wndsrfr to the rescue..., have air tank will travel Options

[anderssj]

Beautiful day in the Tidewater area of VA--perfect for moving the car from our old place in Yorktown over to Smithfield...at least until the left rear tire blew out while crossing the metal decking on the James River Bridge. Catastrophic failure of the tire; it messed up the rear fender some before I could get the car safely stopped (I didn’t want to get rear-ended by somebody coming over the crest of the bridge unable to see me).



I think the fender looks worse in the picture than in real life . . . still, it’s an OH CRAP experience. Fortunately the VDOT truck was there within minutes to give us a lift (literally) to the south end of the bridge.



If there was a bright spot in all of this (aside from not getting hit by another car, or losing control and departing the bridge, etc.), it was that John Perry ("wndsrfr") was just a phone call away. Not only did he bring tools, an air tank, and an hydraulic jack, he also reminded me that this could have been much worse (see above), or even a little worse (could be night, could be raining, etc.). After a quick trip to his shop to modify some lug bolts for the "steely" spare, we were in business.

Here's the hero:

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/pray.gif)

THANKS John!

Steve A-

...and a big thanks to the 914world admins and members who make all of this possible. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[Coondog]

Wow, glad you walked away with minor damage.

[Krieger]

Wow! Nice save John! How old wss that tire?

[falcor75]

Good reminder to change your tires about every 4-6 years regardless of milage, especially in hot climates that tend to age the rubber quicker.

[BeatNavy]

Wow, Steve, that bridge is a pretty hairy place to blow a tire. Glad nobody was hurt, VDOT was on its toes, and John was able to help.

Leave the one steelie on. It's a good look (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Cracker]

Glad it was not worse and JP is a very good head!

Tony

[cal44]

1. I wish someone would start making those wheels again.

2. O.K, I'll be the bad guy. Those tires should have "never" left the driveway.

[Justinp71]

Good reminder to change your tires about every 4-6 years regardless of milage, especially in hot climates that tend to age the rubber quicker.

Tires are road legal I believe for 10 years. I have found this to be true for my tires if the tires are typically garaged.

[Cairo94507]

Hey Cal44 - Banananose (Jim) has a full set of those wheels (the wheel the blown tire was on) he is looking to sell very reasonably.

[anderssj]

Yep, you're all right . . . shoulda trailered the car over to the new place . . . "but it's only 24 miles, and it will only take a few minutes, and it's such a nice day, and the tires were fine yesterday, no sidewall cracks, etc., etc." (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

Believe me, I've been more than a little pissed at myself over this. Especially since I pretty much ignored a lot of the old military flying safety "gouge" I used to harp on: over-confidence/misplaced can-do attitude, "get-home-itis" (particularly deadly at the end of a deployment), and the general "if it doesn't feel right, then it's not right" rule. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

At this point about all that I can add is "Mother Anderson's Rule of Blind Optimism"--or as my mom so often told me, "At least you can be a good bad example for somebody else."
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif)

So there you go, make me your good bad example--learn from this, check your tires (tread depth, pressure, AND DATE OF MANUFACTURE), and don't screw up your car--or worse.

Rant over.

BTW, I'm getting that rim checked out tomorrow, but will be replacing these with a set of Pedrinis, regardless. As much as I liked their looks (American Racing LeMans), these are VW offset and I could never fit anything other than a 165-15 tire. The Pedrinis' offset allows for a greater selection of tires . . . .

[r_towle]

First off, very happy to hear you are ok.
Sorry about the car, but now you have a project! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I have seen this play out in the 356 world and it’s just a sad fact of life that tire have an age limit.

Please share the DOT manufacturing date to spare others of the same fate!