LOOK At this tyre....

James1000

Senior Member
T6 Guru
Happened last night on the M5 - was only doing 70mph +VAT

Have replaced immediately with the same Continental Conti 200 - was able to bring this this to the hard shoulder calmly - glad they were commercial rated. For those thinking of not using C tyres!!

33BFEA87-4E6F-4945-B4E7-B2DF61C81EE2.jpeg
 
You are spot on with highlighting commercial tyres, it’s a big lump to keep under control in that situation.
I’ve popped quite a few car tyre side walls in country lanes it’s amazing how little it takes.
 
That looks to my eye like a rapid deflation as a result of tyre wall damage, which could be weeks or months old.
The shape of that larger hole suggests prior damage existed, that the edges were caused by cuts (kerb damage?) not a blowout which would tend to leave strips of the tyre peeling around the edges caused by the carcass structure failing.

Tyres rarely blow, they usually deflate and the resulting damage is caused by continuing to run on it for a distance.
 
Have replaced immediately with the same Continental Conti 200 - was able to bring this this to the hard shoulder calmly - glad they were commercial rated. For those thinking of not using C tyres!!
I don't understand!
Having commercial tyres didn't prevent this from happening and when that tyre went "pop" it would have made no difference to the outcome, you were running on a completely deflated tyre until you could get to a safe place to stop.
 
I don't understand!
Having commercial tyres didn't prevent this from happening and when that tyre went "pop" it would have made no difference to the outcome, you were running on a completely deflated tyre until you could get to a safe place to stop.
I understood his comment as meaning that the stiffer sidewall on the commercial tyre gave some degree of control to bring it to a stop.
 
Yes the two holes indicates that I hit something but motorway was clear I heard nothing. Must have done though.

I very much doubt that.

If like me and others you probably notice tramlines in the road as you run over them so for you to hit a substantial object and not notice is unrealistic.

Substantial because it would have had to have be several inches high to cause that damage on the sidewall.

Without a physical examination of the tyre I’m pretty confident that it’s old, probably kerb, damage that has finally given way.

Your tyres sidewalls are put under enormous stress and often heat from under inflation or heavy loads. As I’ve said before on here elsewhere, as tyres rotate the sidewalls flex from relaxed to bulging, hundreds of times a minute. The heat generated has catastrophic effect on the carcass and if there is a weakness it’ll eventually show up.
 
maybe - I never proclaimed to be a tyre expert and just quoted the RAC.
Point is, I’d rather have the stronger commercial tyres than risk anything else of the same size.

I very much doubt that.

If like me and others you probably notice tramlines in the road as you run over them so for you to hit a substantial object and not notice is unrealistic.

Substantial because it would have had to have be several inches high to cause that damage on the sidewall.

Without a physical examination of the tyre I’m pretty confident that it’s old, probably kerb, damage that has finally given way.

Your tyres sidewalls are put under enormous stress and often heat from under inflation or heavy loads. As I’ve said before on here elsewhere, as tyres rotate the sidewalls flex from relaxed to bulging, hundreds of times a minute. The heat generated has catastrophic effect on the carcass and if there is a weakness it’ll eventually show up.
 
maybe - I never proclaimed to be a tyre expert and just quoted the RAC.
Point is, I’d rather have the stronger commercial tyres than risk anything else of the same size.

Good point, well put.:thumbsup:

I was responding to the point about running over something.

I used to be a fatal accident investigator in another life so am always interested in stuff like this. After a collision, drivers often saw their ruined shredded tyres and instantly saw that as the object of blame when in my humble experience the tyre was often damaged as a result of the impact

FWIW I have commercial tyres on my van
:thumbsup:
 
I understood his comment as meaning that the stiffer sidewall on the commercial tyre gave some degree of control to bring it to a stop.
When that tyre totally deflated in a split second, which the damage indicates, a stiffer sidewall of a commercial tyre would make not one jot of difference in terms of control bringing it to a stop, IMHO.
 
thats a cut for sure, I would check the others in case they caught something, its on the inside so i dont think its deliberately/malicious but if more are damaged it could be,
commercial tyres dont tend to help you maintain control usually when deflated as they dont have any additonal apex stiffening or reinforced sidewalls to carry load, but they do tend to have more sidewall and tread construction plies which reduce flex and in tern reduce tyre heating which is on of the main causes of tread pack delamination which is whats commonly referred to as a "blow out" its when the interlayer of rubber overheats and the bonding breaks down allowing the heavier tread section of the tyre to separate from the carcass,

either way you did well to maintain a sensible approach and avoid what could have been a nasty event

I do have an issue with people fitting non load rated tyres, non load rated wheels to T6 and I've even seen multiple vans fitted with car tyre bolts instead of the correct 2 part van bolts which is shocking its mostly campers done on a budget but some of the less established conversions seem to be rife at this
 
The commercial tyre debate is an interesting one. If I was regularly running heavily laden I would use commercial tyres but I rarely carry more than 100KG in the back.
A 2021 Range Rover when unladen is heavier at 2.4 tonnes than my T6 in normal use and has a gross vehicle weight of up to 3.2 tonnes and I've yet to see one with commercial tyres fitted from the factory.

 
Anyway to put some perspective around it - the tyre did deflate rapidly however I didn’t brake much if at all and rolled gently to to hard shoulder - almost a non event or great driver skill .
Kwik Fit were the cheapest unbelievably by quite a way with an online discount code so had both rears replaced for Conti Contact 200 ‘C’ van tyres

HOWEVER - went back and they had fitted Conti 100 doh! - not sure the difference but they will sort it out.

Didn’t mean to explode a tyre debate but I’m sure VW don’t fit commercial tyres for the hell of it. I’ve checked my bank balance and their R&D budget is slightly more than mine so I will follow their guidance!

And with a 5 year old on board there is no debate!
 
How many miles have the tyres been on for and how much tread do they have left?
 
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