Today went with a bang!
- Thread starter Scania
- Start date
Its not uncommon to have a blow out on a trailer and for you to not even notice that the tyre has exploded and destroyed the surrounding area! - on the cab, especially the steering axle, its very different as I found out today.
I have had many many blowouts over the years Phil, one at Culina one night.... but never on a steering axle , slow puncture , yes far too many! - first time for everything
I have had a doublefront blow-out which sounds far more extreme, ironically, the truck simply slewed to a halt in a straight line, gouging along trail out of the M4 but under control and braking smoothly! ( I ran over a steel girder that had appeared on the road infront of me)
I know a truck can change lane quickly, never in my wildest dreams did I think it would happen so fast.
And my **** ing arm is still shaking!
Glad you're alright. That is quite some destruction right there
Thanks - to everybody - for the sentiment!
Yes, its going to be off the road for roughly 10 days was the Foremans guess, he said it depended on how serious the cab - chassis rail - damage was, the exploding tyre seems to have distorted the cabs shell!
It could be a while longer than that.
Thanks, I was VERY glad of my driving experience today, don't get me wrong, please, I'm no driving "God" as such,but at least I had an idea what to do I suppose?
I was running at just under 44 tons at the time of the incident, I thought, for a brief moment, that I was going across the barrier into the path of a Volvo Artic that was doing a similar speed in the opposite direction, 9 times out of ten from what the wrecker driver told me, a fully freighted artic will go through the armco barrier like a knife through butter, I was in no doubt that I was about to do the same.
I'll be back at work on Tuesday and be away again all next week, make no mistake - This won't put me off driving for a living, perhaps, it should.
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Soldato
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I always blast by any large vehicles. Always do after seeing my mate getting squished by a bus!
Soldato
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I bet they'll have to retrim your seat as well, presumably your bumhole chewed a great big hole in it as well!
I have no idea why some people think it's a good idea to be side on with a lorry for miles on end considering you are sat in their blind spot and you have about 4 big rubber balloons ready to pop at any moment.
No, saved that, but I had to stop myself from throwing up as I stopped,believe me, I don't scare / shock easily, freely admit I crapped myself - if not I'm glad to say, literally.
So true, and you would not believe how many do.The "Baloons" are @ 125PSI, most cars are around 30, its one hell of a bang!
Nods. When the speed of the 2 lanes is quite similar I always hang back making sure I'm viewable by the driver (especially in such a small car). After reading this I think I may hang back past the trailer...
Nicely saved R420.
Man of Honour
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Glad you're ok!If we were next to one of those tyres letting go, it would be like shrapnel from a grenade I imagine. Remote chance though.
they don't half go with a bang
I had a blowout on a front tyre whilst driving a fully laden coach. 49 people, their luggage and a pretty full load of fuel - so a decent amount of tonnage.
Luckily for me, I'd spent 4 hours at 62mph up the M1, and stopped at Woodall services to hand over to another driver when it went bang.
1730 on a wintery Friday evening.
I dread to think what would have happened if it had gone on me a few minutes earlier.
Suffice to say, that was my coach-driving career well and truly ended.
R420, I know you don't carry human cargo, but even still you have my utmost sympathy, I was in a similar state for a days or so after my non-but-so-damn-close-incident.
It becomes a nice story to tell the wide-eyed newbies
I had a blowout on a front tyre whilst driving a fully laden coach. 49 people, their luggage and a pretty full load of fuel - so a decent amount of tonnage.
Luckily for me, I'd spent 4 hours at 62mph up the M1, and stopped at Woodall services to hand over to another driver when it went bang.
1730 on a wintery Friday evening.
I dread to think what would have happened if it had gone on me a few minutes earlier.
Suffice to say, that was my coach-driving career well and truly ended.
R420, I know you don't carry human cargo, but even still you have my utmost sympathy, I was in a similar state for a days or so after my non-but-so-damn-close-incident.
It becomes a nice story to tell the wide-eyed newbies
This little beastie dragged me in.....
http://www.jonbeechrecovery.co.uk/Our_Fleet/our_fleet.htm And thanks to these guys for the rescue.
That does look quite little, I was more expecting something like this:
Seen them a few times round this way.
My local tyre fitter tells me of a job he did when working up in Essex;
He'd attended a call out for a lorry tyre that needing doing, changed the tyre, put it up against the side of the van and started inflating. He tells me that he started hearing it crack, and at this point whilst thinking he was a goner, decided to make a run for it. Fortunately he was ok, but the side of the transit was missing.
Another interesting "fact" he mentioned to me was that a wheel-barrow tyre pumped until it bursts exerts the same amount of force as a grenade, so its worrying to think what a lorry tyre can do.
Like many others have stated on here, I'm always very quick to pass lorries, especially in 50mph road works, I'll usually hit the outside lane and ignore the queue of people wanting to go 3mph faster than me.
i imagine the noise being immensely loud !!! (infact im gunna have to go look on youtube
)ive been sat next to a mate in a skatepark when all of a sudden his bmx tyre and tube exploded at 100psi . nearly **** myself there and then. i had a ringing in my ears all afternoon and he was temporarily half deaf
this is true but it doesnt have all the fragments of metal that a grenade has ! but if something gets between that blast of air and you then youl soon know about it when it blasts through your body !
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Wow, very lucky not to have hit anyone ! This also reinforces my discomfort of straying next to trucks, usually overtake them as fast as possible absolutely hate being beside one. The video of that Polish truck in Italy that went through the center is scary!