PDA

View Full Version : Front Blow out= All New Tires



Blackened300a
01-18-2006, 05:53 AM
Sunday Afternoon, While heading to lunch with 2 of my friends, I heard a metallic sound from the front end. I didnt think much of it til I had to hold the steering wheel far right just to keep the car straight!
My friend said Oh it cant be a flat tire, I dont hear any noise, I quickly responded, Well then my Left suspension just fell out of the car cause I cant keep it straight.
I pulled over on the shoulder of the Meadowbrook pkwy and sure enough, Flat Drivers side front tire. Had a cut along the sidewall and the fact that I drove a mile on it looking for a place to pull over, didnt fare well for the tire.
Good thing I had help, we managed to change the tire in less then 10 minutes in the freezing cold. It didnt help much that a D$%KHead Snow plow driver decided to come a little close while we were working and spray some snow our way:mad2:
I decided that it would be stupid to have a brand new tire with 3 old tires on the car, So I had no choice but to order a entire new set of BFG KDWS.
They are being installed today :burnout:

MMM2003
01-18-2006, 06:18 AM
Sunday Afternoon, .............It didnt help much that a D$%KHead Snow plow driver decided to come a little close while we were working and spray some snow our way:mad2:
I decided that it would be stupid to have a brand new tire with 3 old tires on the car, So I had no choice but to order a entire new set of BFG KDWS.
They are being installed today :burnout:

It sounds like you are driving the KDWS in the snow? Wow. That's brave. I did that the first winter and learned my lesson the hard way.

Glad you are OK and managed to handle your car in that situation.

Peter

Rider90
01-18-2006, 06:23 AM
It sounds like you are driving the KDWS in the snow? Wow. That's brave. I did that the first winter and learned my lesson the hard way.

Glad you are OK and managed to handle your car in that situation.

Peter
What he said ^^^^^ Although I have never gotten into an accident, I knew I couldn't gamble in the snow with KDWS much longer. Now go burn off the old ones first and take a video :cool:

Go Mifuni
01-18-2006, 08:36 AM
Was it the inner or outer sidewall that went?
The reason I ask is about three days before I put on my snows, I lost my driver's side front. The inner sidewall was shredded where it meets the tread. When I changed to my snows, I noticed the passenger front was worn in the same area. I'll try to get some pics tomorrow. It's great when you reach around to pull off the wheel and you grab two handfulls of shredded steel belt!:eek: It looked like something was scraping the whole corner edge off! Everything looked fine in the fender well. Nothing rubbing anywhere. I've been keeping a close eye on them and my snows are wearing fine. I wonder if my alignment may be out and it affects the 50s more than the 70s because there wider? Anyway, I'll be getting the front end checked before I put the new BFGs on just in case. Has anyone elso noticed similar wear on the inside sidewall?

merc6
01-18-2006, 08:44 AM
yeah I got snows but they didn't get here in time and 1st snow I had the car sideways w/o acceleration up a hill. sorry for your loss on rim/tire & suspention and snow plow incident!

the_pack_rat
01-18-2006, 09:55 AM
The LF tire on my Town Car suddenly went flat the other day ..... & oddly enough there was no noise as well. Turned a corner & went to straighten out & it was a fight all of a sudden & I felt the car leaning. Fortunately I had just turned into a residential area ... so I was able to pull of to the side of a quiet street, & not worry about getting run down at 80 mph.

I need to check the tire changing hardware in the MM ... cause if the MM stuff is anything like the Town Car stuff ... it SUCKS. Seems as tho, it took me FOREVER to lift the car up(akward to crank up the jack). Oddly enough tho ... when I got back in the car - sat back in drivers the seat - pulled away & proceeded to piss - moan & groan how much the jack setup sucks ass & how it slowed me down .....

My wife was like "huh ?!?!?!?! ..... you were only out there for 9 minutes".

SergntMac
01-18-2006, 01:54 PM
The inner sidewall was shredded where it meets the tread. When I changed to my snows, I noticed the passenger front was worn in the same area. I'll try to get some pics tomorrow. It's great when you reach around to pull off the wheel and you grab two handfulls of shredded steel belt! It looked like something was scraping the whole corner edge off! Everything looked fine in the fender well. Nothing rubbing anywhere. It's called bad alignment. Too much of this... /...\ Great for handling, death sentence for the tires.

merc6
01-18-2006, 02:14 PM
The LF tire on my Town Car suddenly went flat the other day ..... & oddly enough there was no noise as well. Turned a corner & went to straighten out & it was a fight all of a sudden & I felt the car leaning. Fortunately I had just turned into a residential area ... so I was able to pull of to the side of a quiet street, & not worry about getting run down at 80 mph.

