Visit my brother-in-law down in Florida last week.

So we take his Honda Spyder out for a spin one night, with those kool looking low profile tires.

Cruising along around 75 mph, and we get the thumping noise from the rear, slow down onto the shoulder, and watch as his rear tire passes us rolling down a dark stretch of lonely road.

When we get out to inspect, turns out that the rear passenger tire failed, and sheared right off the rim along the whole circumference of the tirewall. The only piece of tire left on the rim was about an inch or so all along the rim (the tread was what rolled pass us).

I had never seen a tire fail like that, and we were trying to figure out the semantics behind it.

The tire had less than 10k miles on them.

We suspect low tire pressure (the Sypder does not have pressure monitoring), or possibly a defective tire...???

The Spyder does have a donut spare, so we made it back with that.

Thoughts or comments welcomed...

Was also wondering since the XFire has no spare, anyone ever consider a donut spare that would fit in the trunk (and act as a little insurance on a long x-country road trip)...That gizmo in the trunk, or a sealant would be of no help under these circumstances...

 

you'd be better off walking that long country road than putting a small donut next toa 19" rim.

I have the factory flat repair, a tire plug tool and AAA. Oh prayer can help too.

What brand of tire was he running?

 

About a year ago, my wife was driving her 95 Jeep Wrangler on a local stretch if Interstate when she experienced the same thing. The RR Pirelli Scorpion ATR let go. When she finally stopped and got out to look, the tire had completely shredded. The tread carcass was completely loose from the tire sidewall but was still wrapped around the rim. Tire set only had about 8000 miles on them. It so scared us both that I put a complete set of Firestone Destination A/T's on her Jeep. Probably will never buy Pirelli Scorpions again. I just don't forget & hardly ever forgive.

Tire failure reminded me of the kind we see during a NASCAR race. It completely disintegrated & shredded itself. Guys at local tire store were shocked when they saw the tire. I have never seen that type of tire failure up close & personal before.

Sort of makes me wonder about tire design and/or manufacturing processes today vs. years past. I feel that this particular failure was an anomoly and most likely the result of a defective tire. But if that is so, then the tire manufacturing process and/or random QC inspection weren't sufficient to catch this tire before it was shipped to the market.

 

That sounds like the same issue they were having in the late '90s with Firestone and the OEM tires they were putting on the Ford Explorers.

 

Was also wondering since the XFire has no spare, anyone ever consider a donut spare that would fit in the trunk (and act as a little insurance on a long x-country road trip)...That gizmo in the trunk, or a sealant would be of no help under these circumstances...[/QUOTE]
Triple A Plus is my "spare tire". I'd rather pay a little money than face a heart attack, a mugging, a broken wrist, dehydration,etc. etc. The only donut I want is from Krispy Kreme.

 

My guess is that he was driving on the wheel with low pressure for some time, and the rim was cutting into the tire for some time. With low profile tires, you can loose a few lbs and have the rim cutting into the tire and people who are not observant would not even notice it until it literally shears the sidewall off. Was there any rubber shavings or any tell tale signs left in the tire half that was remaining?

Just my opinion

 

There is a donut spare for the R170 but there's no good way to rig it in the XF trunk; it will sit loose there. You also have to use special lug nuts to hod it on or you will cause damage. And if you're running big brakes or an SRT, forget it! You'd also have to get the Mercedes tire kit with the 12 volt inflator. These all show up on fleaBay from time to time.

That being said, it's often better to have this setup handy rather than rely on a tow in certain circumstances. Yes I have towing insurance. But the last time I relied on my local tower for help with my Riviera, the driver lost the rim with the flat tire. Never got it back.

