[srishiva]

Originally Posted by centaur

Is it advisable to pour some water over the tyres during the breaks to cool it down faster or will the sudden cooling cause other problems?
Also what if the tyres are slightly over inflated?

I dont think it will cause any problems, Since its a rubber compound, it wouldn't have heated that high to melt anyway. Also, I am not sure at what temperature would the tyre be really un-drivable. 90-120 minutes is way too low and if in good condition, you should be able to run for hours without any problems.

I have seen people do this to tractor tyres in villages

[Jeroen]

The main advantage of using Nitrogen is that it permeates less quickly trough rubber. Most drivers don't check their tyre pressure enough. So nitrogen is good for those.

In practice, this advantage is often offset, because in day to day car useage most tyres loose their pressure through tiny leakages between tyre and rim due to poor fit and trough tiny leakage around the valve steam

Volume of nitrogen is less influenced by temperature than pure air, so in theory it will give you a more stable pressure, irrespective of speed. Very relevant for race drivers, but you should wonder how much it really means for the average driver.

On the matter of how long you can keep your tyres. Of course, thread, or lack of, is the main indication. However, as tyres are made of rubber, they do degrade over time. So a perfectly unused tyre, but that has been sitting on the shelve for 10 years, could be pretty lethal. That's why tyre manufacturers put a manufacturing date on the sidewall. See http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=11

Jeroen

[devsoftech]

While there is a big debate on normal air v/s nitrogen, please consider the following facts:
1. Nitrogen when stored does not have humidity. Regular air when pumped takes in humidity as well. That is what contributes to minor differences (when comparing the stable pressure).
2. Since the time india got on tubeless tyres, this nexus of nitrogen filling has started. As stated earlier, air gives you 78% nitrogen for free, enjoy the free gift. Just avoid filling in air that is humid. Demand dry air, not nitrogen.

My 2 cents in case you are considering nitrogen to be a safe or a smart choice - stay away. I have been running on normal air and top it up every month. 1-2 PSI drop in a month is absolutely fine. Had to post this since its related to tyre blowouts. However I would refrain from debating too much on this topic for the fear of going OT.

[SmartCat]

This video is a bit long at 7 mins, but anybody interested in the physics behind a tyre burst and its effect on the vehicle dynamics must watch this. Video has been uploaded by CrashForensics.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8znCg...feature=g-vrec

Says one should not take the foot off the accelerator. But instead, the safest thing to do in a tyre burst situation would be to slow press the accelerator pedal and give enough steering inputs to make sure the car is going straight.

[rajeev k]

The following link
http://www.carbonblack.com.au/car-ty...intenance.aspx
gives some informative tips about tyres.

[parimal_vb]

Post deleted by the Team-BHP Support : Please do NOT post one-liners that add little or no informational value to the thread. We need your co-operation to maintain the overall quality of this forum.

Please read our rules before proceeding any further.

[silverado]

Ensure hazard lights are put on immediately when this happens.

Also put out your right hand to signal to cars behind once your car is in control.

I have suffered a tyre blowout in my padmini ( Thankfully only at 50 kph ), i have vowed never to fill air from pumps with Non-digital gauges.

It was rear tyre and the weight of the car ( 4 on board ) and low speed ensured car did not weave much.

Never fit remoulded tyres on your vehicle,the one i fitted was a remoulded stephney and i was lucky to get a brand new premier padmini tyre quickly since i was near Khopoli at that time.

Physically touch your cars tyre during chai breaks to ensure they are not unusually hot.

Tyres are taken for granted and ignored the most by many people.

[ganesc]

Thanks a lot for this LIFE SAVING informative thread GTO!

Originally Posted by GTO

Other Important Points:

• Always drive with both hands on the steering wheel. It’s difficult to control the car in an emergency situation if you have only one hand on the wheel (and the other holding a coffee cup).

I was actually taught by my driver while learning (well before 15 years though) that I should be using 1 hand in highway at least once in a while so that we get to know of the punctures, else we might tend to automatically adjust steering input ignoring the puncture without our knowledge causing it to more complex situations.

Originally Posted by GTO

Reducing the odds of a Tyre blowout:

• Under-inflation is the NO.1 cause of tyre bursts. Some studies suggest that it is responsible for 75% of all blowouts. Under-inflated tyres suffer from excessive flexing and thus, overheating. Be disciplined in checking the air pressure of all tyres (including the spare) before hitting the highway. Always check the pressure when the tyres are cold (typically, less than 5 km of recent running). Invest in a high quality pressure gauge as petrol pump readings may be inaccurate.

