For the last ten years we've been doing a bi-annual (every odd numbered year) trip to southern Colorado towing our fifthwheel camper. This year our nephew was getting married up at the ranch so June 7th off we went.

The remote thermometer was reading 97-104* as we pulled out of Lemars, IA after refueling pulling our 10,000# fiver into 30-40 mph winds out of the SSW. Once again, less than ideal conditions. Last trip on this stretch it was 38 mph winds out of the south with gusts to 51 mph!

About five miles out of Lemars, with the little town of Merrill just in sight
BANG!!
followed by the sound of tearing metal, etc..

We'd blown the left rear tire, tore off the running board, mudflap, fender braces, severely dented the rear fuel filler tube, "polished up" the front one real good and generally made a mess of Clyde's whole rear quarter.


Just as a reminder, this was Clyde's left rear flank less than a week before.


OK, now here's the point.
The tires had less than 20,000 miles on them and were installed new in 2004 with build dates from January of 2002. They looked great and I decided to take a chance. Well, it's a damn good thing that last fall I upgraded the insurance coverage on Clyde to "stated value" because today the insurance adjuster handed me a check for just south of $2900 AFTER the deductable!

I won't go into the tire changing experience on a busy divided four lane, the night camped behind an abandoned carwash between the BNSF and Union Pacific mainlines near a crossing on Iowa hwy 75, the $750 to install four new tires on the truck .... and ... stung severely .... the $600 spent in Sioux City, IA to replace the 02, 04 and 05 Goodyear Marathons on the camper, and the 1.5 travel days we lost.

While camping among the wedding guests up on the ranch I was introduced to one of the relatives who showed up driving a very nice and "new to him" 2002 class A motorhome with 18,000 on it. Questioning the tires I was told they were just like new and original. When I told him he had six ticking bombs under his very nice RV he looked at me like I had lost my mind. I invited him over to see the results of my experience but he never showed up. Guess he'll have to learn the hard way.

All tires now are dated on one side (usually the inside for some perverted reason) of the tire and consist of four numbers. The first two are the week of the year and the second two are the year the tire was manufactured. Example: (0102) = first week of January in 2002)

Old tires kill trucks, trailers and RV's. The general recomendation is to not run tires older than five to seven years. I won't be doing THAT again!

 

Sorry to see Clyde in that condition man...It stings...Cos I know all about havin the truck "Just right" an somethin happens....

In my case it was a busted taillight (New, not even 4 months old) and my new lightning valence ripped off (Friggin dog decided it couldn't take anymore of its apparently neglectful owner)....

Glad you an the family are safe though, as said, it was on a busy road, and could've turned fatal EASILY.....

 

It real sucks when ur spare goes kabbom. This happened to me on my wifes Chevy.

 

Bummer about that pretty truck of yours!

The tires on my '56 F100 were about 8 years old. Lots of tread life left, but dry rotted and rock hard. I was driving them hard, hundreds of miles a week. Everytime I made it somewhere I was thankful that the tires didn't go. I finally bought some new wide white wall radials with a 60k warranty. On my '83 F-250, I don't drive it much, and don't go over 50mph because the tires are so old and out of round. I'm planning to buy some new tires for it, but it seems the engine wants to spill its guts first, so the tires will have to wait.

On another note, I had a '27 Model T hot rod with 50 year old tires on it...they rode great, looked great, and never gave me a problem.

 

Old tires are indeed a ticking time bomb. This even moreso when dealing with a heavier vehicle. Here's a bit of a long, but spooky tale. Somehow, it all turned out ok.......
Back in 05 when I bought the RX7, it had great looking tires on it, better than 75% tread, and they were "perfomance" tires in 15" lo-pro style, stock were 13's. I drove that car quite a bit on the highway, spent several days at a couple of road race courses running it in "track days", and just generally driving it like I stole it. In late 06, started running in autocross events, and discoved that those tires were fantasic on the road course after a couple laps to heat them up, but for autocross, they were bricks. I decided to step up a little better tire, grip-wise, and replaced them even though 50% tread was still showing. A couple months later, I learned about the date code thing, so I checked out the new tires, and they were actually made just a couple months before I purchased them, purchased in March 07, and date code listed as 0507 or week 5 of 07. Went and looked at the old tires, and couldn't quite make out the date code, as it was only 3 digits (376). More research revealed than prior to year 2000, 3 digit codes were used. That 376 translated to week 37 of a year ending with a 6, which meant those tires were no newer than mid 96, or 11 years old.
Think about that for a minute, running at speeds reaching 100 MPH, on tires that were 9-10 years old. Not only that, but I was building up a considerable amount of heat in them, and placing some fairly hard forces on them in the corners.
I threw them away, and thanked god for watching out for me. I keep track of date codes on all my vehicles, and will not run a tire beyond 6 years old, except when absolutely needed, like a spare to get me off the side of the road. The feds say up to 8 years is ok, but I don't trust those lying idiots........

