What's it like to blow a steer tire?

this video says it best. i was actually going to say, "accelerate" as this actually gives you control. Because a blown steer tire, will pull you into the direction of the tire that blew out. so we need to maintain control ASAP.

Then we can slow down gradually.

I think Benny Parsons has much the same video.

yep, here it is, enjoy.




if you ever "feel" that your steering feels heavy, pull over ASAP, you may be getting a flat. best to pull over and check things, than to continue and maybe have that blow out!

 

I blew one many years ago on our 377 Pete, I was on I-29 Sd doing 80 in the hammer lane. Heard it pop and the front end drop. It was a long time ago but I'm sure I got on the brakes right away and didn't have any trouble getting onto the slow lane shoulder and it was drivers side that blew. And I was able to reuse the aluminum wheel.

 

Blew one at 75mph in Wyoming while changing song on my phone. I heard bang and then my steering pulled the opposite way instantly grabbed the steering wheel firmly and brought it back to center lane and pulled over. Scary? Yes for a moment. Not the worst but if you don't expect it or if you're in a turn at high speeds good luck. Lol.


Note to self #dontdochineesesteers

 

Never mind the badly composed title.

Hang on to that wheel, your ### and that of everyone around you depends on you not panicking. If you don't know how to hang on to a wheel with all your grip you are going to learn then and there as it will try to get away from you.

DO. NOT. Whatever you do, JERK that rig around. You gotta be smooth and let physics play out like a bad movie. If you take out a mailbox or a length of gaurdrail... minor no problem easy fix. Compared to say horsing the thing away from shoulder, going into a jackknife and then rolling over to mash at least one family next to you.

If you are smooth and steady you will be on the shoulder in a short time with a bright future and a new hood (Fender) tire, wheel, brake etc.

In the bad old days it was not too difficult to unship a tire and it's wheel from the old style spoke wheels transfer it to the steer and bolt that ##### on. Ugh...

 

I used to hate to get a blowout on those old Lock Ring Dayton Wheels. It would blow and send that lockring flying in the air. I was scared to death one day it would hit somebody.

 

In my case the right steer tire blew completely off the wheel. I heard a loud explosion then there was a slight delay before the wheel dropped to the ground. When the wheel hit the ground the truck pulled hard to the right.

I was doing 60mph in the #3 of 4 lanes. A pickup truck was in the lane just in front of my front bumper when it blew. It scared him, and he reacted by dropping back to my drives; then he just sat there next to me. I needed both hands on the wheel to keep the truck from running over him so to motivate him to look for another "spot" I let the truck drift into his lane slightly. His brain kicked in and he gassed on it and got out of my way. I let the truck decelerate on it's own and eased it over to the shoulder. The wheel was fine. A service truck came out and put a new steer tire on the wheel and I was on my way.

 

I inspect the holy Heck out of my tires in winter. I confess when I'm not worried about freezing conditions, I'm a lot less detailed.

BUT...

I just went into my shop and they found a serious gouge on my right steer, down to the belt. I did a solid pre-trip and didn't catch it, which means it happened that day or it was on the bottom on my pre-trip.

MY company shut me down immediately and wouldn't let me move til the tire was repaired. Gave me a nice, fuzzy feeling.

 

Miracles of modern duct tape, huh??

 

This happened to one of our drivers the other day. Still not sure if the tie rod broke first, or if the steer blew first, but either way, it tore up a lot of stuff. 75 mph on a west-Texas 2-lane, and he kept it right in his lane, all the way to a stop. No shoulder, so it sat right there till the wrecker showed up. He got himself a new nickname that day..... "Tie Rod."

I personally have never lost a steer tire, and I'm pretty meticulous about checking them, but I still try to keep both hands on the wheel at all times, just in case.

 

We had a situation which you had to be there to believe.

A little bit of fun was had with a Tire Shop man in a unnamed location to protect their privacy.

What tire? "One that's flat."

Since there were two of us identical, he asked where is the flat?

"On the truck with the flat"

Let's try again. What is the flat?

"It's black you see, yea high and round..."

You could not pay people to have this exchange it went down the way it did and once the teasing stopped, it was no problem changing a tire for a new one.

The worst tire incident I can remember was not on my truck (Ive had a couple bombs on the drives that really scare 7 lives of 9 out of me until you get used to it hauling containers on retreads etc) but on another truck in 95 south approximately 15 miles prior to Doswell on a blazing hot summer day. I was number three in the center. Number one had a zipper failure of his entire sidewall on his container left rear which was probably the worst kind of explosive bomb you can have on those things. The entire tread unzipped off in one peice and flew 100 feet into the air hanging over the left hand hammer lane at a little slower than we were.

Well... a minivan was coming up full of kids behind me to my left. All of us was eyeing that strip which was like as long as a man and capable of killing or really hurting someone. It started to settle downwards aiming at the mini van coming on my left.

Well... this was one of the few times I ever get to throw my weight around and cut people off, I horsed it into that hammer lane swung the container I had into the falling tread and recovered it from the median making sure that #### rubber stayed down. I had my own set of problems getting that old mid 60's Mack off the grass which made it want to lean to the left towards the northbound side.

Was it worth it? Hell yes. I never had to do that again thankfully.

Most companies I ran for consider me very expensive on tires because at first frost when they slip badly having been on my rig since the previous November or whatever, I have the shop issue 10 new tires all round on my tractor for the coming of winter. They always complain and ##### because it's freaking 3000 plus dollars for them. But I say that those new tires saved lives including our own many a time in winter.