maverik259

So was on my way back to Maryland from Florida when my car started slightly pulling to the right and a slight vibration began. Keep in mine I'm still at 80mph. So I slow down and it seems to go away so I speed back up then the vibration picks back up. I said ok fine you got me I'll pull over.

Next thing I know I have a flat rear tire (less than a year old and less than 10k miles on them Nitto NT555). No nails or any objects that penetrated the tire. When I get it to the tire kingdom (46 miles behind me) who was the only place that could find a 265/30/19 tire the next day i saw this. My tire is missing about an 8" section out of the inner side wall and of course the rest of is is like string cheese from being melted down by the rim running on it at 80mph for 100 yds or so.

samaritrey

You were lucky man i hate tires. It actually scares me to drive on highways know because of my accident because when a front tire goes you loose almost all control if you are at high speeds. That is why i will always put only the best tires on my car and make sure they are in good shape. Glad you are ok how is the rim?

lkfoster

+1

I always run a major manufacturer Z-rated tire or better. It also helps to have the TPMS system turned on if you can find someone to do it. It told my wife immediately that a tire had failed when it happened to her at a similar speed.

maverik259

I didnt think we had tpms standard. especially since I'm running aftermarket 19"...but ya I was running high end tires (Nitto NT555). Rim isn't too bad actually luckily the tire folded underneath the tire perfect and only a little checker printed on the very tip of the lip which is covered up when the tire is inflated correctly (thank God). and ya luckily it was my rear tire and not my front.

Glyn M Ruck

Are you running stretched tyres to prevent rubbing? Looks like you might be with that wide lip. Operating tyres stretched is looking for a failure. The tyre is operating outside it's design parameters. Fit Michelin PS2's

lkfoster

I was able to turn TPMS on in my '06, but I don't know about earlier years. It's not a perfect system, but it does work.

The aftermarket Hella system that I put in the American wife's Audi is a lot better. Her TT comes with a compressor and a can of stop leak (a lot of good that would have done in your case) in place of a spare tire.

The Hella system uses sensors that alarm not only at set levels but also at rate of change in pressure or temperature. The rate of change warnings give you half a chance to get stopped before the tire frags itself.

AdidasC230

that sucks man Im sorry to hear...

maverik259

ya no they aren't stretched really. At least they are the size that was recommended from tire rack.

AdidasC230

they look sexy, those rims, once you get it all fixed and I get mine fixed we should do a photo shoot!

johnand

Passive TPMS can be activated by STAR with developer mode. Although it is not as active as a true active TPMS, it does work pretty well, and would have surely told you before that tire blew out. The passive system uses the ABS sensors to monitor revolutions at each wheel.

97W202

so i can ave my dealership activate this on my 2006? interesting...

maverik259

hmm I'll have to look into that one for sure...

maverik259

and ya unfortunately I won't be down in the burg until prolly christmas with my car (maybe thanksgiving) but ya man I'd love to get a meet together at a quaker steak and lube or soemthign!

lkfoster

I tried the three local dealers and none of them either knew about the feature or didn't want to do it. I had BenzNL make the change along with a few others.

johnand

No, as dealerships don't have developer mode enabled on their STAR systems. Check around your area to see if members or independents have one. If you are up in my area I can enable it for you.

kickR

The best and most expensive tire will do you no good when you lose air in a tire and keep driving.

I had a similar experience a few years back. Car was slowly pulling to a side for a few minutes. It was windy and I figured it is the wind in addition to the already slanted road. I could not have been more wrong. Luckily I was only going 45mph and nothing bad happened other than me having to replace the two front tires as they were past 50% life.

Check out Orange TPMS - http://orange-electronic.com/eng/07product/main.html

It is an active TPMS with a nice display and very easy to install for any tire installer. I had it for 3 years now and it paid itself off more than 3 times. I bought it at tirerack back then for $160 but you can get them off Ebay for cheaper. Forget the passive TPMS. It will most likely cost you more and is in no way as good as this one.

DrgnflyZ28

I'm glad to hear that you and your MB fared well through what could have been a disaster. I remember you stating in another post that you were running 45/50+ PSI in your tires. Are you still running those pressures? I can tell you that an extended run on the highway at those speeds will generate enough heat to disintegrate those tires and the internal PSI will exceed the 50 psi you checked when cold. As a matter of fact, it may have exceeded the manufacturers max recommendations causing the inevitable.

This was a topic of discussion with my girlfriend on the way home yesterday after swerving to miss some road debris at 80mph on the highway. Expressing my discontent with the fact that a premium vehicle (albeit entry level) doesn’t have a safety feature such as TPMS as standard. Even my 2005 Ford Explorer XLT did…

Midnight Koop

im happy there was no accident... i thought nitto 555's were solid tires

lkfoster

Not necessarily true. I've run mid-40 psig range cold tire pressures in low profile tires for over 20-odd years now without a problem. Tire manufacturers place the max allowable cold tire pressure in the sidewall. Higher pressures actually reduce temperatures as there is less sidewall flexing. As long as you stay within the pressure and speed rating limit for your tire you should be OK for sustained high speeds.

A more likely failure mode in the case at hand was a slow leak causing the tire to overheat from excessive flexing and fail all at once. It's a common thing to see cars in the summer Arizona heat with a shredded tire for this reason. One of the best features on the Hella aftermarket TPMS that my wife's car has is rate of temperature change alarm.

Beepbeep

Glad to hear you survived this incedent. Blowing out a tire at that high rate of speed is very dangerous.

About TPMS, I'm not particularly fond with them. I regularly check my tire pressure and the wear and tear of my tires. I guess it's a habbit I developed for autocrossing and tracking.

My Jeep GC has one and during winter it always turns on until I get to drive it for a while.

maverik259

ya i dropped the pressure down to around 40-42...and there shouldnt have been a leak as there was nothing found in the tire as in punctures etc