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Super article, thanks!

Myth 1: "High tyre pressures are what cause tyre bursts!"

Myth 2: "It's very hot today, so i should fill less air pressure na! (since hot air expands, DUH!)"
cya
R

Thanks Rehaan.
I too have felt this way until I came to know of the fact.

OT: Shouldn't all these be a part of a Driving instruction from Driving schools? unfortunately In India, a guy can be a trainer if he knows a bit of driving and as in my case most Indians are trained by his father or driver (Of course I have felt they are better trainers with practical examples than the outsider though)

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by silverado

i have vowed never to fill air from pumps with Non-digital gauges.

Why is that? Digital ones are not really more accurate than analog ones. Just because it displays the number clearly, people tend to believe it is more accurate. The analog one may be little harder to read, but are generally accurate. If you go for high quality tire gauge, both digital and analog will be equally accurate. But if you are having cheaper tire gauge, then analog is a better bet over cheap chinese make digital gauge.

Originally Posted by ganesc

unfortunately In India, a guy can be a trainer if he knows a bit of driving and as in my case most Indians are trained by his father or driver

Actually, this is another myth. Unfortunately, most Indians are trained by driving school trainer and not father or family driver. That is because most new drivers hail from houses that never had cars. In fact, I am willing to bet that 90% of the current drivers didn't have a car in the family while growing up. But team-bhp community is not the best sample, since lot of them here are car fans because they had a car in the family.

[subratasenn]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Actually, this is another myth. Unfortunately, most Indians are trained by driving school trainer and not father or family driver. That is because most new drivers hail from houses that never had cars. In fact, I am willing to bet that 90% of the current drivers didn't have a car in the family while growing up. But team-bhp community is not the best sample, since lot of them here are car fans because they had a car in the family.

Quite possible. There could be other examples too, like me. I grew up with a car in my family, but learnt driving from a driving school. So did my son.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Why is that? Digital ones are not really more accurate than analog ones. Just because it displays the number clearly, people tend to believe it is more accurate. The analog one may be little harder to read, but are generally accurate. If you go for high quality tire gauge, both digital and analog will be equally accurate. But if you are having cheaper tire gauge, then analog is a better bet over cheap chinese make digital gauge.

I agree. Another problem with digital gauges is, they can be mis-calibrated. This is the reason why digital gauges in different petrol bunks show different readings. I have also experienced an instance of authorized service station folk filling 50+ psi on my car and later explaining that their air pump was wrongly calibrated!

[ganesc]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Actually, this is another myth. Unfortunately, most Indians are trained by driving school trainer and not father or family driver. That is because most new drivers hail from houses that never had cars. In fact, I am willing to bet that 90% of the current drivers didn't have a car in the family while growing up. But team-bhp community is not the best sample, since lot of them here are car fans because they had a car in the family.

Ya, may be you are right with the current set of population.

[gavinimurthy]

It is always better to err on the higher side as far as pressure is concerned. The SX4 manual says to fill 5 PSI more than the recommended 30, when planning highway journey.

The show room cars invariably come with a higher PSI sometimes as high as 50 PSI. So it is a myth that higher is more dangerous. The problems of higher PSI are bumpiness, more wear in the centre of the Tyre and comparatively less road grip. But a moderate high of 3 to 4 PSI is preferable than a low pressure. 35 PSI is anytime better than 25 PSI.

[Manuuj]

My brand New Yokohama tyre burst unexpectedly on a flat smooth highway at about 80-90 kmph. Luckily it was a rear tyre and the car did not lose control.

The tyre was just 20 days old and suffered catastrophic failure due to sidewall bursting within 1400 kms of use. I had replaced the OE Dunlops on my Toyota Fortuner just last month on the 16th of October after 72,000 kms and 3 years of use.




Never seen this in my life. As mentioned earlier the OE Dunlops lasted 72,000 kms and 3 years with no incident on my Toyota Fortuner.

I strongly suggest that people use the same OE Made in Japan Dunlops when it comes time to replace their tyres on their Fortuners

If any of the front two tyres had burst in such a way at that speed, i may not have been here to write this post.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by Manuuj

My brand New Yokohama tyre burst unexpectedly on a flat smooth highway at about 80-90 kmph. Luckily it was a rear tyre and the car did not lose control.

Very scary! Did you approach the dealer and what is their explanation for such failure? Any idea if the tyres were defective?