Neo

iTrader: (3)

Glad you made it home OK. rominl told me about it last night and we were talking theories too. From what I hear though, I'm glad I didn't go with you. Not because of this. If I stayed as late as you did, I would never have been able to get up at 7 to get my kids ready for school.

Like the others, after I made sure everything was OK, my first thoughts were that you'll just have to get your HREs sooner than planned.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

ok we got 3 votes on hre now, more?

hawk

i'd be concerned about that second hole, too......my bet is road debris; however, it wouldn't necessarily be a bad idea to have a police officer take a peek. if you're confident it is a bullet, i don't think that's an enormously large caliber one.......additionally, hitting the wheel at that angle would almost for sure mean that a shot would come from behind and low.....the way those holes are makes me think that it'd be a very difficult shot from an awkward angle.

the thing is that it looks like it's a bit bigger than a 22 caliber but stuff that gets much bigger would've left a lot more damage (imo) and probably lodged up into your car (make sure you're still getting the same mileage you used to be getting!)

if anything, i'd check your wheel well for anything lodged up in some of the plastic and such.....i wouldn't be surprised if you found, at the very least, some new markings

bluelex

i agree with hawk mayb just 4 safe sake habe an officer look at it, i'm glad u'r ok.....looks pretty bad tho...

the_saint

I'm fairly sure that I can debunk the bullet theory.
Last fall I was out at a quarry with a couple friends of mine doing some recreational shooting and one of my buddies just so happened to have some "armor piercing" rounds for his .223. He had had them chrono-ed or whatever it is they do to measure muzzle velocity and these things were pretty hot! Anyways, being the relative genius(es) that we all were we decided to shoot at some abandoned vehicles that were there...

Long story short...the .223 rounds made nice little indentations, perfectly sized to the slug, but there was hardly any penetration. Whereas the .44 mag round left a sloppier hole but pushed further in. Granted, the shots were taken on the mag/spoke of the wheel (a bit thicker that your lip), they didn't appear to have the energy to do what was done to the wheel in question.

Also, there is a ring around the hole from the object that punctured the rim. IIRC the bullets weren't leaving rings like that....but it does look as if it's big enough to be markings from the head of a bolt or a washer on the bolt.

I dunno, I think you found some crap in the road. I wouldn't get TOO paranoid, just be careful....they ARE watching

b.t.w. did you find any actual evidence of a bullet? i.e. lead or brass (from the jacket if it was a jacketed round)

DPRSupra

Glen,

sorry to hear about what happened. I ran into Bruce and he told me. I might be using wheeltechniques in the near future myself to repair some curb damage (wife) on my avs model 5's

e-man

Wow. That's really scary. But the good news is that you're okay. The rim/tire can be replaced. A life can't.

Anyway, here's my theory. I don't know much about bullets, but is it possible that you ran over a live bullet that was lying in the street. In other words, at the moment you ran over it, the bullet discharged as it compressed between the tire and the road, then entered through the bottom of the tire and came out through the other end (not exactly 180 degrees though because the tire was rotating) puncturing both the tire and the wheel upon exiting. It's just a theory, but if I understood the facts correctly, I think it's possible. The only thing I'm not sure about is whether a bullet can discharge without actually being struck by a pin. I think it can under the right circumstances, but I don't know for sure. I think it is unlikely that someone was shooting at you (given the fact that the bullet would have had to have been shot about 3-6 inches off the ground from behind you).

Anyway, like I said, the rim/tire can be replaced. You cannot.

e-man

flipside909

Geeze Glen, that's very odd. Are your valve stems, and any pieces to the rim still in tact or what? My only guess on that is road debris. If it was a bullet, it would have caused some kind of hole or piercing in your wheelwell. That's nuts though.

redgs4

Here's my conspiracy theory... RMMGS4 really wants new rims, especially since he is unhappy with the ones that he has. But he just can't justify spending the cash on the GS when the IS needs focus. So he gets a marlboro smoking midget to spike the road and damage the rims so he HAS to get the HRE's.

