures are as per the label on the driver's doorjam not the tire sidewall.

[Oldblueaccord]

Usually its low pressure due to a puncture makes heat in the tire and the tread comes off.


I'd take that tire back if it holds air you should get a new one. I'm think for a manufacture defect.


wp

[Dr_Snooz]

Michelins are the best tire you can get. Basically 100k miles of zero-issue performance from every tire. Any other tire I've bought has refused to balance out, or come unbalanced every 1,000 miles, or made the car pull violently to one side, or made my transmission stop working, or been ungodly loud, or all that at the same time. I won't bother with any other tire anymore.

[charliekuney]

Don't get [cheap] Toyos or Firestones (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firestone_and_Ford_tire_controversy) (<<< click).

[jesus_charger]

Pirellis :D

[car6289]

Michelins are the best tire you can get. Basically 100k miles of zero-issue performance from every tire. Any other tire I've bought has refused to balance out, or come unbalanced every 1,000 miles, or made the car pull violently to one side, or made my transmission stop working, or been ungodly loud, or all that at the same time. I won't bother with any other tire anymore.

I had a set of Michelin Rain Force MX4's (awesome wet traction) on my 87 and had no problems. I can't remember how many miles (kilometers) were on them when the car was written off in 2001. When the time came for new tires for my 89, I ended up with Hankook 13" (no regrets) as the Michelin Rain Force MX4's were no longer available in 13". As I posted earlier I'm now on 14" Hankooks.

Whatever you do, don't cheap out on your tires or anything else for your car for that matter. Quality comes with a higher price tag. Pay now or pay later. The pay later price is usually higher and more frequent.

[Vanilla Sky]

Overinflation causes far fewer problems than underinflation. Also, the rating on the side of the tire is max COLD PSI. The tires will rise some in PSI as they warm up, but not enough to cause a blowout unless the tire is damaged.

I'm willing to bet the issue here was caused by road debris. I've had blowouts and flats from debris that I couldn't avoid. My wife has had one from a road 'gator she didn't see because it was dark.

Our Astra has 'kooks on it, and they have 37,000 miles and they're still fine tread wise. They're ready to be replaced because of a separation issue, and will be replaced when we get payed. I think the separation issue is from where the car sat at the dealership for a year and the tires flat spotted.

[Bglad420]

Don't get [cheap] Toyos or Firestones (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firestone_and_Ford_tire_controversy) (<<< click).

You obviously have very little tire knowledge. Toyo makes some of the best performing tires out there. R888, RA-1, R1R's.

[Vanilla Sky]

Well, if you buy the CHEAP tires from any given company, they will suck. It doesn't matter who's you buy, they're going to be crap.

For a decent economy tire, I've heard really good things about the Kumho Solus line.

[MessyHonda]

for stock tire size i always bought the michelin 13 from costco or maybe you have a sams club. they last a long time and have great performance for daily driving...but if its for performance i prefer falken 912s

[Xaisk]

Overinflated tires are a huge problem. Alot of people don't know that the tire pressure on the tire sidewalk is actually not what you're supposed to fill it to. The correct psi for any vehicle is labeled on a sticker in the doorjam. The ones on the tire sidewall are the maximum the tire can hold. And since the tires heat up b/c of friction if they're inflated the max the air inside the tire expands and causes stuff like that to happen

interesting. I had no idea about that. I always inflated to 35 PSI. Thats what the sidewall said. Im gunna take a look at the doorjam next time I fill em up. I think I must have hit something that I didnt notice, It was so random. I check my air once every week or two.

I had a pair of Goodyears previously and they worked really well. I liked them, great traction in rain and snow (I lived in Alaska for 3 years) and they lasted for maybe..75k miles which I thought was well because if you live up there, the dry cold takes a huge toll on the tires. I replaced them though because of tiny holes. I hate to have like 3 tire seals on 1 tire.

[Dr_Snooz]

Pirellis :D

I have a set on the Bimmer. WORST TIRES EVER!!!!! Do NOT buy these under any circumstances. Let me repeat: WORST TIRES EVER!!!!! The car feels like it's going to fly apart at any speed above 80. It pulls to one side like there is no tomorrow. Tires cannot be balanced by spin balancing, roadforce balancing, rain dance witch doctor balancing, and so on, at all, ever. They have done this since they were brand new. Awful, awful tires. WORST TIRES EVER!!!!!

In case anyone missed it the first time, I'll repeat it again: WORST TIRES EVER!!!!

[charliekuney]

You obviously have very little tire knowledge. Toyo makes some of the best performing tires out there. R888, RA-1, R1R's.

You obviously cannot read. ;)

As for the Pirelli's: My aunt's Audi has about $5k of Pirelli's and they are pretty damn good. :D

[Vanilla Sky]

Snooz, it sounds like you have tires that are out of round, not incorrectly balanced.

[lostforawhile]

snooze check the date on the actual tire vs when you bought them, I've seen tires that are five or six years old get sold as new, if they have been sitting on a warehouse shelf for a long time, or under a bunch of other tires they can warp,they are most subject to warping while sitting off of a rim uninflated

[Dr_Snooz]

The tires were garbage. I took them back to the several shops several times. Nothing worked. The tires were new per the sidewall. They were just crap. The car is gone now and they are someone else's headache. I wouldn't wish those tires on my worst enemy.

WORST TIRES EVER!!!!

Along the same lines, years ago, you'd buy a tire and no one checked the dates on them. Now there is all this talk about how old tires are bad. Is this REALLY a problem, or is the tire industry trying to "annuitize" their revenue stream (ie: get you to buy tires on a regular basis, whether you need them or not)?

[Vanilla Sky]

Tires do lose a lot of their pliability with age. Just ask anyone that road races. Age and heat cycles kill race tires, not cording them. Tires have come a long way from tires even a decade ago.

We all also know that tires flat spot if a car has been sitting for a while. The same thing happens with new tires, that's part of why date codes matter. The other part is dry rotting. I happen to have a 7 year old tire in my back yard that's never been installed, but I'd never install it on anything because it's so dry rotted. It's under a stack of other tires, too, so it's probably out of round as well. In contrast, my Falkens had date codes from within the six months of purchase. That's not bad, considering I bought foreign made tires.

[cygnus x-1]

As for Pirelli's, my dad put a set on his '89 Maxima (which I eventually ended up with) and they were great. They had outstanding summer and wet traction. They weren't the best in snow and were a bit stiff, but they were performance tires so that's to be expected. I later replaced them with some lower end Yokohama's, which were softer but just fine for a couple years until the car had to be junked.

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