Serious Tire Experience Please Read

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Bill and I have spoken and corresponded at length on this topic and it is an eye opener. I asked Michelin specifically their reco0mmendations for safety procedures when airing up a tire and their answer was ..........NONE. Bill has a copy of that email.

I read the link Ken posted and one thing on Zipper failure jumped out at me and I think every one of us has to attach considerable credence to what we were told by Michelin and Goodyear at two separate tire seminars. Both said and emphasized if we run the tire at a pressure that is 20% less than what is called for the tire is effectively not good for service. On reading the detail regarding causes of Zipper failure that was right there. I am not suggesting Bill did this, but I am pointing out that what happened to Bill could have been fatal and it behooves us to be very careful monitoring our tires and especialy careful filling them with air.

I have never ever seen anyone, professional or otherwise do anything other than lean over and air up a tire.

Michelin in their response to me appears to agree with that, but I think from Bill's experience we need to consider the consequences of doing that.

[AprilWhine]

Sorry to read of your injurys, glad it was the inside. Thank so much for the post.

I will be the first to come out and say it. This scares the hell out of me. I remember the days of split rim wheels, and knew two individuals by name that were killed by worn out split rims.

I will not check or air a tire again until I have a remote air line with clip on chuck and remote valve. Going shopping now.

Jim

[JIM CHALOUPKA]

Bill, so sorry to hear of your traumatic event. I'm glad you are still of this world.

Keep us appraised of the details and analysis as it unfolds. Makes me not want to even wash/wipe the wheels for cleaning. I will wait for you to tell more, but I can't help wonder the circumstances that warranted the addition of air. How much air were you intending on adding to the affected tire, had it been seriously low during use or were you adjusting just a few pounds all around for perhaps a temperature change adjustment.


JIM

[Bill Price]

Jim:

We had been home from the POG Rally for a few weeks and I noticed a flat on the inside dual. I figured another valve stem extension leak. I replaced the old one with a new one and added two new rubber stabilizers. Having only a small pancake compressor I started adding air at a slow rate. On that axle I carry 95 lbs. I checked the progress with a Snap On digital guage as I would level out the air at 95 lbs. Somewhere around 95 lbs it blew.

The tire was cool and had not been run in weeks. Air pressure in the tire when I started adding air was zero lbs.

I hope I am making sense here as I am still on some strong meds. I will be more than glad to answer any questions as I dont want anyone else to be hurt by such a senseless accident. I would like to thank Jon Wehrenberg and Jim Skiff for there help in posting this matter.

[jack14r]

This is a horrible incident that has apparently really hurt Bill,I am wondering if a TPS like pressure Pro could have prevented this accident.GET WELL BILL!!!

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Bill's accident (if it can be called an accident) was as a result of just airing up a tire. If he has tire pressure sensors they would show the pressure or lack of it, but may not have prevented Bill having to air up a tire.

We all (I assume) check tire pressures before we drive and if needed give them a shot of air. But as careful as we may be about pressures stuff happens. I had a nail end up through the sidewall of an inner dual, and for a while I had to make a few pounds of air pressure adjustment every time I drove. It could have been a bad Schrader valve, a leak at the valve stem where it comes out of the wheel, a bead not seating properly or a tire puncture. I couldn't feel anything in the tread so when I got home from the trip I started to check it found a nail where it would not have been expected in the sidewall.

My point is we are always going to have to air up tires. Sometimes only a pound or two, sometimes a little more, but what happened to Bill can happen to anyone, any time and a TPS will only tell when the tire needs air, but it won't prevent air from leaking.

I have "learned" my tires and what is normal. If I haven't used the bus for a month I have a high probability all my tires will not need air. But if during a month of storage the temps have gone from 80 down to freezing outside I can expect to have to put 3 or 4 PSI in two of the tires and about 1 or 2 in the others. So here I am doing what Bill did. Bending down pushing the air chuck on all eight tires and giving each one a small shot of air. You can bet what happened to Bill is now going to be in the front of my mind and now I have a real problem because I have no intention of using valve stem extensions, but I don't want to be near an explosion either.

[Bill Price]

Jon:

I do have TPMS on my bus. At no time on recent trips did I receive any sort of low pressure reading or faulty indicators. In all fairness one must also realize I bought the coach used from Liberty. Thus we do not have an absolute tire history. As for tire date we do have a DOT date of 1506 on the blown one.
Tread Design Pilote XZA1

FYI the four new tires on the drive axle are DOT dated:

3310

They have approx 11 miles on them. Am I afraid of them; you better believe it!

[merle&louise]

I called my friend Jay Nobles who owns Nobles Tire Service and has 30 years experience in the tire business. He told me that they can smell a Zippered tire (after examining it) when the customer drives up, and they will REFUSE to air up that tire. He agreed with the 20% rule about running a tire low and said if a person knows that the tire has been run low DO NOT AIR IT UP. He says that after it cools down an experienced tire mechanic can add about 30# and listen for hissing - that indicates a Zippered tire. If you hear this hissing DO NOT ADD MORE AIR - CHANGE THE TIRE!

Jay said that customers think that he is just trying to sell them a new tire but a Zippered tire is nothing to fool around with!

[AmeriStar]

I've heard of this happening. I guess I'm a little curious to what the air pressure was prior to adding air.
Usually 'zipper' purges are the result of operation of a low pressure tire for an extended period. The heat that builds up in the tire combined with the weakened sidewall are generally the primary culprit causing this to happen.
You were very lucky. Good luck in your suit.

[gmcbuffalo]

"Bill did you heard anything like a zipper noise? I have heard they call these zipper blow out because the first sound of it starting to blow is the "zipp" sound of the casing coming apart. The TPM could tell you early on that you are low pressure and therefore you would be able to fill up with air and not run on the tire for a long time with a low pressure.