BTW, glad you are safe and sound. Good thing you had only one tire/rim damaged.

Synergy

Wow - that's scarry. And just to think that I had you so close to upgrading to the RMM SC!

Glad you are safe and your car is in one piece!

Neo

iTrader: (3)

Haha! LOL! Best theory yet.

redgs4

I thought so.

Awwww, we're a bunch of lemmings. If we jump he will follow.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

ummmm i guess i busted him when i asked why he doesn't just get hre. he hesitated

BigVIPness

I don't want to add fuel to the fire but... heres a few things to consider:

-In the past year there has been 3 major news stories about cars being shot at. Perhaps some punk *** kids were trying to make a name for themselves or they were just bored.

-If it was a nut/bolt/screw driver/whatever wouldn't it be sticking out of the tire? and if not wouldn't you have been able to see it fly out the back?

-Woods, road noise, music in the car, distance from shooter can all muffle or silence a gunshot, a wet towel wrapped around the end of the barrel can too.

-A .223 (or 5.56) is a ranch rifle (or bush rifle) bullet. Normally used in AR-15's/Mini-14's/and other semi-automatic guns capable of quick follow-up shots to down coyotes and the like. However, a larger bullet like a .308 is almost always fired from a bolt action rifle (hence one shot) and I can assure you that its more then capable of the damage shown.

It's good that you are unhurt and I would seriously consider taking in to the police to check out. Just my 2 cents.

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

Thanks all for your concern. After looking at how the tire was disintegrating from the inside out, I'm thinking were were only minutes away from completely shredding the tire and possibly getting into a lot more trouble. I already sensed that something was not right and pulled over as soon as I could. I can see how other people not so in tuned with their car, could continue driving until the tire disintegrated. These low profile tires are sooo easy to drive flat without knowing it.

I'm glad I got a low tire pressure sensor monitor for my wifes car, cause she drives long distances and is not accustomed to knowing what a low tire would feel like. Atleast the audio alarm and flashing indicator would be set off to warn her if a tire was going down.

I drove back to the site last night to scope out the area and I have made some general conclusions of the most likely scenario.

1. Some where on the way up I already felt some vibration and roughness in the ride. I originally attributed it to the road, but now it appears it could have been due to a bolt lodging into the tire. The most likely size would be a 5/16 diameter and about 3 1/2 inches long. I concluded this because 3 1/2 inches is slightly longer than the distance from my tire tread to the rim. The reason for the roughness could be attributed to the tip of the bolt pounding into the inside of the rim repeatedly. There is an impression on the tire that shows where the head of a bolt could have been.

2. Once arriving at my destination, the bolt remained lodged in the tire and the rim would have most likely started to show signs of penetration, but not broken all the way through.

3. I was near and around my car for the 3+ hours. I don't believe the tire was flat while I was there, because I even backed up and moved my car 2 or 3 times, since I was blocking the shop entrance where other cars needed to be moved in and out. There may have been some air pressure loss, but again the tire was not completely flat. That much I am sure.

I did not see any damage to the rim lip at that point, but it was in a dim area and at night , so it would be easy to miss it unless I was specifically looking at the rim.

4. After pinpointing the location on the road, where I heard the noise of running over an object, I was soon realized that there was no position for a shooter to hit my car. I was driving on the downward side of a bridge. There were no tall buildings to take cover from that angle. The shooter would of needed to be on the bridge itself going the oppositeway. There is no place on the bridge to park off to the side, and the location is not very reasonable for a shooter to choose an easy target.

5. The bridge itself was constructed of concrete slabs and at each joint the surface was not level and there was a hammering effect as I drove over each expansion joint. I was only driving around 35mph, so my thoughts are that the bridge contributed to the bolt dislodging.

6. As far as the second hole in the tire, it has been mentioned that there could have been a second bolt, or as the bolt dis-lodged it penetrated the tire a second time.

This may not of been exactly how it happened, but I feel it is probably reasonably close.

Thanks for everyones input.