Blown out tire - Hankook Ventus Prime 3

[henene4]

Had my first ever high speed incident in a car.

There is a construction zone on a nearby Autobahn.
Right after the construction zone ends in the one direction, there is an off ramp that is closed that itself is right before a tunnel.

I was driving there, going no faster than 50mph, when there was a loud woomp noise followed by me hitting the pylons used to block the off ramp.

I noticed immediately I had broken my right side mirror.
My car started vibrating profusely.
I didn't want to stop in the tunnel so I drove to a parking area about a mile after the tunnel.

Unfortunately I had close to no reliable cell reception there - took me 5 tries to call the police and 2 tries to call the road side assistance included in my insurance.

Apparently the pylons were ok.
My side mirror is splintered and the back part is missing.
I'll have to see if I can claim that through insurance (glass breakage is technically covered).
But I'll probably have to pay for 2 new tires out of pocket anyway.

The wheel housing is scratched from the outside but insurance will most likely not cover that - so I might just leave that as is.

The tires are from 2020 - so pretty new and they are really nice tires driving wise.
I send a message to the Hankook customer service and see what they say.

2 new ones of the newer version will set me back about 200€.

An entire new side mirror would be several hundred bucks - I hope insurance will cover that, even if they just replace the glass and cover for my 150€ deductible.

Worst part was getting phone reception.
My phone kept dropping connection. No mobile data and it took me 5 tries to call 110.
The one time you need your phone to work it doesn't.

 

[appnut]

I"m very thankful you weren't hurt or had any serious injury due to a tire blow out!!!

 

[henene4]

Yeah

It really was just a jump to the right - luckily I (roughly) adhered to the speed limit!

Also lucky no one else was around - it was 10:50pm approximately so not mich traffic there.

I just ordered the new tires - they are supposed to be delivered latest until Tuesday.

I'll call the insurance later today and see what's up - maybe I'll just swap the mirror myself.

 

[bradfordwhite]

a likely story.

We KNOW how Germans drive on their way to work or the grocery store.

 

[qsd-dan]

Tire blowouts are one of the many reasons I don't speed or drive on tires more than 10 years old, even if they show zero signs of deterioration.

I remember back in the 1980's when studies concluded you're 3 times more likely to die blowing a tire at 70 MPH vs 55 MPH. In the early 70's when speeds were reduced to 55 MPH to save energy, car related deaths were cut in half. It was both a surprising and unexpected statistic. I know technology has come a long way since then but modern technology is not programmed to compensate for every event.

Glad you escaped this tragedy with no injuries to yourself and minor injuries to your car.

 

[henene4]

Likely story

I actually consider myself a decent highway driver.
Less so city driving.

Horrible at parking - I scratched and dented this car several times while parking...

I used to drive way faster - but since fuel prices shot up I tamed down a lot.

But yeah - I come from a rural area, I don't fear small, winding town roads.
That's probably the roudiest I drive ever...

 

[qsd-dan]

In my teens I was a gearhead and did some spirited driving in muscle cars that should have killed me, if not landed me in jail a few times. When I hit 20, it was like I went from stupid teenager to 50 year old adult almost overnight. It was like my frontal cortex quickly developed while sleeping one night and it just wasn't fun anymore. I became like an 80 year old screaming at everyone to slow the F***K down by the time I hit 30 and hated driving with a passion by the time I hit my late 30's. I've filled up my daily driver with gas 3 times in the last 2.5 years. Weird how the brain changes as one gets older. Dealing with SF bay area traffic for 25 years probably had a firm hand in that, lol.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

I had a couple blowouts during the past few months--only the air gently escaped from the tire, and luckily pulled over to a safe place without damaging the wheel, although the second time, I was still a bit closer to home enough that I wish I made it there...

 

The first wait for road service took more than two hours, mostly due to the location I was at (it was a storage facility) just being cited in the wrong city, I was on the border between two, and luckily the second time, I waited less than the five minutes I was promised it would take--and somehow never got a survey for the excellent work I got, as I did the first...

 

The spare should quickly be replaced, although a full-sized, just devoid of the fancy rim, it isn't engaged to the monitoring system, like the conventional wheel is... So luckily, other than having to walk home from the tire place that second time, due to out not having my size right away like the first, where for a few minutes I had to wait, I at least got a ride back from my wife, that same day...

