What makes tires blow out

Since most cars are inflated to around 45 pounds per square inch, it doesn't take long for tires to become dangerously low on air. Fortunately, newer cars have a tire pressure monitoring system. This is a warning light that flashes on the dash if your tires are low on air. For owners of older used cars, you have to remember to check tire pressure regularly because this system is not in place. Here at our Chevrolet Harrisonburg dealership, our service department is constantly preaching tire maintenance.

Your tires are all that connect your 3, pound speeding metal and glass bullet to the pavement! No matter what action you take, steering, swerving, braking, or accelerating, it's your tires that translate action into a motion. Modern cars have a ton of safety equipment that are designed to keep you from having an accident. Think anti-lock brakes, lane departure correction systems that steer a drifting car back into the correct lane, and stability control.

If you experience a blowout, the following steps from Defensivedriving. Don't step on the brake. This will cause your wheels to lock up and will lead to a total loss of control. Accelerate slightly and steer as straight as possible. Begin to slow down by gently removing your foot from the accelerator. Turn on your emergency lights. Steer towards the right-hand lane and pull over when it's safe.

Change the tire If you know how to and have room to do so safely. Call a towing company if you have any doubts. When you drive with quality coverage, you drive with peace of mind. Allstate auto insurance can help you stay protected for wherever the road takes you. Immediately after a tire blowout, Firestone Complete Auto Care suggest doing your best to not panic. It may seem counterintuitive, but try to resist the urge to step on the brakes or overcorrect the steering wheel. According to Tire Rack , many blowouts are caused by underinflated tires.

When the air pressure in a tire is too low, the tire may flex beyond its limits, overheats and cause the rubber to lose its bond to the tire's internal fabric and steel cord reinforcement. Without proper air pressure, the internal components of the tire—fabric, steel, rubber, and composites—flex beyond their designed limits.

What happens is much like bending a length of wire: Manipulate the metal long and far enough and it will overheat and snap. Try it with an old-style wire clothes hanger. Warning: The failure point will be skin-burning hot.

Without proper air pressure, the tire's internal pieces will overflex, weaken, and, eventually, fail. Proper pressure for tires on recently produced cars can be found on the driver's side door jamb.

It's true that the Tire Pressure Monitoring System TPMS has been mandatory on all cars, pickups, and sport-utility vehicles since , but that system does not issue an alert until a tire is significantly underinflated. A responsible driver still has to check tire pressure by hand or have someone such as a tire dealer do it for him. If you drive any distance with a radically underinflated tire, have a professional demount the tire from the wheel and inspect its inside for any damage the low pressure might have caused.

The definition of "radically underinflated" for your tire and vehicle combination can be found on your tiremaker's website: If the pressure drops much below 20 psi, the extra-cautious will want to have their tire inspected by a pro. Overloading a vehicle can also fatally damage a tire. If one or more tires collides with an object with enough force, it can damage the internal components of the tire.

The tire can blow immediately, or the damage will take its toll over the next few weeks or months. You also need to be on the lookout for irregular wear on your tires.

Vehicle misalignment or worn suspension components can cause a tire to wear unevenly across its surface. The tire is then particularly weak in certain areas and more susceptible to failure. Another possible cause of a tire blowout is a defect. In some cases, a tire has a manufacturing or maintenance defect that causes it to fail. If one of your tires fails, you will hear it and feel it. Your vehicle may suddenly start to slow down and pull significantly to one side.

Most tire blowouts cause a loud noise—a bang!