# How Many Have Had A Blow-Out?



## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

Ref the various threads on tyre life etc etc.

How many have actually experienced a blowout at speed?

I've had two over the years, one through a piece of debris on the motorway that took out two tyres on the same side, and the other was actually a wheel rim failure, but the effect was the same, sudden deflation of the rear tyre and a bit of a dance to keep it on the road.

Even a slow deflation can cause problems as the tyre will roll off the rim on a corner.

Bearing in mind the possible consequences of a tyre or tyres suddenly deflating, there can be no question about replacing any tyre that is not 100%

Hidden defects excepted of course.

Peter


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

So all of the experiences you have had were down to causes OTHER than an actual tyre failure !!! (running over debris and a wheel rim defect)


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## NTG (Dec 16, 2011)

Had the nearside rear blow out at 70mph after running over something on the M6 the other day. To be honest, I wouldn't have known if it wasn't for the noise. I was able to gently pull onto the hard shoulder to change it. As I had driven with it flat (only to pull over and slow down) it trashed the tyre so it could not be repaired. Had to buy another at £130 which was painful because my van is up for sale now  

Nick.


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## drcotts (Feb 23, 2006)

Mrplodd said:


> So all of the experiences you have had were down to causes OTHER than an actual tyre failure !!! (running over debris and a wheel rim defect)


I dont think the OP was alledging tyre failure just that if it happens the tyre should be replaced.

yes lister you are right. Tyronbands will help though approx £75 a wheel.

I had a blow out in 2007/8 on the rear nearside tyre which was only 3 months old. Sent back to Mitchellin and they said it was inpact damage but i didnt see any debris in the road so cannot confirm or deny but anyway had a new tyre at £120.


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## androidGB (May 26, 2005)

I have dual wheels on the rear of my van, and the problem is that if you have a deflation of one tyre you are not aware of it. The other tyre then carries all of the load (almost twice as much as it is designed for) and then is likely to fail

So you now have 2 ruined tyres.

For this reason I have fitted tyre monitors

Andrew


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## fatbuddha (Aug 7, 2006)

only had one tyre blow on a m/h but again that was due to a big piece of metal that my wife didn't see when she was driving - she did well to control the vehicle.

it happened on the autoroute just outside Calais on the way back from a trip. needed to be towed off and get a new tyre fitted and we missed 2 ferries as a result. 

it was a bit of a kerfuffle though as the autoroute emergency phone wasn't working (according to the pickup driver there was a dispute between the local authority and SANEF over fees so none of the autoroute phones in the Calais area were working at the time - maybe still aren't!). we had to call breakdown in the UK on our mobile, who then called out a local firm with a low loader to tow us off.


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## peejay (May 10, 2005)

One blowout/alloy wheel failure back in 2006, luckily on the rear axle.

New tyre and decided to change back to steels after that. :roll:



















Pete.


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## djp30 (Jan 9, 2012)

Not blowouts as such but have had 2 tyre issues in the last 12 months.
First one was a valve that failed, fotunately just as I parked up, went with a bang so first thought was a blowout.
Second was a 3 year old Michelin that suddenly developed an almost uncontrolable wheel wobble, turned out the cords had gone and the tyre became oval.
Recon that was very close to going bang if I hadn't stopped so quick.


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## H1-GBV (Feb 28, 2006)

Approx 0.5mile from home and travelling at 45ishmph, there was a loud "bang" from the rear of the car. I got out at home to hear a loud hiss and the tyre was virtually flat. Not sure if that counts as a blow out.

The culprit was a 4inch long piece of wood with a sharp point: I must have driven over it at just the right angle. The garage did a plug-in repair and all has been OK for 6 months.

I recall seeing an American video where trucks (RVs?) had a tyre exploded deliberately, to illustrate the effects of blow outs [was it on here?]. The advice was to accelerate, as the sideways vector of force was reasonably constant, so increasing drive resulted in it having a smaller effect. Once the vehicle was under control, you slow down in a controlled manner. [If you brake, the sideways force is proportionally bigger and control is harder to establish.]

"Julie&[email protected]" (don't know their proper username) wrote about a nasty experience in Spain on their 2011 tour, I seem to remember.

