Toad blowout - cause?

[VanDiemen23]

whether new or re-caps, when they get hot they come apart in that manner. It doesn't make economic sense to re-cap a car tire. This ain't the 50's anymore.

If you were in the car when it happened it would be much less dramatic than you think. The tire loses air and will pull slightly to that side and you would correct. As the tire wrinkles up and loses all of the air, it will begin to vibrate. You would then pull over. Very rarely do you have a sudden loss of air pressure.

I once drove a Nissan Alitma with 50 series tires for miles around DC with a flat tire until someone flagged me down. There was so little difference between the fully inflated tire and the flat low-profile that the car didn't pull enough to notice. It did start making noise though. It was so damn hot we had to let it cool for a half hour before taking it off. It was steaming and that was in 40 deg dirizzly weather.

[VanDiemen23]

if you've never had a "bad tire" what that refers to the most is a belt separation, usually caused by some processing defect when bonding the belts as the carcass is constructed. I've also had belt separations happen by over-speeding the tire (not necessarily over temped though). The belts will start to separate under the tread and shift and the tire will no longer be round. it will likely also no longer be flat across the tread face. I had this happen on 4 Armstrong ST tires and 3 BFG Commercial TAs. The Armstrongs were overspeeded and the TAs were faulty construction and there was a recall out on them. The vibration when it occurs will get your attention. If the separation occurs in the sidewall you will get a huge bubble - those are the ones that might be subject to a classic blowout. I've had two of those on STs and another on a BFG Mud Terrain TA.

[DianaCox]

We picked up the Jeep today - replaced all 5 tires (as I previously mentioned, the unused spare was original equipment on the 2007 Jeep). The mechanic found NO factory TPMS, which is weird, based on my reading of the online manual for Jeep (the VIN number matches a 2007).

He said there was evidence of extreme heating on the tire that blew out, AND some heat damage to the PS front tire too. I really don't think either of them had any damage when we set out about 30 miles previously. It was a mild day, and we were driving at about 60 mph (maybe less overall, since we were going up and down hills from Camp Verde to near Arcosanti when it blew out). I just checked the distance from the RV park to the blowout - 21 miles exactly.

The mechanic was sure that the blowout was caused by a problem with the alignment, and immediately put it up on the machine to check it - and it was perfectly true, just as it was in December when we had him check it out before buying it.

He has no idea what happened, including why the other front tire showed damage. My husband is certain that the key was in the right position (i.e., the steering wasn't locked) when he got in to check it after the tire was changed.

So - bad tire, road hazard and/or underinflation (how? why not warned by TPMS?) caused delam, leading to imperceptible (in rearview camera while towing) wobble that messed up the other front tire, heating (why not warned by TPMS?) and it eventually blew out? I hope that's what it was.

Husband liked the ride on the Jeep better while he drove it home from the shop. Oh, and unbelievably, that torqued wheel well fairing, and the fender and trim strip that got blown off and my husband found down the road behind us after we stopped? Barely scuffed - they replaced the plastic clips and reinstalled all three pieces of plastic and you would never know it happened. Knock wood - we got "lucky."

[twinboat]

If it has a TPMS light it could have an indirect system.

Some TPMS systems use tire rotation speed, thru the anti-lock brake system, to monitor for a low tire.

A tire, low on pressure, will turn more revolutions and set the TPMS light.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire-p...itoring_system

With that, I believe your steering turned all the way to the right and got stuck there. That would explain the front tire damage.

[RedT]

If you have any questions regarding the operation of the Pressure Pro TPMS, the local distributor will gladly answer them.

Steve Berry
Email: steve@tirepressuremonitor.com
Website: Tire Pressure Monitor - TPMS Sales
1981 S. Southern Pacific Street
Flagstaff,AZ 86001

Phone: 800-521-6820

[Finance]

Originally Posted by twinboat

With that, I believe your steering turned all the way to the right and got stuck there. That would explain the front tire damage.

I concur, that's why I was interested to see the RF tire. If the damage / excess wear to that tire was on the left (inside) edge that would be a strong indicator. If that tire hasn't been recycled yet I would get a look at it.

Not trying to alarm you, but the indications from your OP are of a fault visible to passers but not detected by TPMS. Which could be either belts starting to let go or steering jamming to one side.

Another elimination test you can do is lower the pressure on the toad tires individually and confirm you get a TPMS alarm in the coach, and how long is the delay.

[DianaCox]

Originally Posted by RedT

If you have any questions regarding the operation of the Pressure Pro TPMS, the local distributor will gladly answer them.

