Tire carcasses

[LostArra]

I just returned from a week of lake living with our entire family in eastern Tennessee.. beautiful state, friendly people. Fishing wasn't great but I attributed that to being unfamiliar with water that clear.

On the drive home on I-40 from Knoxville thru Arkansas the road was literally covered with the remains of delaminated or blown truck tires. All looked to be from semis. I had started counting dead deer on the road in Tennessee (8) but switched to dead tires then completely lost count because there were so many.

Is there a tire manufacturing problem? Are truckers running tires until they are bald? Poor quality materials?
I would hate to be next to or behind a semi when one of the tires comes apart.

Car tires seem to rarely blow. My dad made sure we could safely jack up a car before we got a drivers license but changing a flat now is almost ancient history.

 

[Chris in TN]

Next time you're that bored, just play the alphabet game instead. You can play as a team or split the car into left and right sides and play against each other. You can give each side of the car their 'side' of the road.

 

[KsRancher]

From my observations its shitty drivers that dont care if a tire blows. Its not thier equipment or money and they get paid by the load. So they grab and go. And if a tire blows, keep going

 

[KsRancher]

The number of times that a wrecker is called to our local Walmart to pull trucks and trailers off of the big rocks at the entrance, exits and off of the sign post in the parking lot crazy.

 

[5MilesBack]

I would hate to be next to or behind a semi when one of the tires comes apart.

I've been next to two semi's as I was passing, that blew tires in my lifetime. It's like a bomb going off. The kind of thing that could scar a kid for life if they experienced it. I'll admit, I tend to accelerate when passing most vehicles, but even more so when passing semi's because of that.

 

[Daylate]

Numerous reasons they blow..100’s thousand miles .. Wore thin…run over something …recaps are a major reason people buy them because they’re cheaper. In the beginning …Till you have a 700 dollar road repair along the road..Cars don’t weigh 80,000 pound is why blow outs are more violent in semis…We call those things you’re counting. Gators…and try not to run over them because they are heavy and can do alot of damage to cars…You’ll see alot more in the summer heat.

 

[Truck24hr]

We just had some good heat in Arkansas, coupled with tires that were good enough to make it through winter, but can't handle the heat.

Happens every summer.

 

[TreeDux]

I spend a decent amount of time on both I-40 and 95 and see this a lot. It is definitely a safety issue. I’m sure that quality of components and a don’t give a damn attitude both contribute to the issue, but the sheer volume of miles driven under heavy loads also factors in.

 

[MTlan66]

I think it’s the Tennessee roads! I can’t count how many times I’ve driven I40 through Tennessee from one end to the other, and I’ve marveled every time about how bad the road is and how many potholes.

 

[Burnsie]

I just talked to my brother a few days ago and he told me that for the first time in his life he witnessed a semi tire blow. He was right behind a semi-truck and his rear tire blew right in front of him. He said it scared the living crap out of him - like a bomb going off! He was lucky, only some small shrapnel scraps hit his truck, the major large chunks flew of to the side.

 

[Poser]

I'd wager it is mostly related to statistical volume due to the sheer amount of truck traffic on I40 that really seems to peak in funneled congestion through OK and AR. Headed East, once you get to West Memphis AR, that traffic tends to disperse noitceably, either to other interstate systems or to the intermodal railyard in Memphis, Driving that stretch of I40 is incredibly frustrating: truck volume, trucks trying to pass each other with a 5mph speed advantage etc.

 

[BLJ]

It's like a bomb going off.

Perfect description that I completely agree with after experiencing my sample of one.

 

[RockAndSage]

I've been next to two semi's as I was passing, that blew tires in my lifetime. It's like a bomb going off. The kind of thing that could scar a kid for life if they experienced it. I'll admit, I tend to accelerate when passing most vehicles, but even more so when passing semi's because of that.

It's pretty crazy how violent they are. With thermal they absolutely light up, far brighter than passenger car tires. Heavier loads, higher operating pressures...add in incompetent drivers with incompetent conceptualizations of maintenance norms, and you get all these blowouts. I've thought I've noticed more too. But yeah, all it takes is witnessing one of these violent blowouts and how much damage they can cause to vehicles following them - I don't hang around either. Just pass quickly and be out of any danger zone.

 

[S-3 ranch]

It’s cheap foreign made tires that most transport companies buy for their trailers, the drivers are usually contractors and or employees drivers
Doing the turn and burn, drivers do a quick safety inspection and they go unless it’s something noticeable.
Our local truck stop has a long line of trucks waiting for tires, and those tires are usually garbage, just good enough to make someone else problem.
Anyone who doesn’t replace Rv tires even if brand new are asking for trouble on the road and major repairs

 

[wapitibob]

Heat delaminates a section of the recap, then it migrates till it comes apart.

 

[Glendon Mullins]

like most have mentioned, cheap tires, recaps, truckers not caring (durka durka) etc etc there are many reasons, we witnessed one blow out the other day while me and my son were on our way to a fishing trip in Virginia. Scared my son, lol. We had just passed the truck and was luckily in front of it, when he had the blow out, i looked in my rear view to see the shrapnel flying everywhere, there was a small SUV right behind the truck, i am sure that was a bad day for them.

That is the 2nd time i have witnessed one blow out, the 1st time was when my dad owned his coal truck. When we would change tires on them we would put a chain around the rim while airing them up (not sure if newer big trucks still use this but back then you had a wheel and rim they were two seperate parts, so when u aired the tired up you put a chain around it incase it blew and the rim comes flying out, a few people had been killed by this in the coal fields of wv) well anyway they had the tire airing up and it blew, i was sitting on the deck right above the tire and it was like a bomb went off.

 

[LongWayAround]

I had one blow up right next to me on I-25 about a week ago. Definitely woke me up!

Years ago I had a cement truck throw a tire in front of me in heavy traffic on I-80. It was pretty sporty when it started raining chunks.

 

[TreeDux]

I’ve seen a couple blow and heard quite a few more. It’s probably been around 20 years ago now but a buddy was riding his motorcycle on the highway somewhere in Montana. Had his girlfriend with him. IIRC he was passing a fire truck when a tire on the truck blew out. The truck suddenly came into his lane, there was tire shrapnel everywhere- the whole 9 yards. He laid the bike down and got hurt up pretty bad. He recovered fairly well, but some of those injury is still plague him today.

 

[S-3 ranch]

Not highway related, but still tire exploded
One morning at the ranch, one of my hunters asked to borrow my air compressor, to fill a atv tire , heard a explosion and screaming, the guy thought he needed 65psi instead of 10psi , blew up in his face and hand , required a ambulance, which required a police report, his friend swore they needed 50+ psi , insurance company investigated it, very negligent advice from the friend
On that note I just checked my cattle trailer tire pressure it’s 120psi @ load pressure and the tires are 8+ years old ( a time bomb)

 

[displacedtexan]

Cheap tires, old tires, retreads...

In most cases it's hard to blame the driver, they are rarely pulling the same trailer for long. A day or two, drop it off and head off with a new one after a quick safety check.