Fingers crossed (not a particularly reliable nor scientific approach to safety) that nothing nasty happens to anyone - Gordon


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## EJB (Aug 25, 2007)

Had a blow out on the M1 (When it first opened 8O ) in a hire car, I guess the tyre pressure was too low.....after checking the other three afterwards!
Outside lane but pulled onto the hard shoulder OK. 

Second one was on a caravan caused by my own stupidity of ignoring slight crazing on the tyres surface about 15 years ago.
Overtaking an 'artic' on the A14 at the time but slowed and got to hard shoulder OK.

Since then I always check all tyres carefully and change MH tyres every 5 to 6 years :wink:


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## sideways (Jun 2, 2008)

Had a rear wheel blow out last week on the M11 on way back from Spain doing 60mph in slow lane, the back end started to come round but I managed to keep hold of it, very scary and all over in seconds, I felt the tread delaminate and start to vibrate in the few seconds it took for me to register what it was it was too late it blew. Good tread not cracked removed it and its matching mate and fitted two Vanco campers.


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## adonisito (Nov 6, 2009)

Yes, at about 60MPH on the nearside rear. One bang and then onto the hard shoulder, it took some of the skirting with it. The cause was my own fault, old tyre, inflated to 54, not 64psi, I remember getting the pressure confused. Lesson learnt !


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## Agilityman (Aug 17, 2009)

Mine was a rear blow out on the M4 in the middle lane whilst overtaking a lorry at about 65mph. The tyre completely de-laminated and damaged some of the fibreglass wheel arch moulding. Actually didn't know what was going on with the noise of a metre of tread hitting the underside of the Motorhome every rotation. Looking in mirrors and saw that all the cars behind we're falling away in the distance with bits of rubber bouncing about behind me. Suddenly realised what was going on and pulled onto the hard shoulder. RAC assistance looked at the tyre which was original on a 7 year old Autocruise Starfire and said "the tyres too old, most people don't realise the dangers. You're not alone".

Hence now every five years new tyres.


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## emmbeedee (Oct 31, 2008)

Last blow out was over 40 years ago in my MGB on the M5. Cruising along nicely about 80 MPH, slowed down to come off at exit 5 & felt the car weaving. Managed to control it OK & made it to the hard shoulder where I found a rear tyre completely shot. Moved the car as far to the left as possible then fitted the spare whilst still on the shoulder. Scary exercise with OH watching out for me! 
Most unusual puncture was in New York. One of our suppliers, trying to curry favours (I was QA Manager) took us to a posh restaurant in Queens for our Christmas lunch. Parked my Pontiac Bonneville outside, had my boss with me. Came out after lunch to find rear tyre flat as a pancake with a spark plug embedded in the tread. Boss immediately decides to get a lift back to work with one of the engineers, leaving me with another colleague to fit the spacesaver. Evidently someone had been servicing their car & left the old plugs in the gutter, just where I had parked. I must have reversed over one.
Caused much hilarity when I got back to work, with messages about spark plugs fitting in the engine, not the tyres, etc.


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## flykiller64 (Sep 13, 2013)

I had one last week on the M74. The rear offside tyre blew at about 60mph and completely shredded. This also took lumps out of the glass fibre wheel arch so water (it was chucking it down) was guided straight into my cupboards soaking everything there in filthy, rubberised water.

My tyres were between 5 and 7 years old with loads of tread. Obviously too old and are now replaced, even the spare.

Still, how we laughed.....................


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## hblewett (Jan 28, 2008)

We (or more accurately my wife) had a blowout on the autoroute (or whatever the Spanish for that is?) just outside Santander. Happily doing 60mph when a front tyre blew. OH handled it really well onto the hardshoulder. The tyre was kaput, so I was glad we had bought a spare (the motorhome was from the era when they weren't necessary :roll

All sorted OK by our Uk breakdown - excellent breakdown chap refused to accept a tip - couldn't see that happening in UK!


