My wife has told me, for many years, that I have a guardian angel

[M1A4ME]

Today, while driving back from the gym/workout I was going down a winding country road.  I seldom speed on such roads due to the number of houses along them in this area.  I wasn't backing off on the curves, just having fun cutting through them at 55 to 60 mph (even if the signs said 35 mph - you might call that speeding, I don't).

As we drove down the road I had (how many of you folks remember this one?) Iron Butterfly - In-A-Gada-Da-Vida, playing on the sound system (just loaded up a new memory stick with old rock music a couple days ago).  I heard an alarm (I think) that never lit up anything on the information display panel go "beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep."  It stopped, I turned down the music but didn't hear anything else and the gauges an info panel were good.

About 300 yds. from the house, as I slowed down to make the right turn onto another road, we heard a light "thump-thump-thump-thump" and I quickly looked at the info panel again and it was clear/clean.  We made the turn, I hit the brakes, lightly, to see if the car pulled one way or the other and it stayed straight (= no low front tires).  We could still hear the noise so I rolled the window down and it was coming from the front driver's side of the car (had to be something with the tire).  Again I looked at the info display panel and it was clear (no TPM alarm/light).

Got to the driveway, turned into the driveway and took a look - the inside rubber on the driver's side front tire had peeled loose.  I could see the material of the tire cord sticking out like a comb/brush.  That set of "ultra high performance summer tires" has about 27,000 miles on them.  About 5,000 short of the first set that came on the car.  Since it had just passed inspection a couple months back I figured I'd get at least another year out of the tires since I really don't put a lot of miles on it these days.

The bright side (guardian angel side) is it happened almost within view of the house.  Not out on the interstate some weekend on the way home/back.  It didn't happen when I was cutting the corners and stressing the tire sidewalls (though that may have contributed to it).  The tire didn't completely self destruct and tear anything up.

I've just got to call around and find a good price on a high dollar set of tires now.

[DeltaGray]

1) Good that the vehicle did not crash and bump around like what happened to a lady and a grand daughter.
2) I replaced tires on my truck after what earlier looked like lawn grass staying on a tire but the "grass" did not blow away.  Sidewall cracking is not good when whiskers poke out.
3) I like angels and understand the guardian angel words.  I am on a mission to help people after surviving three (3) serious life threatening situations.  I might laugh when I tell people that I must be a slow learner.  Women have asked me how many lives I have. 

[jwc007]

Wow!  You got off easy on that one!  Glad you did not get hurt!

One of my shooting buddies blew a tire on the Interstate doing 70mph and rolled his 2014 Ford F250 on it's side into a ditch and those tires were only about 10,000 miles old.
No one got hurt, just shaken a bit.  Truck went to the Body Shop and a new set of Tires were purchased!

Currently, I am shopping for a new set of Tires for my 1999 Ford Mustang.  I have a new set of aggressive Tires on my 2003 AWD Saturn Vue and I drive that most of the Winter/Snow season.

[armoredman]

Yikes! Buy a lottery ticket, quick!

[M1A4ME]

Well, between shopping around and telling one store what another store was willing to do it looks like I can get a new set of tires installed for about the price of a new Tactical Sport (I need the tires, but the Tactical Sport would last longer).

They had to be special ordered so when they come in the store will call and we'll set up an appt.  Till then the Coupe is "grounded."  Not taking a chance the tire will continue to hold together with the inside edges already missing/loose.

No more than I drive it these days (retired) these should last me about 8 or 9 years, or until they dry rot.  That's why I quit buying Michelin tires.  The sidewalls would dry rot and load up with deep cracks before the tread every wore out.

[SI VIS PACEM PARRABELLUM]

Well, between shopping around and telling one store what another store was willing to do it looks like I can get a new set of tires installed for about the price of a new Tactical Sport (I need the tires, but the Tactical Sport would last longer).

They had to be special ordered so when they come in the store will call and we'll set up an appt.  Till then the Coupe is "grounded."  Not taking a chance the tire will continue to hold together with the inside edges already missing/loose.

No more than I drive it these days (retired) these should last me about 8 or 9 years, or until they dry rot.  That's why I quit buying Michelin tires.  The sidewalls would dry rot and load up with deep cracks before the tread every wore out.

