Tire Blow Out!

[AlpineAZ]

We were returning to Arizona from our family vacation in Central Oregon on Sunday, 7/3, and we had our left front tire blowout about 40 miles outside of Kanab UT. I was in the middle of a downhill right turn going about 70 mph when the tire blew. We were so very lucky to not have any oncoming traffic as I crossed the centerline and had to fight to keep the coach on the road. It delayed us about 4 hours in 102 degree heat (thank the Lord for generators) and we finally made it home by around 12:30 AM. The photos of the damage can be seen @ Tire Blowout

[AlpineAZ]

We were returning to Arizona from our family vacation in Central Oregon on Sunday, 7/3, and we had our left front tire blowout about 40 miles outside of Kanab UT. I was in the middle of a downhill right turn going about 70 mph when the tire blew. We were so very lucky to not have any oncoming traffic as I crossed the centerline and had to fight to keep the coach on the road. It delayed us about 4 hours in 102 degree heat (thank the Lord for generators) and we finally made it home by around 12:30 AM. The photos of the damage can be seen @ Tire Blowout

[Tom and Patty]

Wow, you must have done everything right! Thank God all are safe. Looks like it did a number on the coach, but you kept it on the road and brought it to a safe stop. Congrats.

For those of us lucky enough not to have experienced this. Here is a link to Michelin, it's a video that is worth watching regarding controlling a coach in the event a tire suddenly loses air. RV-The Critical Factor

http://www.michelinrvtires.com/miche...r/RvVideos.jsp


Not that any of theses are linked to the failure of the tire, but I'm in the tire business and always interesed in causes of failures.I have a few questions.

What was the age of the tire?
What was the brand?
What is the front axle weight loaded?
What air pressure was normally used?
When was the air pressure last checked?
Any abnormal wear? i.e. edge wear, cupping ect.

Thanks and again good job!

[Mike & Nancy]

Alpine AZ........Wow....I bet that was an "E" ticket ride!!!! Thanks for sharing story and pictures. Do you think a "Steer Safe" system would have helped gain control of unit. I have looked at Tom and Pattys link on handling a MH during a blowout.....it is very informative. I am now considering adding a "steer safe" for that safety factor. Any comments?


Mike

[Dave Fernandez]

Hello and Welcome Alpine AZ:

Sorry to hear about the blow out and we are glad that everyone is safe and no one was injured. It looks like you have a 2001 Alpine, 40ft. Just as a reminder to everyone that has a Motorhome that is five years or older to think about having the tires replaced. Check the date on the side wall. We should also check the tire pressure regularly and have the coach weighed and get the weight at each corner to insure you are not over weight one wheel yet under the overall axel capacity.

Thank you for sharing your story with us and we are glad that you and your family are safe.

Dave

[rockcj]

That's good driving. I wish all drivers can be as safe as you are.

I am glad you are ok.
By the way, do you know what caused it?

[SteveS]

AlpineAZ - Thanks for the photos and information. Questions: When it blew, did you brake? Did you just try to hold the steering wheel steady? Did you accellerate initially or at all? Did you just coast untily you got control? You may not remember any of what initially happened but I would be interested in what you do remember. I have seem the movies of controlling an RV under such circumstances and it looks so easy yet I know it is something that is very serious and one can easily lose control. What is the damage assessment? I noticed your entire generator and wheel well panels are off. Were they damaged? Enough questions for now. Thanks again and we are all certainly happy to know everyone was safe. Good luck.

[AlpineAZ]

First of all, thanks to everyone for all of your positive comments. It could have been so much worse so I guess I have a Guardian Angel to thank for watching over our family.

I'll try to answer everyone's questions and I hope this post is not too long...