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## midgeteler (Jul 19, 2009)

Favourite subject of mine. Ran Sprinter vans and trailers all over Europe for 14 years at non legal speeds/weights and never had a tyre related problem-apart from an obviously slow puncture, caused by a small piece of metal, which I discovered one morning before setting off.
Luck has an awful lot to do with this of course, but I always prided myself with my tyre care ( pressures, avoiding potential hazards, cheap replacements, kerbs etc ) and sympathetic driving techniques.
After buying a new German people carrier early in my business life, I was puzzled as to why they gave no spare wheel, just a can of goo to fix a puncture. In the end I totally agree with their thinking.
Consequently I have never carried that hugely heavy piece of kit with me on any vehicle, including my MH--I do however, always carry a brand new spare tyre un mounted and enough tools to carry out a change. Much less weight, and think of all that fuel that I have saved in that time


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## makems (Jul 26, 2010)

Forgot to say that the tyres were five tears old when the blow out happened and had no visible cracking. 

I replaced all the tyres when we got home

Then sold the van

Doh!


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## rosalan (Aug 24, 2009)

I had a rear old tyre de-laminate on the AutoRoute to Paris...Bang.. but no problems except getting a matching replacement.
Last year I must have touched a kerb or something, for after a good nights sleep I awoke to discover a hole in the sidewall. Having bought a spare before leaving home, that was ok! However, buying a replacement 15" Continental VancoCamper took the best part of a day visitin 4 large tyre depots before finally buying one at a premium price €175 including a valve.
Why are the tyres supplied to UK vans, not so easy to obtain in France? Perhaps because mine is a German van.

Alan


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## rugbyken (Jan 16, 2006)

Have had two as Agilityman said the tyre delaminated (5 yr old tyre) and the tread was only attached at one point a 3ft x 4" wide whip of rubber trashed my step and wheel arch luckily being followed by a mate into Angouleme got sorted out wheel changed etc stopped at an aire in the town next morning the van wouldn't start had to call breakdown devastated ,
A couple of years before that had a tyre blow going single file through roadworks in France , managed to limp out and change this tyre only 3 yrs old think I must have ran over something for that one


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## Pat-H (Oct 30, 2009)

As always a mixture or posts with some feeling 5 years plus is a risk and others having blowouts with newer tyres and some never having blowouts with older tyres.

Mine are now 7 years old but only 20K miles so the rear have all the tread the front are showing some wear.

MOT passed fine with no comment on tyres, insurance company is happy as long as manufacturer has no contra advice. (they suggest monitoring all the time and more as they approach 10 years old but it all depends on usage and storage).

However we make sure our van is driven every few weeks so the tyres don't sit. I visually inspect inside and outside walls every major trip and monitor and set pressures every few months.

I plan to move the rear tyres to the front soon and put new rear ones on (they carry more load and do more damage if they blow) the front ones can then gain some wear before they get changed in a year or so. The new ones will again go on the rear and the rear ones move forward.


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## androidGB (May 26, 2005)

Personally if I had to choose I'd prefer the better tyres on the front. I think you stand a better chance of controlling a rear blowout the a front

Andrew


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Andrew

Sorry but I disagree with your theory. If you have a rear tyre suddenly fail the rear of the vehicle will move to the side and (probably) set up a "pendulum" effect which you may or may not, be able to control/counter.

If a front tyre fails the steering will certainly pull to the side but it will be a constant pull on the steering which is MUCH easier to control/counter than the rear end thrashing around like a dogs tail.

The advice from tyre manufacturers is to always fit new tyres to the rear for eactly the above reason. 

It SOUNDS wrong I accept, but I have had both over the years (front and rear tyre failures) both caused by unseen debris, both at VERY high speed (police patrol car on emergency calls) the front failure was fairly easy to control and get to the road side without drama. HOWEVER the rear failure was a total nightmare !!! the car was all over the road and almost impossible to control. My crewmate reckons as soon as it happened he pulled his seatbelt as tight as possible and simply looked to see at which point we were going to leave the road. Due to the very low volume of traffic I was able to stay on the road, had the road been busy I dread to think what the result might have been


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## sideways (Jun 2, 2008)

Absolutely correct rear blowouts are much more difficult to control, plus most motorhomes are rear end heavy and front end light so theres much more strain on the rear tyres.


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## rosalan (Aug 24, 2009)

There was a thread recently on this very topic and tyre manufacturers were clear that the newest tyres should go on the back.
As Mr Plodd said, this is quite hard to take on board but my two front tyres are beginning to show some wear and I will put my money where my mouth is and fit my new spare and a new tyre to the rear and use one of the front tyres as a spare in place of the one put onto the back. My rear tyres are 4 years old so should last a year on the front, they look hardly used.

Alan


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