Scary Blowout on the Jersey Turnpike

Everybody please learn from my mistake:

 

My girlfriend and I decided to head up to NY for the weekend to visit some friends and had a great trip. On the way up, we made great time but I noticed a small vibration from the right side of the car. After a brief inspection at a gas stop and hitting the lug nuts with the wrench, everything seemed allright. I thought maybe I threw a wheel weight or somehow my alignment was thrown off so I figured it would be fine until we got back home and I could get it up on a lift (and hoped it was not a faulty component in the 4wd system).

 

We had a great time in the city but I parked on the street and on the day we were ready to leave, I noticed the street where I had parked was lined with tour buses and no Subaru. After freaking out because there were no 'no parking' signs on the street the day before, I spoke with a cop and he told me that the car had been relocated. After angrily discussing with the officer that my car could not be sling towed and that there were no signs indicating that the street would be closed, the cop told us where the car had been relocated and also that 'these guys do this alot so they should know how to tow your car.' We finally found the car and I guess they put dollies under my rear wheels when towing because it seemed to work fine. I hit a nasty pothole on the way out of the city and other than shouting a four letter word, I did not think anything of it, although it reminded me of the vibration we had experienced on the way up.

 

At lower speeds, the vibration was almost nonexistent but after dropping off my friend in Jersey, we hit the turnpike. Once up to speed, the vibration seemed to get worse and actually shook the steering wheel. We were cruising along at around 75 and all of the sudden, the car makes a loud slamming noise and starts sliding, although in a controlled manner. I quickly remembered my driver training and let the car slow down with very light brake application and kept it stable onto the shoulder. This scared the crap out of my girlfriend because she had been sleeping and awoke to a loud bang and me swerving in the lane. My first thought was that the front or center diff had crapped out and that the idiot tow truck driver did not tow me correctly. After getting out of the car, I noticed that my right front tire was destroyed. I have changed dozens of tires in my day, but this was the first time I had done it on the side of the highway (the NJ Turnpike, nonetheless) in the dark of night with a narrow shoulder and trucks and cars flying by at 75+ mph. I have seen too many of the worlds' worst drivers and whatnot on Tru TV to act carelessly in this situation. I quickly got the car in the air and took the mangled wheel and tire off and noticed that the frayed belt from the tire tore the hell out of the plastic wheel well liner. I bolted the spare and tucked the plastic liner into the front fender and we made it to the next rest stop.

 

Once at the rest stop, I topped off my space and checked everything out and the car appeared to be fine, althought it looked stupid with the narrow dounut tire bolted on.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/katz.sethj/SOrPv9mD-VI/AAAAAAAAATs/FawGd4UfMUM/s912/IMG_2085.jpg

There was no more vibrating or shaking so I guess whatever issue we had was a result of the bad tire. We made it home two hours later (yes, I broke the rules and had the donut on at 75 mph even though the limit is 50 mph) shaken up but safe and with a working vehicle.

 

So the moral of the story is...

 

ALWAYS CHECK YOUR TIRES FOR PROPER INFLATION!

 

I have no doubt that my tire was dangerously underinflated and/or the structural integrity of the belt had been damaged since we hit the nasty pothole in Manhattan. If I would have checked my tires before leaving my friend's house, we never would have had such a 'sudden' experience. AS you can see, the tread had separated from the tube and the steel belt had frayed like crazy. One I got the tire off of the rim today, I saw a horizontal tear on the inside that was definitely caused or aggravated by the hige pothole.

 

http://lh4.ggpht.com/katz.sethj/SOrPwCvRJuI/AAAAAAAAAT0/NJXxvrqu8dQ/s912/IMG_2086.jpg

 

http://lh5.ggpht.com/katz.sethj/SOrPwpFgWeI/AAAAAAAAAT8/cpiNWCxIKxk/s640/IMG_2087.jpg

 

http://lh4.ggpht.com/katz.sethj/SOrPwmrfU2I/AAAAAAAAAUE/AGAmbt_fKPc/s640/IMG_2088.jpg

Impressive. I have a slice in one of my tyres... waiting for it to go, cause i can't afford new ones :s

Wow close call. Just guessing but I would say the pot hole caused a broken belt. You would see that as a lump on your tire before she blew. Looks like you needed tires before this incident.

Re92's FTL.

