Time for a new tyre?

[Tim+]

You've got that the wrong way round. New tyres to the rear, regardless of drive.

[RJS]

Why are you surprised by this price?

Richard

[Onetap]

Hadn't heard of that, thanks.

ISTR another incident when a wheel came off a truck and the driver was leaning over the wheel when the tyre failed, killing him. The wheel was very hot, apparently.

In this case, maybe the injuries were worse due to the confined space. Probably you should let the air out of a weakened tyre, but no-one could have anticipated that happening.

Certainly inadvisable for the OP to drive on his duff tyre, though, it could go at any time.

[Andy Champ]

I have a space saver.

I can imagine my wife holding the bit of luggage that won't fit any more because the real tyre is bigger than the space saver. I can't imagine her holding the wheel that's been down the motorway and is covered in brake dust.

Andy

[Dave Liquorice]

The poor lady in question was a US Air Force Captain in the 100th Civil Engineer Squadron. I don't think she'd be a fussy about a bit of brake dust.

Looking at a picture of a Z3 I suspect a rim & tyre would practically fill the boot. So where do you put the bags? Given a choice of wrestling a rim and tyre or a few bags I think I'd have gone for the single rim and tyre. But not now...

[polygonum]

Agreed - at least not without letting the pressure drop.

If it is so possible - how come we do not keep hearing about chaps at tyre fitting shops having similar experiences?

Did anyone find out the result of the procurator fiscal's report? Mentioned many times that there would be one, but could not find it.

[damduck-egg]

Often fairly chilly in March especially in Scotland. I wonder if the heater was on full blast especially if they had the roof down. The tyre on her lap may have been in just the right position that the warm air blown onto it was enough to increase the pressure beyond the point that the damaged tyre could take.

G.Harman

[dennis]

I used to know someone who was nearly killed by an exploding tyre. He had depressions in the front of his skull where the bits had hit him.

As a result I now always stand well back while inflating tyres.

Anyone know what they use to inflate the tyres when you use one of those repair cans? Could it be LPG and that leaking out causing an explosion?

[Andy Burns]

My previous car came with a bottle (not can) of gunge and a compressor, the compressor was quite handy, but the bottle of gunge rather less so when a front tyre blew while I was in lane three ... not much left by the time I'd got onto the hard shoulder ...

[Dave Liquorice]

Pretty much the first thing a tyre fitter does after getting the rim & tyre off a vehicle is to rip the valve stem out...

The Police submit a report to the Procurator Fiscal who then decides if there is a case to answer and wether to prosecute. In this case I can't see who could feasably be prosecuted. I don't think the PF produces a report.

Probably need a FOI request to Lothian & Borders Police to get their report. They don't appear to have them online, not surprising.

[John Williamson]

leaning over the wheel when the tyre failed, killing him. The wheel was very hot, apparently.

Tyre explosions at inflation time are quite common on large commercial vehicle tyres, partly due to the use of multi-piece rims. This is why standard practice for large tyres is to inflate them in a cage, while controlling the pressure from a distance. A lot of mobile tyre fitters have a cage installed in their van. I've even had a tyre fitter refuse to re-inflate a tyre from about 35psi to its correct pressure of 95 psi due to the risk of an explosion either while he was doing it or at some later time when the tyre was under stress. The tyre pressure had been low for an unknown period, and he thought that the heat generated may have damaged the structure.

As far as what happened to Jenna Wilcox, I would have deflated the tyre before letting it in the saloon.

[dennis]

A few new cars do that. Its not the same as the cans of tyre repair you can buy where the can inflates the tyre.

[Kevin]

Because it's a Ford, driven by someone who "knows nothing about cars", and most humdrum cars seem to manage perfectly well with much cheaper tyres.

Unfortunately, the car marketing people have inculcated the notion that cars should have alloy wheels with absurdly low profile tyres, both, I suggest, totally unnecessary for ordinary cars driven by ordinary drivers on ordinary roads.

[RJS]

Good point :-)

[The Natural Philosopher]

Absolutely.

The average person doesn't need 2g dry road grip: they would be better off with better wet road, snow, and anti-aquaplaning grip, all of which narrower tyres.

Driven carefully an old morris minor or triumph herald could get over

40mpg on carburettors. Not a little of that was down to narrow tyres.

[Andy Champ]

Yes, it's obvious that low profile tyres have better grip. Just look at a Formula 1 car. (profiles are around the 50% mark)

Andy

[bert]

F1 tyres have more grip because they are very very wide. Yo can have a wide & high tyre which also gives good grip, but is not so good cornering at high speeds.

[Dave Liquorice]

And very very soft, they are lucky to get 200 miles (if that) out of set... When up to temperature they are almost liquid not just "soft".

But the silly thick rubber bands that seem to go with the stripes down the sides are daft. But then a car to me is just a machine to get me from place to place (with a bit of comfort) under all weather conditions not just in the warm and dry.

[Andy Champ]

My point is that the profile on an F1 car is no different to a boring road car, and nothing like as low as these rubber band jobs. And yet they go around corners.

Andy

[Fredxx]

It's not obvious.

They were introduced through touring car racing and the like, where large ventilated disks are preferred to get rid of the heat of braking, where a large diameter wheel rim means that a larger disk can be fitted within.

One way to reduce unsprung weight it to have flexible tyre walls, ie not low profile. A lower unsprung weight means your tyres are more likely to stay in contact with the road.

Of course, all things are a compromise, with flexible tyre walls leading to a greater distortion when cornering, but hey.