At 10:19 PM 5/4/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>At 80 MPH, or so, the dinner sized plate
>located behind the headlights and above the passenger front wheel slipped
>down and neatly shredded the tire. It peeled off the tread with ease and
>complete effectiveness. The noise was awful, as was the shuddering.
Hugh, are you sure the cause and the effect are not reversed here? My
guess would be that your tire separated, and the peeling off thread damaged
your fender part. It is not entirely uncommon in hot weather when driving
fast with a heavy car, especially if your tire pressure drops for whatever
reason, and you don't realize it on time. I have had many-many tires
separate on me. In my case, its mainly because I often drive the car well
above the 112 mph continuous speed rating of the tires (usually only for a
short blast though). This accumulates thermal damage to the tire. My
worst tire separation took the inner fender well of the front left fender
of the sedan. It was amazing how much damage the tire did on the super
tough sheet metal. I had to remove the remains of the fender well to clear
the spare tire so I could drive home. Later, I cut off the ~40% damaged
part and re-installed it. I have a "new" fender well for it paid by the
tire company, will replace it when I repair a "small" dent on that
fender. I have heard stories of tires literally destroying fenders and
hoods on lesser cars.
D^2, 2x68s
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