Has anyone else had this. I had my front tyres collapse luckilly just after I got off the M25 !. When they were removed when being repalced the outside of the tyre were not heavilly worn but the inside of the inside of each tyre was showing the webbing. Both tyres were full of what looked like powered rubber and the smell was unreal. The chap at the tyres place said he'd never ever seen that before and reckoned something was seriously wrong.

I had asked my deal to check my suspension on a few occasions and they assure me its fine.

I'm now very concerned to say the least as I had my original fronts swapped to the rear a few months back. The tyres have been on for 13 months and have done about 15,000 miles the vast majority being mototrway miles (90%) and I don't drive like a loon either.

I've kept the tyres so has anyone got any ideas ? I'm worried there may be a bad batch and other people might have them or it my car not as it should be.


AllanB

 

What size were these tyres?

Tony

 

215/40 ZR 17 on OZ Supertourismo 17"



AllanB

 

I have only seen this where the tyre has gone flat and been highly overheated. The powdered rubber is from the sidewall where it has been over-flexed and got very hot. I suspect that you had actually been driving with both front tyres flat, or very underinflated for some distance, but a double puncture on the same axle is very unusual.

If the tyre is properly inflated, it would be impossible to generate enough heat to cause the tyre carcass to disintegrate like this. The damage you describe definately sounds heat related - most tyres with a manufacturing defect would delaminate or suffer a catatrophic disintegration of the carcass (like the truck tyres you see bits of on the motorway), wheras your tyres basically stayed together, but were damaged by heat / underinflation.

Can you post a picture? I have access to a subject-matter expert (he deals with run-flat systems for military and diplomatic vehicles, and has tested tyres to destruction for thousands of miles).

I would also contact Bridgestone customer services, and ask for the tyre damage to be examined, and the cause of the failure to be established. You may get lucky, and get some ex-gracia payment towards the cost of replacing them.

I could also take the opportunity to plug my Smarttire remote tyre pressure / temperature monitoring system, which is still for sale, and will detect any problems with punctures / overtemp / underinflation.

Cheers,

Alex

 

Agree with Alex. Have you had these tyres from new? I bet they've been run at very low pressure, or even flat. Wrecks the tyre in seconds. Best check the rears.

Defo send them back to Bridgestone. For peace of mind they will be able to confirm there's nothing wrong with your car.

Good luck,

Richard.

 

It wasn't anything to do with the stinger you had just driven over was it?

 

Oh cheers Rich, what you trying to say about me ?
How have you been keeping ? Not seen you around in Bournemouth for ages.

Car going in tomorrow to be carefully checked. Pressures have been checked pretty much weekly.


AllanB