2nd Gen Non-Engine/Transmission Explosion shook entire truck

[DMather]

Today was a first...



Running 65 down the tollway and I hear and felt a large boom from back of truck. I mean the kind of sound and vibration that gets immediate attention of every nerve in your body. The sound that you associate with an explosion or a collision. And then... . everything went back to "normal".



Engine gauges said everything fine, tire pressures were fine, mirrors didn't show anything missing or anything in the road behind me (well there was but I couldn't see it)



What was it you ask? (I know you are asking :-laf )



I had just experienced an explosive blowout of a tire.



But wait... what's that you say... . didn't I say the tire pressures showed normal?



Correct... but I only monitor the tires on the ground... .



Yup... the spare tire had blown out. And, I mean blown out. Almost half the tire was missing. Shredded. (my reference to anything in the road above)



From what was left of the old spare, and the new spare, I was able to figure out that the exhaust pipe had been touching and slowly vibrated through the tire where the sidewall and tread meet until it was so weak that it just let loose all at once. Damn scary in a "what happened?"... . "I don't know but we are still here and everything seems fine" kinda way.



Never thought a spare tire could produce so much excitement. (oh, did I mention my very wide eyed passenger? )

 

[Bill Lins]

How you gonna get that SMELL outa the cab? ;-)

 

[HBarlow]

That's one I never heard of.

 

[TboneMan]

How you gonna get that SMELL outa the cab? ;-)

That's assume he had a spare pair of shorts.

 

[Bill Stockard]

I had a half ton Chevy truck in the mid-70s that the spare tire became a bit loose and shifted over next to the tailpipe. The tire didn't explode. It leaked down slowly and I discovered it was flat later. Fortunately, it was before I needed the spare.



Bill

 

[MChrist]

One of our big trucks at work was backing down a gravel driveway when it blew. Luckily, I had just stepped away when it blew, as it sounded just like a shotgun! The hole was in the sidewall where the tire met the gravel and blew out a 12 inch by 12 inch area roughly an inch deep! Tire was probably under inflated and just came off the highway loaded. Oh, and it was a 24. 5 tire from our semi!
I'm certain that the shrapnel would've hurt somebody badly!

 

[CharlieFoxtrot]

I had a never-used spare for a car blow out while sitting on a shelf in my shed!

 

[RustyJC]

I'm certain that the shrapnel would've hurt somebody badly!

I remember as a young boy in the north Texas town near which I grew up that a good friend's dad ran a Gulf service station back when service stations were really full service (tires, mechanical work, etc. ). One of his employees was mounting a large truck tire when it exploded. The employee lost his eyesight and one arm. :{ There's a lot of potential energy in a fully-inflated tire!



Rusty

 

[ChrisOlson]

Today was a first...



Running 65 down the tollway and I hear and felt a large boom from back of truck. I mean the kind of sound and vibration that gets immediate attention of every nerve in your body. The sound that you associate with an explosion or a collision. And then... . everything went back to "normal".



Engine gauges said everything fine, tire pressures were fine, mirrors didn't show anything missing or anything in the road behind me (well there was but I couldn't see it)



What was it you ask? (I know you are asking :-laf )



I had just experienced an explosive blowout of a tire.



But wait... what's that you say... . didn't I say the tire pressures showed normal?



Correct... but I only monitor the tires on the ground... .



Yup... the spare tire had blown out. And, I mean blown out. Almost half the tire was missing. Shredded. (my reference to anything in the road above)



From what was left of the old spare, and the new spare, I was able to figure out that the exhaust pipe had been touching and slowly vibrated through the tire where the sidewall and tread meet until it was so weak that it just let loose all at once. Damn scary in a "what happened?"... . "I don't know but we are still here and everything seems fine" kinda way.



Never thought a spare tire could produce so much excitement. (oh, did I mention my very wide eyed passenger? )

I had a tire blow UP but it was on the left front at 70 mph on I 5 in Tacoma i can safely say there was some serious pucker factor going on . I am now going to go look at my spare.

 

[KLauber]

I had a trailer tire blow on a hot summer day on I-10. The sound made me jump up and smack my head on the cab roof leaving a little egg for the rest of the trip.

