Jump to content

A Brown Trouser Moment


Steve King

Recommended Posts

imgp01023.jpg

It went bang on the M40 doing 70! :unsure::(

Very strange as I had checked the tyre pressures the previous day and walked around and looked at each tyre before setting off early Saturday morning.

It passed the MOT the previous week and I watched them from the viewing area and they jacked up each corner and gave the tyres a once over.

I can only think I ran over something very sharp and pointy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have had it happen to a trailer tyre (and that was a multiply very high rated tyre). It simply got too hot and delaminated like yours appear to have done. In retrospect the loading of the trailer was slightly wrong so that more than half the weight was on the rear axle (twin axle 3.5 tonne trailer) meaning I guess the tyres were working too hard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I take it thats a michelin 4x4 OR XZL, prob 235x85/16. These are known to de-laminate. I posted this answer on another forum somewhere, and this just proves the point. An article , which I still have somewhere, by Toby Savage about a trip with him and a friend to the sahara. Toby had Mich XS and his friend had a camel Trophy 110 with XZL's. The Xzl's threw their tread on the journey, same as these have, and on their return, a stern letter was forwarded to Michelin. The reply was that they are an Off Road based tyre, and the de-lamination was due to excessive 'Road Miles' :lol: If you run XZL's beware, and check frequenly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is (was!) an XZL and was on the N/S rear. It went with an impressive bang! It must have deflated very suddenly because there were no problems cornering previously. Although my 110 handled like a pig on 3 tyres I was able to nudge, and straighten up gradually to the hard shoulder without mishap.

I've had umpteen inner tubes fail, but never delamination of the tyre itself and wasn't aware that XZLs suffered with this.

I know XZLs are not the most brilliant of off road tyres when it comes to mud, but I have found them pretty good all round and quite well mannered in the wet on tarmac.

As I don't have the luxury of a garage or a shed I am more or less limited to one set of tyres. Most of my driving is on tarmac, but I do a fair amount of laning and forest tracks. I don't do mud plugging. So what would you suggest as an all round tyre?

Thanks

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How much mileage did you have on the tyre?

Difficult to say exactly as I bought a used set on eBay - they were immaculate though with hardly any wear at all.

I have done about 10K on them. BTW just given all the other tyres the once over and they look fine.

As regards the delamination - the question is what came first? The deflation or the delamination?

Personally I reckon that the tyre went bang first and that the delamination happened when the tyre was running completely flat. I do however remain open to other theories....

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just to add a bit of info: the delamination appears to be consistent with my theory in that it starts from the massive blow and goes backwards in line with the direction of tyre rotation.

Any comments or theories (particularly from tyre fitters etc) welcomed!

Thanks

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is (was!) an XZL and was on the N/S rear. It went with an impressive bang! It must have deflated very suddenly because there were no problems cornering previously. Although my 110 handled like a pig on 3 tyres I was able to nudge, and straighten up gradually to the hard shoulder without mishap.

I've had umpteen inner tubes fail, but never delamination of the tyre itself and wasn't aware that XZLs suffered with this.

I know XZLs are not the most brilliant of off road tyres when it comes to mud, but I have found them pretty good all round and quite well mannered in the wet on tarmac.

As I don't have the luxury of a garage or a shed I am more or less limited to one set of tyres. Most of my driving is on tarmac, but I do a fair amount of laning and forest tracks. I don't do mud plugging. So what would you suggest as an all round tyre?

Thanks

Steve

For mostly tarmac with some field & forest I've had good experience with Cooper Discoverer Radial LT

http://www.coopertire.com/html/products/tires_lighttruck.aspx?page=discoverer_lt

I'm running BFG AT at the moment for the same type of driving. In comparison they are less good on wet tarmac than the Coopers and they have a very annoying tendency to pick up stones - klak - klak - klak - klak

Link to comment
Share on other sites

its always worth checking the date code on yourtyres! i went to view some s/h rangemasters, lots of tread, slight crazing, but 2 were early 90's and 2 were '83 if I remember. I politely declined! :angry:

The cracking pattern visible in the picture in the grooves looks like what you would expect to see on a tyre that's some years old.

It's perfectly sane to replace a set of tires due to age, despite them having plenty of thread left. Old tires can be quite dangerous for a number of reasons.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think current guidelines are 5 years old. If it was old and deflated the thing would overheat and go bang pretty quickly.

Mythbusters were doing explosive blowouts and it didn't get messy until you ran deflated tyres till failure. A straight hole (from a shotgun) and the thing held together fine. 4 minutes of running on the tyre with no pressure in it and boom.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience. By using our website you agree to our Cookie Policy