Mythbusters episode 7/4 on exploding truck tires

[kendenton]

If you ever wondered what would happen if you got hit with a chunk o' flying truck tire, catch this episode.    After watching it, you will spend as little time as possible passing trucks (which you should do already).

[Sport-Touring]

[Wanderer]

If you ever wondered what would happen if you got hit with a chunk o' flying truck tire, catch this episode.    After watching it, you will spend as little time as possible passing trucks (which you should do already).

Werd.  
I TiVo'd it for my wife (a new rider) to watch.  She now understands why I seemingly randomly downshift and blow by commercial trucks and motorhomes.

Quick story...  When I was about 12 or 13 I was on vacation with my family returning from Texas when the motorhome tire blew out on I-10.  The flap of tread whipped around, hit the wheelwell and blew an 18" hole into the passenger compartment. It flew through the sheetmetal, insulation and wood paneling, and damaged the table leg and injured my brother with shrapnel across the vehicle.  It sounded like a shotgun went off and shit flew everywhere.  Needless to say, it made a big impression on me. More than 15 years later, I still remember the whole incident.

[kendenton]

I knew it was going to be good when the first test shot went through the board like paper.

[bubba zanetti]

About 15 years ago I was riding near Burns Lake in northern BC and a Truck in front of me emitted this cloud of dust and I narrowly missed being hit by some of large chunks of tire that peeled off   . Since then ... I do not follow trucks and pass with urgency or just hang way back. Given the amount of rubber I see on the road, this is far too regular an occurance to not pay full attention.

Some of those chunks of rubber are easily heavy enough to not only peel you off your bike, but do serious damage even before you hit the ground. I will have to watch for the episode.


Edit ... YouTube to the rescue ...  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0ye2z1uZUY

[Thor]

I got to see what a chunk of tire does to a 2005 Corvette.  Not much left of the right side of that car.  It was like a bomb went off.

[kendenton]

About 15 years ago I was riding near Burns Lake in northern BC and a Truck in front of me emitted this cloud of dust and I narrowly missed being hit by some of large chunks of tire that peeled off   . Since then ... I do not follow trucks and pass with urgency or just hang way back. Given the amount of rubber I see on the road, this is far too regular an occurance to not pay full attention.

Some of those chunks of rubber are easily heavy enough to not only peel you off your bike, but do serious damage even before you hit the ground. I will have to watch for the episode.


Edit ... YouTube to the rescue ...  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0ye2z1uZUY

But that clip doesn't show the aftermath....

Try this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD4hB51HRuo

[xdbx]

 

OH MY GOD!

[kendenton]

 

OH MY GOD!

Indeed.

[RBEmerson]

Riding down PA 33 from Wind Gap, I decided it was time to leave a dump truck hauling a backhoe on a trailer, particularly as the trailer was weaving pretty good at 60+.   When the bomb went off (right rear tire and I was on the left side), I saw a "tire 'gator" flip higher than the tractor's cab.   Needless to say, I twisted the right grip for all it was worth!  

[Kootenanny]

Ouch!

Another danger from truck tires, well a former danger since these things have been banned for years, is improperly seated split rims blowing off...my brother in law is a tireman, and he has some grisly stories.

[SPEEDMARK]

Holy moly, that's sobering!

 

[FJRmgm]

yeah, split rims on truck tires can be another bomb!!

Been close enough to too many truck tires when they shredded and detonated and I get the Hell away from them and never spend any time by a truck, especially in the heat of the summer.

[kevin_stevens]

But that clip doesn't show the aftermath....

Try this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD4hB51HRuo

I was suitably impressed - the more so as the dummy's torso wasn't secured to provide as much stability as a belted passenger would.  However, I do note that they were firing the rubber at 40mph through a *side* window.  I'm not sure that's a realistic scenario, as the strips typically get hurled rearward.  It doesn't matter much to us bikers, but I was curious as to how much less damage would occur if the tire were aimed head on at a passenger behind a windshield.  I actually thought when watching the show that was how the test would be set up, and was predicting that the windshield would be crushed but not shatter, and the tire go over the top of the car.  Windshields are slanted and much more impact resistant than side windows.

KeS

[RBEmerson]

Rearward?  Not only...  When a tire lets go (or at least the one I saw), s*** flies effin' everywhere.  

To get an idea of what's going on, take a look at a couple of tire gators and you'll see torn cords as well as fragmented rubber.  There is a lot of violence going on when a hot tire fails.  It's not going to be neat and orderly as it departs the wheel.  

[john66]

I haul doubles in my civilian job and one of the few times I blew a tire on my converter dolley (connects the 2 trailers) I saw the whole 6-8' of tread fly off. I think another truck in the lane over almost was hit by it. It really sucks to know what it can do to you. Since I pulled over immediately to wait for a tire truck, I went back to pick my gator off the road. I've hit that crap on my bike when cars run over it and it flies out from under them. Not all of us truckers are lazy don't-give-a-damn drivers.

[cultureslayer]

WAtched it the night before an 800 mile ride.  

[Windblown]

I had a truck tire that blew in front of me take out the grill, radiator, and hood in a van I was driving. Sure was glad I wasn't on two.

[UFO]

If you ever wondered what would happen if you got hit with a chunk o' flying truck tire, catch this episode.    After watching it, you will spend as little time as possible passing trucks (which you should do already).

Passing semis = WFO.  Always has.

[Stickman]

 

I was on I-80 West just outside of Omaha ~5 years ago caging the Fam out to Yellowstone and a semi blew a retread 3 vehicles in front of us, forcing both vehicles in front of me off the road at 70mph+.  The longest gator flipped over the first vehicle right onto the windshield of the second, but the windshield didn't cave in, and nobody was hurt.

Ever since then, this issue has been tied with deer as my biggest safety concern while riding.  Does anyone know if it's ONLY the retreaded tires that do this?  If so, you would think something could be done about it for everyone's sake.

[Green01SprintST]

I guess I lead a charmed life because in all of my years of driving/riding I've never been near a truck when this happened...lucky me, eh?  

I have a problem with the way the "test" was performed.  There are a lot more forces at work in a real life situation than what were used in the "'test".  For one, the truck is moving and the tire rotating.  When the tread parts company with the tire carcass it can go anywhere, any direction, and the speed of the fragment is going to be affected by that.  40 MPH was an arbitrary speed; it could be more or it could be less and the results can be greater or lesser.  The test shot a large chunk of tire tread at an approximate velocity of 40 MPH toward a stationary target and we all know that is not going to be the case in the real world.  Anyhoo, while I agree that road gators and other debris being flung off of moving vehicles can be dangerous, even deadly, I think the Mythbuster show "test" was more valuable for entertainment than scientific enlightenment and should be taken as such.  As an aside, what is arguably even more dangerous is when a truck loses one of its auxiliary wheels.  In those instances you are looking at an entire wheel, tire and hub assembly bouncing down the road at the same speed the truck was moving when it parted company.  The kenetic energy in that 100+ pound mis-guided missile is tremendous!