Steve Berry
Email: steve@tirepressuremonitor.com
Website: Tire Pressure Monitor - TPMS Sales
1981 S. Southern Pacific Street
Flagstaff,AZ 86001

Phone: 800-521-6820

Yes, Steve is who I spoke with at length before buying the system through our mechanic, who installed it.

[DianaCox]

Originally Posted by Finance

Quote:
Originally Posted by twinboat View Post
With that, I believe your steering turned all the way to the right and got stuck there. That would explain the front tire damage.

I concur, that's why I was interested to see the RF tire. If the damage / excess wear to that tire was on the left (inside) edge that would be a strong indicator. If that tire hasn't been recycled yet I would get a look at it.

Not trying to alarm you, but the indications from your OP are of a fault visible to passers but not detected by TPMS. Which could be either belts starting to let go or steering jamming to one side.

Another elimination test you can do is lower the pressure on the toad tires individually and confirm you get a TPMS alarm in the coach, and how long is the delay.

* I believe your steering turned all the way to the right and got stuck there.
* the indications from your OP are of a fault visible to passers but not detected by TPMS. Which could be either belts starting to let go or steering jamming to one side.

This is my biggest concern - that something MECHANICAL happened that could happen again. How would the wheel turn all the way to the right while under tow? A problem with the Blue Ox towbar? A freak accident of hitting a bump, allowing the wheel to bounce up and twist to the right before landing?

We will never EVER ignore a honk from a passing car again, that's for sure - we will ASSUME it's a warning!

[Lt Dan]

Something similar happened to us towing our friend's '05 Jeep Wrangler. It was our first time to tow it and they hooked it up and set everything up. Like yours, the key had to be in the first notch to unlock the steering. The blowout happened about 30 miles into our trip on a back road with us following them towing a trailer. I felt the thump and saw a complete tire tread laying on top of the Jeep in the rear camera. I thought I had lost a motor home tire tread. We had no TPMS then, but do now and tow our own Jeep which does not have steering lock. This was a BF Goodrich heavy terrain tire, so it was not an inferior brand.

It was concluded that they did not get the key all the way in the first notch and the steering locked just slightly out of straight. It doesn't take much side scuffing to generate a lot of heat. You might consider disabling the steering lock if you decide that was what caused the problem.

[DianaCox]

I went back and picked up the other (PS) front tire. There is damage from the center of the tread towards the inside of the tire (towards my foot). Mechanic thinks it may have been slightly turned while we were towing? But what caused it? Pic of front blowout in first post shows the wheel was straight when we stopped. Maybe being tugged slightly from the DS tire going bad?

[DianaCox]

"It was concluded that they did not get the key all the way in the first notch and the steering locked just slightly out of straight. It doesn't take much side scuffing to generate a lot of heat. You might consider disabling the steering lock if you decide that was what caused the problem."

I would be upset if this is what happened - husband checked that key was in the first notch and turned the wheel to ensure that the steering was unlocked as part of the hookup process and I was standing next to the car when he did it and saw the wheels moving freely. But if there is a way to disable the steering lock altogether, we might want to consider it. We are going on a 2 month trip this summer with multiple hooking/unhooking opportunities to screw it up.

Any idea how to disable the steering lock, or is that a job for a mechanic?

I would SO prefer to hear an explanation of what happened, including to the front tire, that is all related to the DS tire going bad ...

[Lt Dan]

Originally Posted by DianaCox

Any idea how to disable the steering lock, or is that a job for a mechanic?

That right front tire sure looks like it was being dragged at least partially sideways.

There are a number of posts about disabling the steering lock on the Jeep Wrangler forum. Here is one that shows the parts that I would suspect are very similar on the Liberty.
https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/...eel-lock.5138/

If you do a Google search for Jeep Liberty ignition switch there are also a number of posts about problems with the Liberty ignition switch failing. It is usually failing to start or being unable to turn it all the way off and remove the key. That switch could be a weak point in the steering lock.

[twinboat]

Steering wheel locks are designed to deter theft.

On my car, the bolts holding it on were headless. I needed a small hammer and chisel to knock them around to get them out and then cut a slot in them to put back in.

Best advice is to check the front wheels after a sharp turn or a turn with potholes or pavement seams in the roadway.

If you have a rear camera, set it so you can see at least on front tire.

[awol50]

When I turn the key to acc in my tracker to unlock the steering wheel, I always turn the steering wheel a quarter turn left then right to make sure it is unlocked.
Not sure if that is foolproof, but never have had a problem either.