Ken

 

[MVenditti]

A friend was working on delivery truck with arm near tire when edge of rim near bead let go. No rubber or metal flew or hit him, just the blast of air. His wrist was shattered requiring surgery with plates, screws and pin in thumb. After surgery and many weeks of therapy whole hand is still double size and can barely move fingers. Scary stuff.

 

[The patriot]

The old tube tires 10x20 and 10x22 with the split rim were always a hoot.

I've driven many miles and never had a dramatic blowout like any of you guys.

Yea, some disintegrated, but no explosion type disassembly.

 

[vahunters]

glad everything turned out well. I bet that was loud!

 

[Crash&Burn]

I know the sound, in the Army motor pool, I was about 10 feet away when a duce and a half split rim let go. Thank goodness it was in a cage, which actually bent.

 

[mhelburg]

That's crazy! I've had nothing but bad luck with tires this year. Started out in my company Kenworth W900, I hit a mud flap hanger on I-25 and blew a steer tire. The tread came off and wrapped around the axle and stopped the rim dead in its tracks. Not fun at 75 mph. A month later while hauling a car from Leadville CO with my pickup and stuck in the wonderful traffic at the tunnels on I-70, I noticed an air leak with every rotation on the left rear. About 2 months later, after finding a "decent looking" used set on Craigslist and on my way to get them mounted I blew the left front tire. One week after that to the day I was hauling a Dodge Dakota from Lusk, WY, one of those "decent looking" used tires on the right rear came apart like it was re-tread. Now I have a couple of beat-to-hell rocker panels and an MIA wheel well liner.

 

[Matt42]

Yup. It has happened to me. The Goodyear Wrangler spare that came on my 1996 blew up. It had a total of 15 miles on it, because I had used it for 15 miles when one of the OEM Goodyears had failed at 15K miles. By the time the spare blew up, I was running on Michelins, and had a fuel tank under the bed. The spare was bolted in the bed. It took out the window of my camper shell, and blew out the aluminum roof. Sadly, it also brought back the PTSD of the really nice, elderly Vietnamese grandmother next door with its tremendous boom and the flying glass. She was airing her infant grandson at the moment it blew up. Goodyear called it a shoulder failure and charged me 55 cents to replace it, for the 15 miles I got out of it. I told them to throw it into the bed, unmounted. I traded it in at Discount Tire on a real tire, and got $5 for it.



Before that, another tremendous boom was the sound of a Goodrich tire (before Michelin bought the company) coming apart on the right rear of a 1985 Suburban 4X4 pulling an equipment trailer on a narrow mountain US Highway. As the belt grabbed on to the exhaust system and started to remove it, and the truck and trailer headed for the cliff, I shifted in to 4X4 and used the trailer brakes to stop. That tire had near-new tread.

 

[jeepit]

@ DMather- Are you running 285"s and a spare same size? I know the 285 can be a tight fit under the truck.

I am checking my spare today... also wanted to look at the winch cable holding it in place.

 

[Texis]

The tire expiration date has become a big issue in recent years. Some shops won't mount a tire that is too old. They have a date of manufacture on them, but I'm not sure what is considered "too" old?



The moral of the story is old tires are dangerous! The rubber breaks down over the years. My spare is an antique, I suppose I should find another one, made in the last 10 years!

 

[HBarlow]

Everyone has seen, heard, and heard stories about tires blowing out while in service but I don't remember ever hearing of spare tires or tires stored in garages exploding.

I have the original OEM General spare off my '06 Ram which was an ordered truck delivered in March '06. I kept it when I sold the '06 and have it mounted on my flatbed '08. The tire is now 5. 5 years old and has never been on the ground.

I expected the tire to age and dry out so as to not be good for anything but a trip to town if I have a puncture but had never considered the possibility of it exploding. I can now consider the chance of it exploding while parked in the hot Texas sun we are experiencing.

I suppose I should consider a new spare when I replace the Michelins on the truck next year.

 

[DMather]

Firestone Transforce HT LT265/75R16-E

I've had no bad experiences with them on the ground.

The culprit in this incident was the aftermarket exhaust system. It went too far aft before turning outboard and was resting against the tire at the sidewall/tread corner. Exhaust has been replaced and there is now almost 4 inches of space. (on a side note... the 75mph exhaust howl is gone. I suspect a lot of it was coming from that contact point)