Food for thought:
I've had a tire go flat suddenly due to a puncture on a full sized early 60s Chrysler - so I pulled over & changed it. No crazy, out of control manuevers resulted. [Forwardlook content]
Sometime in the 1980s, at 70 MPH, I had a wire-wheel spoke puncture an inner tube on a 1962 Morgan Plus 4, and the tire went flat instantly - I calmly pulled over to the shoulder and changed the tire. No dramatics.
Ditto with a 1977 Mercedes - but the pretty-looking unused 17-year-old Michelin spare I had put on only the day before had catastropic failure due to tread separation. The car was still pretty controllable, and I stayed in my travel lane until I could pull over onto the breakdown lane.
Finally, I had a rapid leak in one of the four Michelin tires mounted on a 2001 Ford Explorer Sport (two-door) due to a nail. The steering felt twitchier than normal for a brief moment, and about the same time, I had to make a sudden lane change at 65 MPH on I-95 - and nearly lost control of the vehicle - I weaved across three lanes of traffic before I got it back under control, thankfully, not causing any accidents. When I checked the pressure,and the tire was visibly low, it had about 15PSI and was still hissing due to the puncture. I believe that no matter what brand of tire was on it, it was the vehicle's suspension that was the cause of the out-of-control situation.
Relatively long wheelbase, low vehicle = stable
Relatively short wheelbase, tall vehicle = unstable
My two cents' worth.
John Spiers
Lake Worth, Florida
--- On Thu, 7/31/08, Mike &Sharon Higgins <clearcreek@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: Mike &Sharon Higgins <clearcreek@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Re: [FWDLK] Fwd: A tire safety issue worth watching - video
To: L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Thursday, July 31, 2008, 2:16 PM
Jason, it was good to see a post from you, mentioning the Belvedere. I
thought you sold it. Really nice car. Is your website still up?
The Firestone/Ford was as you described, a Fiasco. The biggest problem was
that Ford was blaming Firestone instead of redesigning their suspension.
When tests showed that the Explorer was not able to pass the rollover test
with the tires at suggested 35psi, Ford pressured Firestone to allow a
minimum of 26psi, and when the tires ran at that lower pressure, the car
could pass the tests. But at highway speeds, especially sustained
interstate speeds, the tires would get overheated and explode. Firestone
blamed union troubles, Ford blamed Firestone, and the problem was deceit
among the Firestone and Ford representatives, trying to cover-up an obvious
problem.
Not unusual.
b/t/w...
I am sorry that I used the F--- word so much in this diatribe.
Mike Higgins
1955 Belvedere Sport Coupe
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