Bongo Fury

Driving to work early this morning, in a wee bit of a hurry, and something definitely didn't feel right.

I thought I could hear a diff whine, then I thought it sounded like a wheel bearing.

Then it got very rapidly worse. Lots of noise, vibration, etc.

Pulled over sharpish, and found the nearside rear tyre in shreds. Tread is intact, outer sidewall is split almost all the way round. Inner sidewall isn't too happy either.

Thank god I got a proper spare!!

Swapped in 5 mins, and managed to get to the check-in for the flight I was heading for in time (with about 2 minutes to spare!)

Quick inspection revealed no damage to the tread, no screws, nails, etc.

I suspect that the pressure has been dropping but due to the 98 rated sidewalls I've not noticed it looking flat. And due to my own stupid fault I've not been checking the pressure. And I have a pressure gauge in the driver's door pocket too. No excuse really.

So, if you have all been good girls and boys and fitted decent high load rated tyres, make sure you check the pressure properly rather than "looks OK from here"

At least I have 2 weeks offshore to sort out a replacement for the day I come home.

Alas, I'm sure most of us are guilty of not regularly checking tyre pressures - definitely a timely reminder and glad nothing bad happened

francophile1947 wrote:glad nothing bad happened

Indeed. I had been pressing on a bit so it could have turned into a much worse day. In fact about a mile before I stopped it had started to sound like a wheel bearing, so I did try weaving left / right at speed to see how the noise changed (like you do!). Thankfully when Pirelli put 98 on the side of the tyres, they mean it!

francophile1947 wrote:Alas, I'm sure most of us are guilty of not regularly checking tyre pressures - definitely a timely reminder and glad nothing bad happened

I usually do mine monthly.....even that is probably not enough...

I always start off checking them weekly when first fitted, but soon lose interest when they never go down - must try harder

francophile1947 wrote:I always start off checking them weekly when first fitted, but soon lose interest when they never go down - must try harder

Yup especially when it's cold & wet

I think most of us are guilty of not checking our tyre pressures often enough. As shown here it can be costly though. I have a BMW with alloys & low profiles. A couple of weeks ago I looked at the n/s rear & thought 'that looks a bit low, must check it'. Well it was blowing a freezing Nor'easter straight from the Russian steppe so it didn't get done right away. That evening I couldn't avoid a known pothole due to oncoming traffic. Result? Split sidewall & a rim like a 50p piece & it probably needs a re-alignment all round.

Maybe East Sussex County Council will contribute as, like many other areas, the roads are dreadful since the snow & little if anything seems to be being done about it.

Rant over.

There are 10 types of people in this world.
Those that check their tyres, and those that don't.

Going to be about £140 for a new tyre, I think I may leave the 10nd group and join the 01st.