Now is a good time to get 4 real tires on there.

Also test using multiple tire gauges.

I discovered this week when my low tire pressure light turned on. I checked the tires .. all were registering ~30-31PSI. Ok, no big deal .. I chalked it up to a finicky pressure sensor.

Drove to my parents house, checked the tires again using my dad's gauge, saw ~21PSI on all four tires. My gauge is reading 10PSI high .. and it's only a year old.

^^ Digital?

Thanks for the advice. I am normally very diligent about keeping air in my tires and check my pressure every few gas stops but this was just a stupid, and almost dangerous, mistake.

 

The tires were Bridgestone Potenza RE960's - much better than the RE92's that came on the car. I picked up a used tire today temporarily and all they had was an RE92 with a similar amount of wear and tear. I figure they should last me until I can decide what tires to try next.

Don't want to mess around with tire pressures.

 

Obviously that can have dangerous consequences as the OP mentioned.

 

Improper pressures also affect performance, tire wear, gas mileage, etc.... but most members already know that.

^^ Digital?

Both analog.

At least they weren't the stick type .. actual gauges .. but yeah. Complete difference in readings.

We had a great time in the city but I parked on the street and on the day we were ready to leave, I noticed the street where I had parked was lined with tour buses and no Subaru. After freaking out because there were no 'no parking' signs on the street the day before, I spoke with a cop and he told me that the car had been relocated. After angrily discussing with the officer that my car could not be sling towed and that there were no signs indicating that the street would be closed, the cop told us where the car had been relocated and also that 'these guys do this alot so they should know how to tow your car.' We finally found the car and I guess they put dollies under my rear wheels when towing because it seemed to work fine.

 

 

this would not have gone over to well with me... that has to be some invasion of privacy or personal space.. where do they get off moving your car for a bunch of friggin tour buses.. what makes them so important that they had to "relocate" your car... i would have "relocated" a tour bus or his cruiser.. how would he like it if he came outside and his cruiser was 50 ft down the road crashed into the side of a building only to find you waiting for him outside to let him know his cruiser had been "relocated"... but dont worry i do this all the time the building should be fine..

 

i have a general respect for cops especially those in the city however if i was put in that situation id probably end up in jail and the officer would end up in the hospital

besides that glad to here you are o.k. blowouts can be scary.. i had one that put me into a tree once.. the pothole was probably a factor but that looks like it came from wear n tear over time, tread looks like you need tires all around... a nice set of rubber (and maintaining such) is the most overlooked aspect of owning any type of car by the general public imo..

I only get flats on the highway at night. Both times I have had a flat tire it has been 11.00 at night, or 2.00 in the morning driving on the highway.

I only get flats on the highway at night. Both times I have had a flat tire it has been 11.00 at night, or 2.00 in the morning driving on the highway.

 

 

never fails it always seems to happen at the most convenient times doesnt it

 

changing a tire on the side of the highway is rough.. we've all seen those videos of retards hitting pedestrians on the side of the highway.. i even saw a woman not 3 months back who rear ended a cruiser who was making a traffic stop.. how do you rear end a cop with his lights on

 

only a woman

 

 

now im gunna go hide behind a couch while the female members of this board rip me a new one

Glad you are OK.

When you parked in NY, maybe the guys @ the towing company hooked the rope to one of your suspension parts and caused the allignment to deviate from norm?

I see so many NYPD Towing Truck personnel yank the car out that way it scares me....

Park in a Garage from next time on! It's expensive but worth it.

 

And yea, Pothole sucks in NY, not just that but Man Holes are sometimes a Bitch also..

Both analog.

At least they weren't the stick type .. actual gauges .. but yeah. Complete difference in readings.

 

Are the stick type really that unreliable??

This happened to my whole family once when my mom was driving her new Ford Focus.

 

The car seemed a bit louder than usual... at least I thought it did - I was sitting in the back at the time. Like the road noise was just... loud. I simply attributed it to the fact that I was sitting in a Ford Focus. Apparently my mom (who is not that great of a driver) didn't realize that the feedback through the wheel was the sign of a bulging tire getting worse and worse by the second (we HAD noticed the tire had a teeny-tiny lump).