The tire was a Toyo M120Z 295/75R 14 P.R and although I didn't get the actual build date from the tire, the other front tire doesn't seem to have a DOT number visible. It does have the following set of numbers/letters: BK14461-1 T7803 31092-T. The original owners invoice shows a date of 10/03/2000 and the coach is a 2001 36 FDDS. I have never weighted the coach loaded, so I can't tell you the front axle weight. The coach had approximately 14,200 miles on it when the blowout occurred. I normally run 100 PSI cold in the front tires and I had just checked the pressure that morning before leaving the campground. Prior to the incident, both front tires showed no signs of uneven or excessive wear (no cupping).

As I stated above, I was traveling about 70 MPH, in the middle of a fast (no yellow speed warning sign was present) right-hand turn when the tire blew. The coach started to go straight through the turn and I headed over the center line right for the ravine off of the left side of the road. When that happened, I immediately started to brake and turn the wheel to the right as hard as I could to avoid going off the road. I somehow managed to keep it on the road (in the opposing lane!) long enough to wrestle it back over to the right lane. I believe I stayed on the brakes the whole time until I was able to bring the coach to a stop on the right shoulder. Needless to say, my heart rate was maxed-out as I checked to see if everyone was alright. Because of the remoteness of the location, our cell phones did not have any signal so I proceeded to disconnect our toad and my wife drove about 5-7 miles toward Page Arizona before she was able to get a signal and reach Coach Net for help. While waiting for the tire serviceman, I walked back up the highway to see if I could find out what had happened. Although I didn't see anything in the road at the point of blowout, I did find a triangle piece of sheet metal on the left shoulder just in front of the majority of my tread pieces. I can only surmise that I hit that metal triangle in the road and it caused the blowout.

Damage wise, the left front fiberglass quarter panel was hanging on by the two from plate bolts, as it came off at all of the pop-rivet points. Since it was ˜swinging', I decided to remove and stow it while waiting. It is in pretty-good shape except for a portion near the front that will need patching. The front wheel well panel was just slightly bent forward but the rear ww panel was bent forward quite a bit. From picture0100, you can see the left (front) LP door frame section that is completely bent forward into the tire (it probably helped rip up some of the tire cords). The lower LP door frame, where the door latch actually attaches, was twisted at the right (rear) end but still was relativity straight. The tire serviceman (and I) had a heck of a time trying to pull/push/pry/hammer (he even used his torch) the rear ww back so it would not rub on the new tire. He finally bolted a chain to one end of the LP brackets while I used a large pry bar to push the panel back far enough for him to chain it away from the tire. The next 350 miles home, the coach drove normally.

The insurance adjuster (from Mendota) is coming out to the house tomorrow to let me know what the cost of the damages.

One last note... the tire serviceman did not have a Toyo tire in stock so he brought out a Hankook Super Miler F80 tire of the same size as the original. Has anyone had any experience with these tires? It drove fine on the way home but I did notice that it was manufactured in China, as apposed to Toyo tires that are stamped with ˜Made in the U.S.A.'

Thanks again to everyone for your kind thoughts and well wishes and I hope you will be just as lucky as I was should you ever find yourself in a similar situation.

Pat & Diane

[Tom and Patty]

Pat and Diane,

The Hankook is a good tire, many are sold and run on over-the-road trucks that rack up lots of miles. You have a premium coach so why not protect your investment, family and get a good smooth riding tire. Do I sound like a salesman? Although that Hankook probably wasn't inexpensive out there near Page. In the tire business, just like anything else, you get what you pay for. Any major brand will work fine, most of the Alpine owners have chosen to stay with Toyo.

My guess is that your tires are at least 5 years old and you should consider changing all six. Ask for a generous trade in on the Hankook! Then as Dave F. wrote; <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> have the coach weighed and get the weight at each corner to insure you are not over weight one wheel yet under the overall axel capacity. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
The Michelin link in my first post has a video on that procedure also. Check out this link about Alpiners discussion on replacement tires.

Toyo M120Z's



One more. Did you have both hands on the wheel when the tire lost air? I catch myself driving with one hand (Alpines drive so well) and often wonder how hard that wheel will pull with a front tire blowout.