Author Topic: At 240 kilometres per hour - it all went very Bad ! Into Cars ? Have a read.  (Read 2536 times)

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Offline Caveoftreasures

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It all went very bad at 240 kph when a tyre came off !

If your into fast cars and track days and drag racing, this post may interest you, but there is a lesson I learnt, that I will never forget about tyres and fast cars and the people who fit tyres to any motor vehicles.

A few weekends ago, I was invited to go to a track with a friend who has a high powered Ford Falcon. Last of the BF 2009 models. I have driven the car before, and at high speed on the appropriate place (legal) so I was used to the car, but this day was different.
As the car was climbing out hard at just over 240 kms per hour, the rear passenger tyre left the rim.
The car span like a bottle top down the straight and I knew I was in serious trouble.
The human body isn't designed to hit walls in any vehicle at any high speed, let alone approaching 240 plus.
All the safety gear ain't going to save you.
On a one in a million miracle the car recovered, then drove straight and didn't hit a thing.

Why did the tyre come off ?

The tyre was not fitted correctly and I watched the four tyres getting put on the rims.
But in the excitement of the day, the tyre fitter made 4 mistakes in a row that could have easily killed any driver.
He didn't blow the tyres up with sufficient air pressure to get the tyres to make that really loud POP noise you hear that sits the bead of the tyre on the rim correctly. A dumb mistake.

Lesson here, if you ever buy tyres, and are allowed to watch them being fitted to the rims for any of your vehicles, make sure they get pumped to 60 plus PSI, listen for the POP and then you KNOW they are fitted correctly. Then the right PSI per manufacturers specs shld be put in. Check yourself, never trust the tyre shop. Usually guess work and lazy gets wrong pressures. That's my experience.

Another thing I learnt, is that at high speeds your tyre pressures can increase by up to about 35 percent or more.
If your tyre pressures aren't perfect, and u punch it hard to overtake at say 120 kms per hour, and say you are a bit naughty and hit 140 to 160 just for a couple of seconds, your tyres are under extreme workload.

I have always bought the best tyres for any car and always bought tyres rated for high speed, but I took a few things for granted.

Next lesson learnt, if you have a family, probably best to stay away from track days and extremely high speeds.
It's all fun til something tiny goes wrong.
My hair went grey that day and it hasn't left my mind.
Cars are fun, but the fun is dangerous even at a track and even with all the safety gear.
Going to give it a miss next time. The margin for error is just too narrow.

Check your tyre pressures lads and check the rating on the tyre.
Don't buy cheap tyres and don't let slack/lax people ever fit them.
This will keep u safe.

Even if a tyre leaves a rim at 120 klms per hour, on a great road, in a great car, it can have disastrous results.
« Last Edit: February 22, 2015, 01:30:01 AM by Caveoftreasures »
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Offline Freiherr

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Tyre pressure increases with temperature and not speed (unless running from cold first time). The rule of thumb is 1 psi increase with each 10 deg F. The most variation that I have seen on 30 psi is about 2 psi increase on a hot summer day. Racing drivers usually work the tyres to soften the rubber for grip. I am surprised that the fitter did not inspect the rims during a final balance or that a tyre can remain inflated above 10 psi without proper seating on the wheel rim.
« Last Edit: February 22, 2015, 08:58:37 AM by Freiherr »
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Offline RottyGuy

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I hope the bloke in question has changed his last tyre.

Offline Caveoftreasures

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The tyres pressures climb with heat from the air temperature, and heat from ground force, espescially high speed.

In my case, the tyre started to deflate from an incorrect seal and then came off the rim. Miracle I wasn't hurt. Miracle the car wasn't written off.

The company set up who fitted tyres ain't fitting tyres anymore I suspect. He was only young, his boss wasn't supervising when he should have been. It's the supervisors fault, not the young like.
Other cars during the day had similar hassles, but they hit the walls and were written off.
Tyres leaving the rims due to incorrect fitting.
Behind every garage door could be a pinball collectors
"Cave of Treasures" 55 in my collection

Into  Stern -JJP - Cars , Road Bikes- Jet Skis - Star Trek n Sci-Fi & Electronics    
Beware of Stalkers & Walkers when playing The Walking Dead

My 7yr old son Hunter is my best mate in the world !

Offline vinito

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Yea... I never was one for speed. I like heights though - flying, climbing, etc. The higher the better.


OH! and PIZZA. Kind of a fan of pizza.
I feel more like I do now than I did when I first got here.

Offline Caveoftreasures

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I used to do a lot of skydiving.
Never tried eating pizza on the way down but. Lol

Imagine flying a military jet, that would be the rush of rush,s.

Still like cars heaps, just wary of tyres now....
Behind every garage door could be a pinball collectors
"Cave of Treasures" 55 in my collection

Into  Stern -JJP - Cars , Road Bikes- Jet Skis - Star Trek n Sci-Fi & Electronics    
Beware of Stalkers & Walkers when playing The Walking Dead

My 7yr old son Hunter is my best mate in the world !

Offline Caveoftreasures

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I can't believe this thread has been read 1100 times in less than a week ?

It's ironic, because tomorrow I am buying 4 x new tyres for one of my cars ! Lol  @.@

Just a shame they will never get to do massively high speeds due to our low speed limits. We need a autobahn like Germany ! That would be very cool.
Behind every garage door could be a pinball collectors
"Cave of Treasures" 55 in my collection

Into  Stern -JJP - Cars , Road Bikes- Jet Skis - Star Trek n Sci-Fi & Electronics    
Beware of Stalkers & Walkers when playing The Walking Dead

My 7yr old son Hunter is my best mate in the world !