 

Anyway, this really loud motorcycle (like one of the ones with no mufflers at all) is coming up behind us. I hear it very faintly at first, then louder, then it gets so loud I turn around to try and see what it is and then BANG! the left rear tire just exploded. My mom screams, the rest of us are just grabbing onto stuff. And of COURSE my mom SLAMS on the breaks. Miraculously she didn't spin out or hit anything. Tire was shredded.

changing a tire on the side of the highway is rough.. we've all seen those videos of retards hitting pedestrians on the side of the highway.. i even saw a woman not 3 months back who rear ended a cruiser who was making a traffic stop.. how do you rear end a cop with his lights on

 

Especially rough when you do it on a high-traffic highway... I had to once... But at least there was a decent ditch so I basically parked the car in the ditch and I think that was the fastest wheel change I ever have made... Almost Nascar speed there - without air tool!

Re92's FTL.

Now is a good time to get 4 real tires on there.

http://diy.despair.com/output/poster85685379.jpg

Are the stick type really that unreliable??

+1, I've never used anything but stick ones at your average gas station and then went out and bought my own. My old man has a compressor with a gauge on it, I'll measure it against it and see how it reads. Should be plenty accurate I think.

+1, I've never used anything but stick ones at your average gas station and then went out and bought my own. My old man has a compressor with a gauge on it, I'll measure it against it and see how it reads. Should be plenty accurate I think.

 

Yeah, I mean it takes a little finesse to do it right, but you can get a good accurate reading after a couple tries. Or at least I think I'm getting a good reading.

I would go with Kumho Ecsta ASX. Thats what I just put on my LGT and they are pretty good. Got a heck of a deal on them and they actually come with a 40k warranty. I would try them and see what you think.

Thanks for all of your kind wishes. I do agree that things like this always seem to happen at the worst time possible. Now that I think about it, the vibrations were most definitely coming from a bulge which would explain the shimmying steering wheel and harsh ride.

 

Pig Pen:

 

I was pretty pissed at first when speaking to the police officer, especially since there had been no signs up the night before stating that parking was not allowed for a parade the following day and also paid the meter fees correctly. I mentioned this to the police officer on the street and he responded by saying that they probably did not put any signs up the night before because it had been raining. The cop was kind of tall and goofy and probably not that intelligent (I am not generalizing that all cops or NYPD cops are goofy and dumb, just this one in particular) and this response was very mediocre, especially because when I had parked the night before it was not raining and the streets were dry. I figured that I could have raised a stink with the officer, but it was not worth the risk of getting in trouble and he seemed too stupid for any insults to register in his fat head and really did not seem to care. At any rate, I was just happy to have my car back with an undamaged drivetrain and no impound fee to pay. The funny part was that they had relocated the car five blocks away in a no parking zone, but left a sign and sticker on the car stating that the car could remain for 48 hours without being ticketed or towed.

Are the Kumhos all season high performance tires? we get some slippery stuff down here in DC from time to time and I live in a condo so I have little room for summer/winter tires. A good friend of mine recommended Kumhos since they have a great performance bang for the buck. I am going to wait another 5k miles before getting new tires since they actually have a few millimeters of tread left (the tread in the picture looks much more worn than they actually are).

I have Goodyear Eagle F1 All-Season which are all-season ultra-high performance tires. Couldn't be happier. Just note that all ultra-high performance tires won't be smooth sailin' like touring tires.

first time ive ever heard of getting a parking pass in a no parking zone

 

yea cops can be pretty ignorant when it comes to things like this.. maybe had you lived in the city it might have been posted (newspaper/local tv) for a few days letting people know about the upcoming parade.. in the future i would pay more for secure parking i get nervous leaving my car parked on the side of the road anywhere let alone in nyc but im paranoid...

 

as for a tire recommondation i recently purchases a set of toyo proxes fZ4

the f4 is toyo's all season tire and these are the fz4 z rated tire so they are more performance oriented than the traditional all seasons.. we had some rain last week up here and the grip was very confidence inspiring.. im going to try and use them this winter and see how it goes but if it gets a little hairy i think im going to invest in a set of strict winter and strict summer tires.. either way when you go all season you are making a sacrifice one way or the other.. when i bought my car it had a set of kumho ecsta ast's on it and i wasnt to impressed but they were pretty beat i knew when i bought the car that tires were going to be needed.. the toyo's are a bit more money but i would definatly spring for them