My Dad Just Saved My Family's Life

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Crispy

Crispy

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crispychicken49
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crispychicken49
So today, we decided to head up to North Texas Kartway. Long drive from here, but lots of places where the speed limit is 70 or 80.

So we were heading down the freeway at about 70 or 75 MPH (Thank God not faster). We start to hear a thumping sound much like the sound of gravel on the road, so my dad changes lanes thinking it is just that. Suddenly, a gunshot sound comes from underneath my seat, and the car starts fishtailing wildly. Going at this speed makes your pants turn brown. Despite the fishtailing (If anyone remembers the Impressive Driving thread not to long ago where the guy in the Audi was driving fast and then started fishtailing and controlled it, that's exactly how it was.) my dad still managed to settle the car, and put it to a stop on the side of the road.

Upon inspection of the tire, it looks like the inner sidewall completely shredded, splitting itself from the main tire down the road. (Pics should be up tomorrow) This was most likely because of the cambered wheels on the car. (Much more than a standard 330I) We were very lucky that my dad was behind the wheel, otherwise we would've spun out into oncoming traffic, flipped, or hit the guardrail. So even after about 9 hours, I'm still quite shaken. It's a much different fishtailing in a go-kart on a track than a car in a busy highway. I'm glad my dad was driving, otherwise I would probably not be posting ever again.
 
Well done your dad. Glad to hear you are all safe.

I've had a tyre fail while I've been in a car and I know it can be a scary experience.
 
It is good that you are all safe. 👍 to your dad, must have been a frightful experience. Something similar happened to my dad, but thankfully he wasn't going fast nor was the blowup catastrophic. It was, however, a learning experience that even if the car does not have that much camber the wear shown on the outside of the tire is very little when compared to the inner portion.
 
The main thing is that you're safe. Your Dad has some great driving skill though.
 
Your dad has oni camber on his beemer? :lol: Just kidding-- so glad all of you are OK!

I was with my dad once on the highway behind an old crx or tercel or something (in the fast lane of course :rolleyes: ) with some el cheapo used tires. All of a sudden all of this debris and crap came flying into our windshield. I was like WTF IS THIS until I recognized that among the debris were some ribbons and cords. The dude's tire just totally disintegrated. It kind of jerked forward and to the side because I guess he put the brakes on, but thankfully only for a split second as he or she was able to ascertain that that wasn't such a good idea. They rolled off the road to the left shoulder and we hauled ass before another tire exploded.
 
Glad you are all safe! My friend's tyre has done the same thing. Got to college (I'm in my own car) and I noted that the left rear seemed low. When we looked at the inside sidewall of the tyre, it was shredded all round. Because of the lower speed and the fact they were low profiles anyway he didn't seem to notice...

Can't imagine if it had happened at the speeds you were going though, scary stuff!
 
Congrats on the driving skills Crispy senior. I'm sure that was a very traumatic experience for all involved. Glad to hear you are all okay. I have a feeling you won't forget father's day again. ;)
 
Nice save that man! :D

My dad once saved me from a different sort of tyre related peril. We used to go grass track and banger racing a lot when I was a kid and once a wheel came off one of the cars, bounced over the tyre wall and straight at me. He made a movie-style lunge at me and threw me to the ground and the tyre went over both of us and hit a parked car. We never told mum. ;)
 
Amazing recovery from your father! Glad you guys are safe 👍

My Dad surprisingly never does things like that when I think about it..
 
Does your dad have any racing experience? That was an amazing save! 👍👍👍👍

Glad to hear that you guys are safe :D Having a tyre fail at 30km/h is scary enough for me, I can only imagine what it would be like when going at almost 120 :nervous:
 
I guess I really don't want to know what'd happen if a tyre fails on my road bike at 50 mph then...
 
Your dad should have pulled over to the side of the road the moment you hear the thumping. It's a characteristic sign that the tire has failed.

Good control though. Next time, just pull over, it's much MUCH safer.
 
Good job to your dad 👍

Me and my dad were once driving back from the British Grand Prix at Silverstone behind a blue Peugeot 206, when suddenly, its right rear just exploded, and it flipped a couple of times down the fast lane. Thankfully the couple in the car were fine but shaken, and dad was able to slam the brakes on so that we didn't hit them, otherwise it could have ended terribly :nrevous:
 
axletramp
Nice save that man! :D

My dad once saved me from a different sort of tyre related peril. We used to go grass track and banger racing a lot when I was a kid and once a wheel came off one of the cars, bounced over the tyre wall and straight at me. He made a movie-style lunge at me and threw me to the ground and the tyre went over both of us and hit a parked car. We never told mum. ;)
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Reminds me of being stood behind some hay bales at Goodwood when Mike Gascoyne was trying to do a burnout in the Jordan, and promptly stuck it in a tree/hay bale. Mother dearest pulled me back quite quickly from that hay bale!
 
Fitting the new tire on it today, couldn't take a pic of the shredded one though, so here's a pic of the car with it's doughnut on. A lot smaller than the rest of the tires. (Crazy to see those guys with the four doughnut tires going 80 on US 75)



A few weeks ago my parents were expressing interest in getting rid of this car, but I talked them down thankfully! :sly: Now it seems it's trying to kill itself, or us. (The cars nickname is Christine, it used to lock us in the car.)

Raikkonen1337
to op, what kinda layout was it? FF, FR, awd? or car was it? suv?
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FR. BMW 330I ZHP.
 
I had a blowout like that when i was 17 in my e30 on the highway i spun a couple of times and ended up in a ditch but luckily nothing happened to me or the car, goes to show you how easy it is to go from calm to holy ****, glad everyone your family is ok
 
Something similar happened to my girlfriend's father yesterday. He was driving in the rain (it doens't rain very often in Southern California, but when it does, it comes down torrentially) on the freeway and hit a puddle. The car spun into the center guardrail and did a 180 - continuing backwards he went at a 45 degree angle back into traffic and then off the side of the freeway. The car ended up down a 15ft ditch and was caught by a barbed-wire fence.

He's 100% healthy - just a bit sore.
 
eSZee
How old are the tires?
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Probably just inner or outer sidewall wear, which isn't terribly uncommon for sports cars/sedans, especially if non-factory camber changes have been made. Ignore it enough, and these things happen...to be fair, it's hard to see inner sidewall wear unless you get under your car a lot, or park with your steering wheel unstraightened.

I was alongside a Sentra a few months ago that was wobbling down the road, and the moment I was alongside of it...BLAMO!...I thought someone shot at my car, and it wasn't until I saw the other car pull over that I realized what exactly happened.
 
Glad your dad was able to rescue the situation. My dad had a snaking issue towing the caravan, he managed to re-gain control though.

Bram Turismo
I guess I really don't want to know what'd happen if a tyre fails on my road bike at 50 mph then...
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I've had a mate who blow a bicycle tyre and spent 3 days in a coma :crazy:
 

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