Oh, those 07 tires I bought for the RX7, they were wore out by the time '10 rolled around, so I'm now sporting 2509 date codes on that car. 20K miles/3 years may sound like a short life, but they were used hard, on a regular basis. I was expecting less.

 

Sorry to hear about Clyde. That truck is still in fixable condition though. Any thoughts of what you going to do to it to fix it?

Just glad you didn't get hurt!

This reminds me of when the front tire blew on my old 1973. This was in the days of Recaps. The recap decided to seperate and when it did it cracked the sheet metal of the front fender. If any of you owned a pre 80's truck the sheet metal is a lot thicker, so cracking the fender and trying to bend it in half is some feat on one of those. Doing about 55 MPH too. Let's just say, God does look out for people.

Not the first time for tire incidents with that old 73 Ford. Went to get new tires, driving home and the left rear tire fell off. It seems the installer didn't tighten the lugs on any of the wheels only hand tight, then someone else slapped the hub caps on and let us go...

Why I kind of hover around people working on my truck, even if it is from a distance, to make sure they are doing what they need to do...

 

Very sorry to hear of your predicament with Clyde.

When I bought my Ranger, the tires were dry rotting, and upon reading the date code I realized they were original to the truck. But since they still had about 25% tread life left, the dealer refused to replace them. That almost broke the deal for me, but it was a 42,000 mile truck for pretty cheap, so I went ahead with the deal. Unfortunately I did not have $800 to replace all the tires, so I took a risk and drove on the original tires. Well they eventually broke a belt or two, and got a slight vibration. Well this vibration knocked a solenoid connector loose in my transmission, and would periodically throw my O/D Off light on and put the transmission in fail safe mode. This happened nearly every day for two months and it was always random, and only happened at speeds around 45-75. Finally I saved enough money to buy 4 brand new tires, the same size and brand as the originals. Since I got new tires, the O/D Off light has not returned. It's amazing what poor tires can do to a vehicle.

 

It was a real heart breaker when I heard that tire go. I had this mental picture in my mind that was following the sounds I heard and the motions I felt. All that tread and steel tearing into the rear quarter of my truck.

Back in the early 80's we had a chrome yellow '76 Ford window van as the family RV. 351, C6, fresh paint, dark tinted windows, wire spoke hubcaps with knockoffs and lots of chrome. On a hot trip to South Dakota's Black Hills we lost two rear tires to blowouts. One had a shotgun slug size hole right through the whitewall and the other had the tread come off so it destroyed the right rear quarter and damn near took out my new exhaust system. That one had ~2' of tread beating the crap out of the van. Those tires weren't old but were the (I'm really dating myself now!) some of those infamous Firestone 721's. Before our next excursion I went to my Firestone dealer and said, "Get THOSE tires OFF my van!!" Even though they were relatively new and had lots of tread left he warrantied them so my new set was a LOT cheaper.

Yes, Clyde is indeed repairable. Especially since last fall I had a discussion with my American Family agent (encouraged by my boss who's a real "car guy") and we decided that Clyde had "an agreed upon or stated value" of $15,000 and we would both treat it accordingly. Me with payments and AmFam with coverage. Saved my butt BIGTIME! When my body guy was working up the quote, by his software, repair costs ... before we added the running board replacements ... were 140% of the trucks value. That would have "totaled" the old girl if I hadn't gone with the special coverage.

One of the first things my wife said after the dust settled was, "We are going to fix the truck aren't we? I want it back the way it was." I crossed my fingers and assured her that with the additional coverage we had everything would be fine.