Do not take this the wrong way but you are severely incorrect about how long tires should last. I have 35 years experience as an auto tech so I speak from that experience.
Tires that have reached the age of 8 or 9 years are no longer safe for 55-60 mph or higher and should be removed from service at that point.Tire manufacturers won't even warranty a tire that has exceeded 6 years of age regardless of miles traveled or remaining tread life.
The fact that the tire appears cosmetically good is irrelevant  as they will break down internally and can fail almost without warning.
I've seen many nice vehicles with severe sheet metal damage from old tires that came apart and slapped the body badly before the vehicle could be safely stopped and luckily it was only the car that got damaged.

[Earl Keese]

27k is actually a lot of miles for extreme performance summer tires, those would be a soft compound/low tread wear rating. Just curious, what kind of car is it?

[M1A4ME]

Got 32,000 on the first set.  27,000 on the second set.  I'm going to go with a set of Bridgestone S04 Pole Position tires this time.  There are no mileage warranties with tires like these.  Summer time, ultra high performance, 186 mph rated tires. 

Oh, car is a Genesis Coupe.  3.8 liter V6.  Trak model.  6 speed manual transmission (I prefer to have it in the gear I want it in, not the one the computer figures it should be in.)

Fun car to drive on a road trip.  Lots of fun.  And top end is no where near 186.  According to Hyundai the computer won't let it go more than 147.  I've not tried to test that.

Last car I plan to buy (for me).  First car I bought was a yellow Pontiac back in 1976.  Last car is this Genesis, also yellow.  They don't make them in this color anymore, in fact, they don't make the Coupes anymore.  Genesis got split off from Hyundai and I guess they're trying to figure out what to do next (rumors of AWD and a 430 hp V8, but rumors don't make a car).

In daylight it's yellow.  As the light dims/hits at a different angle it gets an orange tint to it.  Different.

[Earl Keese]

Pretty car. I don't usually like yellow, but when it looks good, it looks really good. The new automatics are faster/better, but who cares when you lose the connection that a manual gear box provides.

[copemech]

I see the problem! And it's yellow!

[M1A4ME]

I've done a lot of driving in the snow/slick roads over the years.  I do not drive the Coupe in the snow.  Not sure how that traction control (or the summer time only tires) would do, so it stays in the garage when the roads are bad.

What I've seen is that cars/trucks with automatics end up in the ditch on a curve/uphill/downhill situation.

The automatic changes gears, the engine rpm goes up, the torque output takes a big jump, the tires break traction, the driver may/may not hit the brakes, the brakes lock up and into the ditch it goes.  Yes, all the new driver aids (traction control, antilock brakes, etc.) should help, but I'm sort of old fashioned.  I can do it with the manual transmission and the clutch/gas pedal.

Computers are great - till the fuzz on you.  I just spent an evening (two nights ago) fighting with this laptop.  It was working great, then it wasn't.  Locking up, running slow.  Restarted it.  No help.  Tried to turn it off again and it would not turn off.  Screen went gray, then went black, hard drive was really humming.  Still would not turn off.  Finally just pressed the button down and held it and it shut down.  Then restarted it.  No help.  Came up really slow and locked up again.  Shut it down, with the button, again.  Waited several minutes.  Turned it on.  Went through a real slow start up and then it was working normally again.

Car computers can fuzz out on you, too.  I stopped by the bank one morning, did some business and left.  Hit the gas to cross a couple lanes of traffic and then let off the gas to coast up to the stop light.  Started to turn right and head down the four lane and the car would do almost 5 mph.  That was it.  I turned right at the next intersection and into a parking lot and called the Hyundai service number.  They sent a roll back out, picked the car up, took it and me to the dealer.  About 30 minutes later they brought me the keys.  The computer had run into some conflicting issue and shut down to put it in "limp home mode".  Really, 5 mph is limp home mode??  It'll get you off the highway but home??  Anyway, they reprogrammed the computer and it was good to go.  Not reprogrammed as in reloading the original program, but as in a new/updated program.

Had the computer in my IROC Z28 go south a few years ago.  Started it up one morning to go to work and it was hard to start (it is never hard to start - one of the earlier models with the extra injector to aid starting and the MAF to read actual airflow instead of the computerized tables to calculate air flow).  Then it started back firing/running rough as I pulled out on the road down the street from the house.  No SES light??  That was crazy.  No power, misfiring, stumbling, etc. and no SES?  Turned around and came home (died a few times but would restart).  Did a lot of trouble shooting (the simple stuff that used to work on the older cars) and finally replaced the computer and it was 100% again.  The computer just went bad.

