Solman

Did a 100 mile trip this morning and had a blow-out 2 miles before my freeway exit in San Diego. First my set-up- 20 x 11 (rears) and 20 x 9 (front) Maya EX2 wheels (Pic) with Toyo Proxes A/S tires with 6K miles on them (2 yrs old). I smelled something and didn't think it was my sc-when I realized it was my sc, I thought it was something under the hood. I immediately started pulling over across 5 lanes on an extremely busy freeway With 2 lanes to go the tires starting hitting the rear fender-that was my first indication it was my back left tire. Before that I had NO idea it was a tire.

Called AAA and before they came the HP showed up-I now have a newfound respect for the danger they are in just standing next to the freeway. A school bus actually rode the line and came within 6" of the tow truck driver. Are drivers that stupid or do they just not care. BTW, 6 HP officers lost their lives in the last 3 months in that same situations, even though it is now against the law in CA NOT to change lanes when emergency vehicles are on the shoulder.

Next--My space saver tire (new 6 months ago was 1/2 flat), but AAA had a compressor and I never bought lug nuts for the spare! My custom wheel nuts DID not fit on the spare but the AAA guys had an assortment with him. The spare was put on to get the car on the flat bed. I was then advised by AAA and the officer that space savers aren't made to go for more than 50 miles or over 50 mph. Fortunately, my AAA is the premium (200 miles). They strapped my blow out on the flat bed, so I didn't have put it in the SC. and he drove my wife and I to my sons home (near that exit) and we got the stuff I needed from my son and then drove us back home the 100 miles.

NO WAY would I risk my life to change that tire. The fact that I have high performance tires made it unlikely to be able to find a replacement. Even back home it will take 2 days to get the replacement.

I will post again with more pics and a little about the damage to fender and rim.

John

UnSub

Man, that stinks. I'm glad no one was injured. This makes me glad I stayed with run-flats when I bought new tires 2 weeks ago. I watched a comedy on YouTube where a guy dropped a tire tool under the car. When he laid down to reach under the car, somebody ran over his legs. After seeing that, I decided to put up with a little rougher ride in order to be safer in the event of a flat.

Solman

I removed most of the tire residue from the fender and the fender will need to be realigned. The tire will be ordered saturday morning and will be in on tuesday. When I go in I need to have the wheel inspected to be sure it is not damaged (see pics) These rims (and Tires) were purchased from a former SC owner (and forum member). He showed me the receipt just for the rims (over $5K for the 4 rims) They are custom for the SC only. I hope they can be salvaged.

I am very lucky to have not lost control of the car, not to have been injured, and not sustained more body damage. I learned a lot today, such as checking the spare for air and having lug nuts for the spare. Many people talked on this forum about flat tires and how you feel you have contingency plans. Fix a flat and compressors would not help me, though I had them with me.

Lastly, what is your opinion of the back side of the rim-no damage to the front.

VVTiBob

Glad to hear no one was hurt! What the heck shredded the sidewall? From the photo looks like the inside of the rim is bent. But it may just be the angle of the photo.

jimmer!

that is one scary recounting.
you are one lucky guy to be alive
and with little damage to you 430.
thanks for letting us in on something
we all need to be very careful with.

Solman

My local tire shop just checked out the rim. They think that a little sanding on the back of the rim and it should be ok. I guess we'll know when they balance it. I don't regret getting rid of the run-flats because that 100 mile trip is about the furthest I take her. On longer trips, I like to take my van so I can take the bikes with. I will think twice before going on longer trips-keep it under the AAA 200 miles (lol).
Nothing better than cruising along the Pacific with the top down. It was 68 degrees and the wife had the heat on, on her side. Ironically, the weather on fri said 21 states had a heat index of over 100 and she was cold. lol Nothing better than that until you get a blow-out.

KBALL

Amazing no injuries.
I've driven that 5 fwy all my life and trying to get across 5 lanes with a blowout is SCARY!

I also had some tire issues yesterday but the car seems to have survived.

But it has convinced me to leave the tpms for now rather than disable it

Harold57

I agree with the value of the TPMS, though I do wish it had the features of some of the after market versions that will display each of the tire pressures. It is too hard to look at our tires and see that the tire is low and I already know that I won't be diligent enough to check the pressure often enough to notice that it is low.

westrella1

iTrader: (1)

I'm happy to hear that no one was hurt. Sounds like you were very lucky.

I've thought about getting a spare, but I opted for the portable compressor & tire plugs. Now I'm wondering whether that's enough. I just had a service done to my car last week, & the service person I dealt with commented that I must be taking good care of the car based on its condition... but accidents can always happen.

talwang

iTrader: (4)

glad to hear you are ok.
bent wheels can still be balanced.
just ask them to check the runout while the tire guy spin them on the machine.
you won't feel too much if a slightly bent wheel is in the rear.

SteadyEddy

iTrader: (1)

Glad to hear that nobody got injured, could have been real bad. I guess Calif. and Pa. both have the same law, as far as moving over or slowing down when coming up on emergency vehicles along side the roadways. Now if only the people would adhere to it.

thelopez

I'd risk ruining my rim and just drive off the freeway, but I also have cheap rims.

m3nv

Wow.. that really sucks. It happened to me a LONG time ago and the front tire pretty much ripped off my fender...

Fastmensch

iTrader: (1)

Well thanks for posting and good going getting out of it...as for me, I love my run flats...once I had an apple sized hole in one from debris on the freeway and it held up home and back to get another...