Sometimes I think we are "insurance poor", but in this instance it paid off. After the deductible the adjuster wrote us a check just south of $2900, even reimbursing us for the replacement of the blown tire that caused the whole disaster. Using patch panels instead of replacing the whole bed side and a quality bodyman we may even do well enough to get that new tailgate I've been wanting.

Bottom line ..... as others have related ..... don't run old tires or it may bite you in the butt! BIGTIME!

 

I'm just glad you were ok...No price tag to safety....

And its awesome bonus that you get the truck back to original condition!

btw, how can I get ahold of that insurance company? My insurance company refuses to let me have full coverage, even though I am willing to shell out for it....

 

Sidewinder, you should talk to your local agent about an agreed value. I did this for an old car I have that is difficult to replace. Generally values less than $10,000 do not need an appraiser, and is a handshake deal with your agent. Higher agreed values will require a certified automobile appraiser to place a value on the vehicle.

For instance, I have a 1976 Laguna S3 that I have an agreed value just under the requirement for an appraiser. I did that because it is difficult at best to find one in as good of condition as mine. I could get full coverage, but the cost is outrageous and the value of the car according to the insurance company is so low that a rock chip would total it out.

 

I didn't have to go through any formal appraisal process but rather provided a complete series of pictures of interior, exterior, etc. and my insurance agent, after physically looking at the truck and my maintenance files, forwarded the digital photos and his opinion to the company. It also didn't hurt that the adjuster who came out to verify my claim was very impressed also.

The process raised my rate a bit but turned out to be worth it. I've carried full coverage on it the whole time but didn't have the agreed upon factor before. In this case that is what made the difference. I've been with American Family for many years and don't have any complaints. We have three vehicles, the RV, homeowners and an umbrella liability policy with the same agent and the same company.

 

Clyde's in the body shop right now but when we were getting ready for one of our Lake Superior runs a few weeks after we got back I pulled out the mangled running board that had been in the back since the blowout and almost had to sit down when I saw the additional hidden damage.





The blown tire had hammered the truck bed up to this extent. The truly scarey part is the round intrusion at the top of the picture is where the rear tank fuel filler pipe crosses under the bed. We had just refueled about 5 miles back. If the filler pipe, which likely took more of a beating than the truck bed, had been torn apart or ripped out, the steel tire belts were making enough sparks on the underbody after the blowout at ~60 mph to "light us up" and make us look like a roman candle going down the highway. We likely would have lost both the truck and the trailer in a pretty impressive fire! Fourty-eight gallons of gas (two fivers also in the truck box for the generator) and two thirty pound LP tanks in the trailer could have added significantly to the whole event.

No more old tires for me!!

 

Sorry to hear about your luck buddy. I must say that your truck is one of the primary reasons I realize a 460 can be a towing beast. It makes me proud to see these old girls kicking but still today.

 

That really, really is a shame. I know what you mean about sitting down - especially after you realized what could have happened.

Makes one very sensitive to tires and their date codes. You've made a believer of me!

 

Ok, if Clyde didn't convince you, consider this: I've borrowed the same trailer several times of late. The next-to-last time was when I went to Kansas, about 220 miles round trip, to get a parts truck. That's the trip that overheated the engine in my pickup, but that's another story.

Borrowed the trailer again a couple of weeks ago and drove 10 miles round trip, in the rain, to get another parts truck. After unloading I moved the trailer and discovered the right front tire was losing the tread and the steel belts were coming out. As luck would have it, the grandson of my friend who owns the trailer runs a tire shop. In fact, when I took the tire in he said "That's one of ours." So, I got a good deal on the tire.

I put that tire on and forgot about it until today when I was to take the trailer back. After moving it from the yard to the driveway I discovered the right rear tire was shredded. So, when I took it in I asked what I'm doing wrong and was told nothing, that tires more than 6 years old should be replaced.

Now I'm home and putting two and two together. Those tires probably didn't fail on the 10 mile drive in the rain. They probably failed on the 220 mile drive but weren't noticed at the time because the tread hadn't come far enough off. That's scary since it was loaded with an '82 F150 and was being towed by another '82 F150. Again, that was the ill-fated trip where the engine overheated. But, it could have been worse since the trailer has no spare, much less two.

So, how old are the tires? I just checked the date code and had to come back and Google what I found - 3 digits not 4. Turns out, tires made before 2000 had a 3 digit code and these were made in 8, so they are 13 years old!!!