My nephews 2017 Silverado has had the computer replaced already.  It went south on him after about 6 months.

Stuff happens.  The more complicated something is, the more opportunity it has for failures, large or small.

Last but not least, I can/have replaced clutches/pressure plates and rebuilt manual transmissions.  I wouldn't attempt to rebuild one of these new 8 or 10 speed automatics. 

No real need/plans to drive it till the next trip home to the mountains so no need to get impatient waiting on the new tires/installation.

I just remembered, I haven't tried something since the reprogramming. 

With the original program (this is a funny computer thing) the car will not spin the tires with the steering wheel straight or turned to the right.  The wheels start to spin, then traction control/computer kicks in and stops the spin and you slowly accelerate (unless you let up on the gas to line up pedal with the speed).  However, if the steering wheel is turned to the left it will burn the back tires across two lanes of traffic at least - done that twice while waiting on the traction control to kick in and do it's stuff.  So, traction control works - unless the steering wheel is turned to the left.  Computers.  Programs.  Never know what you'll end up with.

[M1A4ME]

Got the call this morning.  The tires were delivered.  We set the appt. up for 2 PM.

Five minutes later they called back.  Oops!  Only three of the tires came in.  They told me the 4th tire should be in tomorrow morning and they'll call back and set up another appt.

One more day.  And I was planning on going shooting tomorrow (temps are dropping around here for a week or so, hottest day in the next week or so is supposed to be only about 82 or 83 F. with low humidity).  end of Sept. temps. a month early.

[DeltaGray]

I ask for the "dots" whenever I have to order four (4) tires.  I am not a spert on tires but I want tires from the same batch or lot numbers.  My tire guys know or understand what I am asking for.

[M1A4ME]

Got them put on this afternoon (last tire came in today, they forgot to call me, I called them, they checked and told me to come right then and they'd take care of it).

Here's a picture of the front driver's side tire that started all this.  The missing rubber is on the inside.  I looked at the car when they had it up in the air - no sign of any contact with anything in the wheel well.  Notice the remaining tread separating from the cords/belts underneath.  They've got right at 27,000 miles on them.



While I was looking at the front tire I decided to look at the back ones, too.  This one is the passenger side rear tire.  Rubber starting to separate, some missing, you can see the cracks where the rubber is lifting up and getting ready to depart.



I don't spin the tires.  Between traction control and the cost of the tires burning the rubber off is a combination of not possible (without going through an elaborate procedure to trick the computer) and stupid (for the cost of the tires.

I've been driving and buying tires since 1976.  I've never had tires do this before.  Run them bald, yeah, or near it, but not had this happen.

I also noticed a big chart on the wall in the Discount Tires Shop I'd never seen before.  It said after 6 years the rubber in tires has deteriorated enough they need to be replaced (when did this start happening?  All the trips I've made to tire stores I'd never heard/seen that before.)  I've got 7 vehicles licensed/insured right now and have had 5 to 6 for many years.  So I buy some tires.  The chart/sign also said it's a Discount Tires Store policy no to allow their employees to work on any tire older than 10 years old.

Anyway, thought someone might get a kick out of the pictures.  Darn good thing I didn't get out on a highway trip (had one scheduled for Labor Day weekend) with those tires still on the car.

Car was inspected at the local Firestone Shop/Store 3 months ago and pronounced good to go.  I've put just over 700 miles on it since then.  Takes me a couple years to put 6,000 miles on it these days.

[SI VIS PACEM PARRABELLUM]

I ask for the "dots" whenever I have to order four (4) tires.  I am not a spert on tires but I want tires from the same batch or lot numbers.  My tire guys know or understand what I am asking for.

DOTS are and should be the deciding factor. Consecutive DOTS and recent ones at that. All tires sold in the US since the year 2K must have the DOT serial plus the last 4 numbers denoting the week and year made ie 3617 would be the 36th week of 2017. There are those who differ in opinion but FAR more than once have I seen a tire customer return with a ride disturbance issue that traced to an out of numerical sequence tire.