How to handle a steer tire blowout at 70 mph

[jeep-tom]

Happened to me just a few weeks ago, driving big trucks since 38 years, my first steer tire blowout.
Was on I-80 westbound past Winnemucca NV, just wanted to pass another truck.
I was glad that I was just a few feet behind that truck and nobody was beside or behind me.
Truck was pulling a bit to the right after the right steer tire blew, my brain told my foot NOT to touch the brake and I just let her go, had not to counter steer too much and when I was slower I used the trailer brake to come to a stop.

Heavy damage, inner fender, airline to the brake, coolant line to the DPF ripped off, fairing was broken and some minor damages.
I'm just glad that I didn't lose control
Gross weight was 79000 lbs.

P.S. I was on the phone with my wife, you hear me talking in German in the background.

 

[Nigel]

Seems like a huge amount of damage to the tire! I wouldn't have thought the steer wheels were heavily loaded. What happened to it?


Presumably the engine brake is also safe to use in that situation since it only operates on the drive wheels.

 

[jeep-tom]

Seems like a huge amount of damage to the tire! I wouldn't have thought the steer wheels were heavily loaded. What happened to it?


Presumably the engine brake is also safe to use in that situation since it only operates on the drive wheels.

Somehow the tread came loose and the tire blew. The weight on the steer axle was 12200 lbs.
To be honest, I didn't use the engine brake, I held the steering wheel as I expected that probably the rim breaks, and when I was slow enough I used the trailer brake as I already had an alarm that I was low on coolant, lost all while slowing down.

 

[Nigel]

Somehow the tread came loose and the tire blew. The weight on the steer axle was 12200 lbs.
To be honest, I didn't use the engine brake, I held the steering wheel as I expected that probably the rim breaks, and when I was slow enough I used the trailer brake as I already had an alarm that I was low on coolant, lost all while slowing down.

OK, that's plenty of force to cause destruction once a failure starts!

 

[flank]

At least your day wasn’t as bad as this one.

 

[dash riposki]

What? I think you are lying. All those 'expert' truckers will swear you will roll the truck or at least run off the road if you blow a steer tire!!!!


the only time I blew one was on a Freightliner Columbia, with out any of the plastic crap/side skirting. Other than the tire and chewed up rim, there wasn't any other damage. (I miss those trucks)

 

[SawMaster]

Glad it turned out OK In life I've found that the first thing to do no matter the emergency is not freak out and do something without thinking. If it's already bad, at least 50% of the things you can do will be wrong and make it worse so doing nothing kind of helps keep you from making it worse until you can think it through

Phil

 

[country_hick]

Whoever sold that tire should be liable for all those damages unless you ran it without air.
Has the tire company agreed to pay for the damages caused by their defective tire?

 

[Nigel]

Whoever sold that tire should be liable for all those damages unless you ran it without air.
Has the tire company agreed to pay for the damages caused by their defective tire?

Given the current state of the tire, it's going to be quite hard to prove that the failure was due to a manufacturing fault rather than mistreatment!

 

[kamkar]

One would think ( wrongly ) that the designers would not put that much weak stuff around a tire, might as well have put a glass brake line there too.

 

[SawMaster]

It's a plastic world now A friend's F-150 lost a front tread. Destroyed the plastic inner fenderwell, a bunch of wiring, and the ECM. It even dented the hood from the inside. And people wonder why I love the old cars and trucks with almost no plastic in them

Phil

 

[flank]

Lighter for better fuel distance.

 

[kamkar]

If you are gentle plastics are nice, when my Suzuki Gran vitara was 1-2 days old ( haven't even gotten insurance papers on it yet ) i reversed into a guy at MC donalds, dident put a dent or scratch in his or my car.
This was in 2006 and from time to time like all negative experiences of mine it pop into memory and send chills down my spine,,,,,,,, i really wish i was like normal people forgetting most bad experiences, or at least had fewer bad experiences, but noooooo some times i get taken back 40 years or so to relive a bad thing again.

 

[dash riposki]

I think that's a (US) Volvo truck in the pics.
If you see that trellised dark gray plastic stuff behind the damaged steer wheel, that stuff is getting more common in new trucks for body part attachment. (I guess lighter, cheaper, but recyclable? Doubt it.)
The plastic or fiberglass body covers or panels are primarily for MPG, but they look nice until they get banged up.
You'll see a lot of older trucks with them half torn up or missing multiple sections. Impossible to bang the dents out, not so easy to patch up, and expensive to outright replace.

 

[kamkar]

If you cant get enough trucking during the day, you can pick up euro trucker and go digital trucking over here.
And now you can even digital truck in Russia, but fair warning you better start up your screen recorder in case of a accident.

 

[SawMaster]

Lighter for better fuel distance.

True, but if it's other costs to you exceed the fuel mileage gains then it's losing a winnable game. There are places where plastic makes sense and is a good choice, but there are places where it's better to use something more robust. A few miles per gallon means little to the average car owner- a few bucks per week at most. It can make a big difference with trucks doing many thousands of miles per week. But you have to balance those savings against repair costs and parts which wear out or break instead of enduring as they could and should do. Twice I've been crashed into by newer cars while I was driving my old iron where the repair difference was astronomical. Once was $5500 vs $50 for me, another time was $8500 vs $1200 for me. Yes, insurance pays for that but you (and me) pay for the insurance so we field the costs anyway. I'd rather have my durability- I'll cover the slight increase in fuel costs to get it.

Phil

 

[dash riposki]

If you cant get enough trucking during the day, you can pick up euro trucker and go digital trucking over here.
And now you can even digital truck in Russia, but fair warning you better start up your screen recorder in case of a accident.

Do they issue a digital gun, or baseball bat, and a track suit?

 

[VolvoDashcam]

You need one of these!

 

[Daffypuck]

Seems like a huge amount of damage to the tire! I wouldn't have thought the steer wheels were heavily loaded. What happened to it?


Presumably the engine brake is also safe to use in that situation since it only operates on the drive wheels.

IMO, no, the engine brake probably wouldnt be good either because that would still put weight on the front end resulting in more pull to the side of the blowout. If anything, Ive been told in some instances, apply the accelorater to lift up the front end so you can gain control and then apply the trailer brake to further lift up the front end and slow at the same time. But definitely do not hit foot brake.

 

[flank]

I would have done the wheelie package upgrade during the repair. Your visibility will suffer a little though.