I need to check the tire changing hardware in the MM ... cause if the MM stuff is anything like the Town Car stuff ... it SUCKS. Seems as tho, it took me FOREVER to lift the car up(akward to crank up the jack). Oddly enough tho ... when I got back in the car - sat back in drivers the seat - pulled away & proceeded to piss - moan & groan how much the jack setup sucks ass & how it slowed me down .....

My wife was like "huh ?!?!?!?! ..... you were only out there for 9 minutes".I beleve the jack says crownvic/towncar on it or in instructions. I hated that too cause I have a hydro jack but I don't carry that big thing with me everywhere I go.

Go Mifuni
01-18-2006, 02:48 PM
It's called bad alignment. Too much of this... /...\ Great for handling, death sentence for the tires.
Yeah. Thats what I was thinking. I've never seen tires wear like this though. They were'nt just worn down on the edge, they actually looked like someone scratched them up with 50 grit sand paper. I'll try to get some pics.

Petrograde
01-18-2006, 03:01 PM
Damn dude,.. I'm glad you kept her straight and didn't bang her into anything! :drive:


Yeah. Thats what I was thinking. I've never seen tires wear like this though. They were'nt just worn down on the edge, they actually looked like someone scratched them up with 50 grit sand paper. I'll try to get some pics.

Yup,.. here's what the inside of one of my front tires before I had it aligned.

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/showcase/files/1/1/1/1/tirewear-driverfront.jpg

sorry,... I guess this might be a slight derailment of the thread. :Offtopic: :hijack: :toss:

Go Mifuni
01-18-2006, 03:15 PM
Damn dude,.. I'm glad you kept her straight and didn't bang her into anything! :drive:



Yup,.. here's what the inside of one of my front tires before I had it aligned.

http://www.mercurymarauder.net/showcase/files/1/1/1/1/tirewear-driverfront.jpg

sorry,... I guess this might be a slight derailment of the thread. :Offtopic: :hijack: :toss:
Wait for my pics tomorrow. You're gonna scream! :eek:

ctrcbob
01-18-2006, 04:53 PM
Surprised that nobody mentioned the following yet.

You have an 03 300A which has a full size spare in the correct front size.
From what I have read on this group, the later 300B and all 04's have the small "Donut" spare, which does not fit on the front of the MM.

(Correct me if my understanding is wrong).

2003DOHC
01-18-2006, 05:56 PM
Surprised that nobody mentioned the following yet.

You have an 03 300A which has a full size spare in the correct front size.
From what I have read on this group, the later 300B and all 04's have the small "Donut" spare, which does not fit on the front of the MM.

(Correct me if my understanding is wrong).

From what I understand the donut spare may not clear larger aftermarket brakes!

Blackened300a
01-19-2006, 02:54 PM
Well Im not sure what the metallic Sound was that flattened the tire but I do know that it was definitly road debris. The suspension is in tact and nothing came apart. I needed brand new tires anyway, The rears were pretty much shot and the front had the inner wear like was shown in he pic, so it was the Flat that gave me the Kick in the Azz to finally get it done.
It was light snow on the ground so it wasnt too bad, I drove home from CT on 95 during a snow storm one time that was Very scary.

Just a side note:
You would think getting 4 tires mounted and balanced wouldnt be such a big deal right?? Well my local tire shop who shall remain nameless must employ blind people to mount their tires. I brought the car in with the full size spare on the car and I handed them my polished Rim with the flat tire and told them I want 4 New tires all around and the spare is on the drivers side front, Please put that in the trunk.
Well I dropped the car off in the morning at 7. They are located around the corner from my shop so I left them the car and told them Ill be back at 5 to pick it up.
I return at 5 to see my Spare rim still on the car With a BRAND NEW TIRE on it! :mad2:
I open the trunk and I see my polished rim with the old tire off the spare mounted on it.
Something so easy is now becoming a issue.
I went inside, explained what my situation was and they thought I was joking, They actually thought I was making this up to break their :censor:
I showed the manager and told them I want this Corrected NOW. However long it takes.
15 minutes later I was on my way. :shake:

SergntMac
01-19-2006, 03:11 PM
From what I understand the donut spare may not clear larger aftermarket brakes! No "may not" about it, dude. It don't fit.

I have a 300A with a Baer big brake upgrade, and a 300B with a mini-spare (cops can't say donut, makes us jerk around pathetically when jonesin'), and it's true. I also heard this from John F. Russo here, who owns a 300B with the Baer big brakes on the front, and got a a flat on the front. Ditto spare no fit.

If you own a '03 300B, or, a '04 MM and add big brakes, better shop e-bay for a full size spare.

Thanks for the pics, Tom. That's zackly what I'm talking about.

Blackened...You may have hit a road hazzard, but belts busting apart will sound that way too. May even look like a road hazzard. What ever, enjoy your new boots.

