How to handle a blow out

This is one of those sites that many of you may have seen already ... but if you have not seen it or if it has been awhile since you last watched it is worth a few minutes to review.  I have had an RV for 8 years and I did not know about the proper way to handle a blow out. Check out this Michelin video.

Rollie

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You are right this is a excellent video and should be required viewing for anybody that has any concern for their and others safety.  I have posted that link here on several occasions and will probably post it again in the future.  Thanks for posting it may just help somebody avoid a bad experience.

Thanks Rollie. Yes, we've discussed it here previously, but it's always good to remind folks and to educate those who haven't seen it.

I think of all the blowouts I've had in nearly 40 years of driving older cars and .......

I learned something watching that video

Thanks for the link

(Note, I've never lost control due to a blowout)

Side note:  The Ford Explorer Rollover Problem which Ford Blamed on Firestone

Here is how I think it happens:

Note, Ford builds short and narrow as compared to GM (even an inch can make a big difference in a potential rollover, I drive mostly GM (though I've blown tires on fords, including one by the "pot hole" method good tire, better pot hole)

First our intreped dead person goes out and buys a new ride, they need and SUV like they need an extra hole in the head but it's the YUPPIE thing to do and thus they got to keep up with the Jones. so an Explorer it is,

Now the explorer is TRUCK,admittely a light truck but still a truck, by design it rides like a truck, but Ford, in order to make it ride a bit more like a car recommended running the tires about five lbs low of what a tire manafacturer would for the same tire.

Now, at the last oil change the tecnician missed a step (Check tire pressure) and the owner,knowing his rid has brand new tires, thinks "I don't need to check no stinking tire pressue, new tires don't leak" (That is if he/she even knowns how to check them. I check the pressure in my MH tires constantly.. Pressure Pro system)

So he's not running five lbs low... He's running five lbs PERIOD

Now he's going down the road, 80 in a 55 (Remember he is a truck, not a car, so he should be doing 55 not 70 and even if he was a car 80 is still over the limit) and he encounters a (Voice of doom on) P O T  H O L E (voice of doom off) with no pressure in the tire the rim cuts straight through the side wall and we have a situtation not unlike that video when the detenation cord is detenated. BLOW OUT.

Now what does our soon-to be dead idiot do?  Well as the video said #1 on the things not to do list is stand on the brakes.  You guessd it, he stands on the brakes

What's #2 on that same list..... Roll over and die

And then the family sues Ford cause their loved one did everything possible wrong

And then the family sues Ford cause their loved one did everything possible wrong

Click to expand...

And would Ford blames the tire manufacturer even though Ford had reduced the recommended tire pressure 5 lbs below what the tire manufacturer recommended? ??? ??? ???

I don't think the tires really got much lower maybe just another 5lbs.  However, did you notice most of the explorer rollovers occurred in the southern states where is is a lot warmer all year round?  I think the reduced tire pressure and heat caused the tires to blow.

I checked my tires frequently even before Pressure Pro. Both prior to departure and with a temp reading when stopped at a rest area in route.

Ron said:

And would Ford blames the tire manufacturer even though Ford had reduced the recommended tire pressure 5 lbs below what the tire manufacturer recommended? ??? ??? ???

I don't think the tires really got much lower maybe just another 5lbs.  However, did you notice most of the explorer rollovers occurred in the southern states where is is a lot warmer all year round?  I think the reduced tire pressure and heat caused the tires to blow.

I checked my tires frequently even before Pressure Pro. Both prior to departure and with a temp reading when stopped at a rest area in route.

Click to expand...

Well..... I did not so much notice the rollovers in southern states as I did in Southern Michigan,,,,Espically S.E. Michigan... When I was on duty and dispatching.

We had a few where there was little question what part in the vehicle was deffective (Loose nut BEHIND the steering wheel) but of course the families always want to blame someone other than their dear,departed,moronic,loved one

Of course in this day and age they would rather sue than to take credit for their own stupidity.

The reason I really liked this is that the lesson is counterintuitive.  I would not have stepped on the brakes but I would not have stepped on the gas.  But the reasoning is sound and now I know ... this may keep me out of a lot of trouble.
Rollie

As I said Rollie.... I've been driving for 40 years, I've blown every tire on the car (not all at once) at one time or another, and trailer tires as well... And I learned somethign watching that video

That's what I learned

(Thankfully... I've never lost control due to a flat... Though I can tell you one case of debris in the road came close)

The Michelin/RVIA video that Rollie linked to can now be watched through the wonders of the RV Forum:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkwOE1yKY5c