No, NOT a Michelin, too!!!

[Art-n-Marge]

Here's a slideshow of a failed Michelin Tire. The bad news is the tire is a major failure. The good news is the tire held up allowing me to get to the shoulder after driving along at 70 mph on a local interstate.

http://s658.photobucket.com/user/art...Bad%20Michelin

This was the left front tire on my '06 F250. The tire just flat out failed after 39,000 miles. Some days prior my wife and I noticed the truck was handling funny but it seemed like an alignment might be needed but I would have to attend to this after I got well, made some necessary trips, and attended some important family gatherings. Now, we were on my way to my sister's house 100 miles away and about 25 miles into the trip and the steering started wobbling real bad (obviously something was very wrong), but I was able to pull over to a very large shoulder to investigate. I found the left front tire failed but did not blow out! Luck was on my side, because mere minutes later a County service truck also came by and helped me swap out the tire with my good spare and saved a whole bunch of time and my effort.

The worst part of all, is this was the following day after being very ill and bedridden for five straight days and after losing 13 pounds I was not at my very best physical self. Luckily, the County provides service trucks that patrol the highways and help motorists like me in need for free! Fortunately, the gentleman did most of the work of the changeout and all I had to do is toss the broken tire into the truck bed (that was tough in my condition). I might add that before I fell ill the A/C had failed in the truck so when this happened I wasn't exactly the "coolest" I could have been. How spoiled have I become.

I have since gotten the A/C fixed, a brand new tire replacement and a wheel alignment. Now that I've gained my appetite and some weight back and the truck is all fixed up, things are back to being good.

[Clemson1881]

Thank goodness for those Michelin tires. If it were a Marabomb you and your truck would have landed in Nevada. Even in failure Made in USA tires come through! Glad you are OK.

[Tom S.]

Glad to hear your health is better. I don't think the tire failed because of construction, I think it was damaged from a pot hole. Lots of times, we hit a pot hole and forget about it. Then 6 months later the tire fails and we blame the tire company. As your pictures show, it can happen to the best of them!

[Art-n-Marge]

Hey Tom, the pictures don't show enough detail but according to a couple of tire guys that looked at it they think the stress of the internal seperation caused so much twisting and torquing that it caused a chunk of tire to go flying even though it looks like I ran over something (that was my first thought).

After we had examined the bad tire that was in the truck bed, the second tire guy that looking at it, immediately reached into his pocket and slowly deflated the tire with some tool he had. I didn't think about the psi remaining in the tire could have caused an explosive event from a tire that was in its weakened state. We all agreed that since I had lowered the air to 65 psi it probably helped, but it still probably wasn't safe. I had reduced the psi because being considered the minimum inflation by Michelin for that tire since I wasn't towing, this minimized some of the bouncing and stiffness when driving and not towing. If I was at 75 psi which is normal when under load and meeting the weight ratings of my truck (max for the tire is 80 psi), this could have been a different outcome.

It's a good thing I've been keeping up with prayers. As for being ill, I'm been stuck at 165lbs for over a week. My usual was between 172 to 175. Last time I was at that weight was when I was in my late 20s, early 30's. I'm okay with it especially because right before I retired I actually peaked at 202 lbs and it's nice not having to walk around with the additional 28-37 pounds. So now I can carry more in the truck because of it...

[RJI47]

It almost looks like it should say Goodyear on the side instead of Michelin. I've seen the marabombs with separated plys with the same type of wear. Glad you got thru it ok.

[DQDick]

Glad you guys are safe and you're feeling better!

[Drifty1]

Art, you are making me look bad... 165# I have not weighed that since 8th grade!!! Glad everything came out ok. I run Michelins on my truck and always will....

[Tom S.]

Art, a friend of mine once told me that if I ever dropped down to 200lbs (let alone 165), there'd be a line guys waiting to whip my butt!

[Art-n-Marge]

I remember growing up and seeing commercials for bulking up that a 98 pound weakling at the beach was getting bullied around and beaten up. I avoided the beach since I didn't even weigh that much. In fact, in high school, I finally went through a growth spurt one summer - 11th grade to 12 grade transition. I was 5'1" in May and on return to start 12th grade, I was 5' 6 1/2" in September! Unfortunately, my weight didn't change. Historically, I have always been of very slight stature and there were plenty of others I knew who could not relate down to my weight numbers like Drifty1 and Tom. You guys are okay.

For the record, I accept the Michelin tire failure was a rarity and this event won't stop me from selecting Michelins for my truck. In a way, if the tire can fail but not become a disaster, in a way, they're worth sticking with and probably the same as other brands who have been known to have a freak failure.

[GreatWhite]

Ha.. kinda like my 3rd son.. he grew 8" in his senior high school year.. 8".. he is 6"9" now.. hard for him to fit into the cockpit of many of the commuter planes he flys He definitely couldn't fly for the military. I think their max is 6'2" and most appear to be 5'10 or so...