Consequences of Old Tires

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I worked for 25 years at the plant that was built by Dr. Oliver Burke in 1957, Pompano Beach Florida. He made his fortune in WWII because he came up with the compound that kept tires from dry rotting on the shelf after 6 months, saving the military tons of money, and hence the tires we drive on today.

His main invention was water based liquid rubber, among our many customers was the company that makes Fix A Flat, our product was the rubber that sealed the leak.

But! That didn't stop the explosion of my outdated spare tire that occurred in the trunk of the '53....which is what I found the day after I put air in it. Question: If a tire explodes in your trunk when you are not driving, did it make a sound?
 
"Question: If a tire explodes in your trunk when you are not driving, did it make a sound?"
No need to make a sound if no ones around
 
Bummer on the blown tire. Coulda been used to make noise and smoke while it still could hold air. Figure no sound. [ddd
 
Good stories lazarat. [cl


I worked 18(?) years for a tank trailer manufacturer. For legal and warranty reasons, we had to record the serial number and date code for every tire...

A common petroleum B-train needs 20 tires/wheels. The required info is embossed on one side only ... so, before the wheel is installed you have to flip and roll the heavy buggers to find and record the tire numbers, which is not a job for a 100 lb weakling!


I've never had a serious tire failure on the road, but I had one burst at home on my lift. I don't recall why the vehicle was on the lift... anyhow, before I let it down, I checked all the tires and added some pressure to the passenger front... just as I made my way to the driver front, the passenger front burst...

It sounded just like a shotgun fired too close to the ear. (That's a different story.) A piece of the tire struck my arm, knocked the hose out of my hand and created a small poo in my trousers. I immediately looked at my nearby son... eyes wide, jaw hanging agape, clearly suffering a laundry issue of his own. :eek:

I shudder to think what the results would be if I were still face to face with the tire when it let go... I'm also thankful my son was occupied with a different task because more often than not, it would be his job to check tires.

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