 

Kodebuster, what you described is pretty much what happens to a "low profile" tire that has been driven while deflated.
Being a low profile tire, it can be driven for quite some time "Flat" and not display the usual flat tire obligatory noise......(flappity flappity flappity flappity) that is common with tires that have a larger aspect ratio, such as 60, or 70 series tires do when they go flat.
Since you can't hear any tell tale noise, most drivers only sense a minor sway that's not unlike driving in the ruts made by the big rigs.
While the tire is rotating, the uninflated tire's side wall will still fold under the edge of the rim, and it systematically slices the side wall (little by little) every revolution. That's why the tread can stay intact, but give the illusion of a catastrophic side wall failure.
Green-ghost, many Mercedes have staggered tire applications, and come with a doughnut spare. We don't have a LSD on our Crossfires so it shouldn't cause too much of a problem. Not sure how the ETC would react. If you're still concerned with a rear tire failure, you could always replace the rear tire with a front one, and put the doughnut on the front. There are more than a few here on the forum that carry a doughnut, and I don't think any of them are LEO's.
Zahanma, I think Firestoned experienced a "ply separation problem" before the tire went flat.

In other words, pretty much what John and JC said above. (Thanks to Very slow typing skills).

 

Hence why I always check my tires before going anywhere. And when I stop on long trips. May take a minute, but I have peace of mind knowing that if something blows, it wasn't because of me. Also saves gas having your tires inflated properly.

That being said, if it happened and your buddy did check his tire pressure beforehand, it could be like the Firestone/Explorer thing they had in the 90's.

 

The Spyder was running Pirelli's in the rear with I believe 18 inch rims, and 17 inch in the front.

And yes it was a scary situation at the time and moment. Lucky we were on a deserted open back road, rather than an Interstate in the middle lane, with 18 wheelers all around us.

The other ugly piece was seeing his nice rim scrapping along the pavement with no tire attached (it wasn't a pretty sight).

Did a little additional reseach, and the SLK has an inflatable donut and pump, and special bolts, and yes, it will sit loose in the XFire trunk (which should work). Also the SLK Donut has a 25 inch diameter when inflated, so it should be slightly smaller deflated.

I might need to see this in action, as I doubt you can get the spare in there and the top down at the same time, (wishful thinking)....

And yes I agree that AAA is the way to go...But there is some comfort knowing you got a spare that works (in those special circumstances)...

 

all low profile tires,, with low air pressure will come apart that way,, you should always keep at least 38 lbs in low profile tires we get them all the time with the insides eaten up ever see those little rubber BB's inside the tire when it is broken down well that is from running with low air pressure, . I looked up for you,,," low profile tires fail" jim


Why Tires Fail

 

As a Goodyear mechanic for 20 yrs, I saw this many times. As described here already it is the classic symptom of an under inflated tire. The heat generated while running in a low inflation mode is surprising. The rubber right at the "bulge" melts away and lets the tread take off on its own. I see lots of tread sections, for all kinds of tires not just low profiles along side the roads here in CA.

How many here remember a "service station" ? I learned as a gas jockey to check tires at least once a week. It has paid off. No flats or blow outs in 30 years !! Thank heavens I haven't needed my spare like around Bakersfield or Fresno!! (See my signature for my spare) If your TPMS comes on......go put air in the tire! It's getting hot if your driving at freeway speeds.

BTW.....HOORAY GIANTS!!!!!

 

In early '04 there was a rash of Michelin PS2 failures on our Crossfires. Happened to me rolling down the tollway. I was trailing a thin wisp of smoke before the tire sensor kicked on. Cut that tire off the rim before I got the car into a safe place to pull over and wait for the tow truck. I actually noticed people backing way off from me before I noticed the smoke.

I had checked the tire inflation about an hour previous as I was taking it for its first long ride. Couldn't have had 4K on the tires yet. I still run PS2s for the summer. It was just an anomaly and I happened to get lucky. Probably scared the folks trailing me more than it did me.

 

uuhh...you need to get out more. it's that loooong stretch of I-5 between santa nella and kettleman city that i'd worry about. btw, for warm weather climates, michelin (ask those veyron owners) and pirelli's (ask those ferrari owners) rule.

 

Oh yeah, not to mention going up the grapevine on bike. KILLER!!