 

Sorry for your incident being typical but gad you are okay after that...

 

 

 

-- Dave

 

[askolover]

A couple of years ago I hit something in the dark on a Sunday evening driving in to work.  I was doing 70mph on I65 in Franklin, TN.  I didn't see it until it was too late to dodge.  I think it was something metal because it dented the rim on my VW New Beetle.  I must say, that car didn't even try to veer either direction but rather remained going straight...but I could tell by the feel I had blown the tire.  Fortunately I was just coming up on an off ramp so scooted over to the ramp and on over to the shoulder away from the interstate so I could swap to the full-size spare.  That particular exit also goes to the Williamson County hospital...while I was working, an ambulance pulled up behind me to block traffic and protect me while I was swapping it out.  I was back on the road in 15 minutes and wasn't even late for work!  I lost my hubcap, but had a spare one at home, and had to get a new steel wheel and road hazard prorated the tire.  Out of 22 years of commuting to and from Nashville 100 miles round trip that is the only time I've blown out on the road.  Hopefully it will be the only time ever.

 

[circlew]

Greg, I know exactly where you're talking about. I've stayed at the Best Western a couple times, and eaten at the CB across from that hospital several times.

I'm glad you were able to retain control of your car

 

[rp2813]

Dan, is the number of fill-ups related to COVID or are you working from home or using BART?   Most of my driving is on city streets and gas mileage sucks as a result, but local public transit is a joke in Silicon Valley, so . . .

 

[henene4]

I ordered the parts for the mirror. The glass itself is absolutely replaceable by me.
The cover on the back side might be replaceable but I ain't sure if the places it clips into on the housing are OK or are broken off.

The parts are only 26€ including shipping.
Once I have the glass installed my car is legal to drive again so even if the cover dosen't click into place I still can go back south to my family friends garage I usually get service at.

The electronics and mechanics of the mirror are perfectly fine, but if the cover dosen't click into place I might have to get the mirror housing replaced - but that part is only about 100€ plus work anyway.

I could have replaced the wheel myself probably - but if I have free road side assistance, I didn't see the point to fight with the cheap and crappy car jack in the pack I had with me.

I talked to the older mechanic that did replace the wheel a bit an he was a little annoyed when I told him I am an engineer but didn't feel comfortable replacing the wheel myself.
Like, I know how to do it in theory, but why should I bother?

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

I wouldn't really trust my own jacking, when I see what gets used by the roadside-service guys, obviously too heavy and bulky to carry yourself...

I had a couple cars in my past years I'd done my own tire changing of, but naturally there comes a time, you have to say you've had enough...

-- Dave

 

[qsd-dan]

Dan, is the number of fill-ups related to COVID

Working from home and becoming an agoraphobic hermit, lol.

Not afraid at all of the COVID virus, (I caught that sucker twice), I just shop a mile or two away for groceries, get a haircut every 2-3 months (stretching it from the usual monthly basis), and 6 month dental appointments.

I guess I'm becoming Amish in my older age.

 

[sudsmaster]

Henrik,

Did you or a tire specialist inspect the blown tire to try to determine the cause of the blowout?

I'm thinking there may have been a sharp object on the road that caused the deflation.

Just wondering.

 

[henene4]

I'll talk to the guys when I get the new ones put on and update you!

 

[henene4]

Got the tires changed over today, went smoothly.
He said he can't really comment on what that might have caused or how it happened.

It would seem like at least some tearing happend, but I think there was a small rip forming at a stress point, that gave way and the rest happend on hitting the pylon base.
But that's just guessing.

The mirror cover and glas arrived aswell.

The glass mounted 100% as it should.
The cover only mounted 90% perfectly, it's a little squeaky at one point if you push on it. But it's aftermarket and dosen't even match the other side (the new one is black plastic, the other side is finished in the cars paint) so it will work as a long-term but non permanent fix - all it has to do is protect the insides like cabeling etc.

All in all, with mounting the tires, I think that cost me just shy of 250€.
Not terrible, but still annoying.

At least it only was that!

 

[sudsmaster]

Looks to me that the wheel hit some large and perhaps sharp object on the road.

 

Perhaps some body debris from a car ahead?

 

Or, since it was near a construction zone, perhaps some debris from a construction vehicle.

 

Perhaps the local authorities could investigate and maybe even reimburse you for your troubles.