RR|Suki
01-19-2006, 03:39 PM
It sounds like you are driving the KDWS in the snow? Wow. That's brave. I did that the first winter and learned my lesson the hard way.

Glad you are OK and managed to handle your car in that situation.

Peter

I have been using my KDWS all winter so far... and I'm running a 5.1L motor and 12psi boost... they work plenty good for me, just gotta know what your rear end likes and doesn't like IMHO... sorry for the hijack

Go Mifuni
01-20-2006, 05:30 AM
Ok, Those who are squeemish may not want to look...:eek:
The first three pics are of my passenger side. The last "was" my driver's side. When it went, at first I felt a strong pulling to the left which lasted about 8 seconds then noise and lots of smoke. It didn't help that I was doing about 85 in the hammer lane.:rolleyes:
The tread wear is perfectly even across the tire with the exception of the inside corner.
8460

8461

8462

8463

SergntMac
01-20-2006, 06:09 AM
The thing to remember is that this area you see ^ here, is subject to fast wear. You could inspect your tires on Monday and they'll look as okay as the pics Blackened 300A posted, and by Friday, look like the pics Go Mifuni posted. After a point, wear/blow out is a snap of the fingers, or, should I say belts.

sweetair
01-20-2006, 08:51 PM
While we are talking about front ends and some "anomalies " that are happening...Just last week my front end started making some noise. There is a rattle now where there NEVER was before. When I am driving in my nieghborhood approx. 15-20 mph and slightly turn the wheel back and forth, when I turn left there is a squeak, and when I turn right there is a sound like a spring being compressed, which I am sure is really happening while I am doing this, but why the noise now?? Has any one else experienced this? I feel that I did read where MM owners were having front end noise. Is there a reason for the sudden "noise" and if so what might it take to fix it? This is truly driving me nuts. On a different and more related note to this thread, I too am in the market for new sneakers for her, and am leaning towards the Nitto 555 extreme perf. tire and upping the size as well. Any input here would be appreciated......:help:

Big Boy Toy
01-23-2006, 06:39 PM
Had the same wear problem on the fronts took it to Belle Tire and for $706.00 got a brand new set of BFG's installed with road force allignment with carfixers specs. Now the midnight marauder rides better than ever before. Funny thing is the allignment tech said why would you want those specs? He also added that these specs will make the car act squirlly upstairs. Little did he know this was the answer. Thanks carfixer because the tech guy did not have a clue.

Go Mifuni
01-24-2006, 05:13 AM
Had the same wear problem on the fronts took it to Belle Tire and for $706.00 got a brand new set of BFG's installed with road force allignment with carfixers specs. Now the midnight marauder rides better than ever before. Funny thing is the allignment tech said why would you want those specs? He also added that these specs will make the car act squirlly upstairs. Little did he know this was the answer. Thanks carfixer because the tech guy did not have a clue.
Could you or carfixer PM me those specs? What's the difference between his specs and what the factory recommends?

Badger
01-25-2006, 09:48 AM
Badger's curious too. Bump!

JACook
01-25-2006, 07:05 PM
When I am driving in my nieghborhood approx. 15-20 mph and slightly turn the wheel back and forth, when I turn left there is a squeak, and when I turn right there is a sound like a spring being compressed...
Sounds a lot like an outer tie rod end has dried out. Common problem on Tauruses and Windstars.

As for the rattle, this is a complete stab in the dark, but I just fixed a rattle in the left front that was the parking
brake cable laying against the fender apron. Look back near the firewall where the cable comes out just below
the big wiring harness plug. Simple tie-wrap fix for something that had been bugging me for awhile...

sweetair
01-25-2006, 08:59 PM
Sounds a lot like an outer tie rod end has dried out. Common problem on Tauruses and Windstars.

As for the rattle, this is a complete stab in the dark, but I just fixed a rattle in the left front that was the parking
brake cable laying against the fender apron. Look back near the firewall where the cable comes out just below
the big wiring harness plug. Simple tie-wrap fix for something that had been bugging me for awhile...I was talking with Tallboy a,d he mentioned that the hood dampeners might need to be adjusted. I tried that and so far so good. Thanks for the input..:)

Go Mifuni
01-26-2006, 05:20 AM
Could you or carfixer PM me those specs? What's the difference between his specs and what the factory recommends?
:bump: :bump: :bump:

Big Boy Toy
01-30-2006, 08:33 AM
Do a simple search under allignment specs and it will appear. Sorry I dont have direct link.

Big Boy Toy
01-30-2006, 08:53 AM
The factory specs are set up more for cornering performance where Carfixers still allow for awesome cornering they are basically more tire friendly. After I had the specs installed I felt the difference immediately. Felt like I was driving with minimal effort.