Retread Peelings on Freeway

[jake75]

Had a bit of a scare today. I was behind a truck so I didn't see it in time to change lanes. There was a 4-5 ft+ long full tire width piece of retreaded tire across my lane on the freeway. The truck braked, then hit it, I braked and I hit it going about 50 mpg. It made some noise but I don't think it hurt anything.My personal feeling is that retreaded tires ought to be banned. You are always seeing bits and pieces of retreaded tires onthe raods - only a few the size of this one. It ticks me off that these trucks get away with causing these hazards. I suppose the retread industry is powerful enough to fight any such ban. Now - I am assuming this is from a retreaded tire. Am I wrong?

[Raven]

It could be from any truck tire. When you have 18 wheels+, it's hard to tell if you have a flat until it's too late.

[northvibe]

yeah those are dangerous specially for motorcycles :s

[prathman]

Not necessarily retreaded. I once had a big piece of tread like that come off an almost new car tire, although almost all the ones seen on freeways are from trucks. In my case the car only had about a thousand miles on it when I heard a loud thumping noise. Looked back and saw a big snake-like piece of tread go flying up behind the car. When we pulled over we saw that a piece of tread about 2" wide had come off all the way around the tire, but the tire was still properly inflated.

[Mavrik]

Blown tires tend to cause the rim to cut into the sidewall which slices off the tread sometimes in whole or in pieces. both are not good to hit with your car.

[MRCN RCE]

i think the trucker term for those pieces of tire is "alligator". yeah i ran over one of those on the freeway and it pulled my exhaust loose. i wasn't too happyi also saw one of those get thrown up n break the windshield of an is300. i can guarantee the driver was sayin a few choice words as well. about sunny's comment: i agree that it can be too late by the time you notice you have a flat, but i'm sure it's possible to get a tire pressure monitor in the trucks/trailers. i mean if our lil vibes have em, and our vibes are under $25,000, why can't the semis that cost six figures have em as well??

[scherry2]

Quote, originally posted by jake75 » There was a 4-5 ft+ long full tire width piece of retreaded tire across my lane on the freeway. The truck braked, then hit it, I braked and I hit it going about 50 mpg. It made some noise but I don't think it hurt anything. if you hit it at 30 MPG would it make a difference? LOL sorry couldn't resist

[JohnC]

It is worse during the summer, the high temps do a number on them retreads. Especially in AZ. I have hit these gators while riding motorcycles and driving small cars, it is always exciting and expensive. The little pieces can easily give you a flat because there is wire in them. Some car drivers swerve at the last minute and if you are following too close(usually due to heavy traffic) you do not have time/room to miss them. Also big black gators are very hard to see at night.I have seen countless truckers continue down the road even though they see that they are pelting everyone else with rubber. When asked why they don't stop they say it is too expensive to have the tire replaced on the road. It is going to get alot worse now that some "world court" has ruled that Mexican trucks can go as far as they need to into the States.In the truckers defense, I do see them checking thier tires using a small bat at the truck stops.

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by scherry2 » if you hit it at 30 MPG would it make a difference? LOL sorry couldn't resistWell - if you rolled over it at 5 mph I would think it woud be rare to do any damage. The faster the speed the more force it would propel it under the carriage with. I am hoping that ti was a no harm no foul situation.

[binary]

They've figured out how to provide trailers with ABS... all they need to do now is standardize a TPM system for the trailer axles.They also need to make it more expensive NOT to pull over and litter the road with that garbage than continue on down to the truck stop.But in most cases, if you're following too close - these are the surprises you should expect.

[northvibe]

Quote, originally posted by jake75 »Well - if you rolled over it at 5 mph I would think it woud be rare to do any damage. The faster the speed the more force it would propel it under the carriage with. I am hoping that ti was a no harm no foul situation. mpg not mph it was a joke

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by northvibe »mpg not mph it was a joke Duh! It's late.

[808 Vibes]

I once saw a semi with one flat rear tire and it was smoking...boy was I quick to get as far as I could away from that thing (or any truck after what happened to my windshield!)

[scherry2]

Quote, originally posted by northvibe »mpg not mph it was a joke thanks. gee, I thought I was the only one who caught that. I agree though the peices of rubber are a problem driving thru Chicago

[drunkenmaxx]

mythbusters proved those to be deadly

[waveresponder]

hahahah you beat me to mentioning Mythbusters...i was just watching a program at work the other day on how they retread tires..yah they save lots of money..enough so that any ban would be shot down...

[Sublimewind]

I remember once, before i got my driver lisense, i was driving with my dad down the highway and a truck on the OTHER side lost a re-tread Or blew a tire, it doesn't matter.....A chunk the size of one of them small coffee cup plates (can't remember the actual name)flew FLAT and stright across and right over the hood of the car, not 15" in front of my face... Totally missed the car, but, had i been doing 3mph faster, i'd be DEAD.... Another chunk went a few HUNDRED feet into the air..!!!

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by binary »But in most cases, if you're following too close - these are the surprises you should expect.I was not following too close - I was behind a medium sized but tall truck (not the one that lost the tread) by probably 5 car lengths on a busy freeway. That truck braked - ran over it first - then it was my turn. No time to avoid hitting it and there was traffic in the next lane anyway so changing lanes to avopud it was not an option.

[Kari]

It doesn't really matter if you have clear distance or not when these things fly off...sometimes you just can't avoid hitting them.

[binary]

Quote, originally posted by jake75 »I was not following too close - I was behind a medium sized but tall truck (not the one that lost the tread) by probably 5 car lengths on a busy freeway. That truck braked - ran over it first - then it was my turn. No time to avoid hitting it and there was traffic in the next lane anyway so changing lanes to avopud it was not an option.Most of the time it's impossible to keep a safe distance between you and the next vehicle when it's really crowded. If that sounded accusatory, it wasn't meant to be - more of just a matter of fact.I remember cresting a hill on the highway I commute on every day. Traffic was stopped just on the other side... nothing I could do to stop soon enough, so I winged it into the emergency "lane" and slid to a stop three cars farther up in line. The lady in the car was white as a ghost when I looked over, but I smiled and waved just as the gravel dust cloud I created enveloped us both. People would say I was going too fast - but from the other side of the hill, traffic was fine. Just like Kari said, sometimes you're just going to eat it and nothing you can do will prevent it.

[kostby]

I was doing about 70 and braked hard to hit an alligator laying across the lane at about 45mph --and about 34 mpg -- two summers ago. The shreds of wire belt redecorated the cladding and the driver side door of my Vibe permanently Probably why my front and rear cladding are rattle-y loose now, and the exhaust system has rattles!