Well...137 miles and tire exploded.

[WilliamG]

This is a new one. Waiting on a tow between Seattle and Bellevue on Interstate 90. My P3D rear passenger tire went pop. And I mean POP. Car bucked and now I find myself on the side of the road.

First time I’ve ever had a blowout. Couldn’t really spend much time out of the car for safety reasons. But here we are... Don’t know if it’s a defect or if I ran something over.

137 miles on the car. Sigh.

 

[mtapes]

Bummer. Good luck.

 

[MasterC17]

Sorry to hear of the troubles so soon! It definitely appears that something punctured the tire. Michelin's quality control standards are quite high. I would be curious to see what you find.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Get 18 inch on 19 inch wheels. This is common with low profile 20 inch wheels. On my third Model S and have abandoned the 21 wheels for 19 inch wheels. No issues since prior it was a bi annual event.

 

[rickdogg82]

Wheel size doesn't matter if you run over something that punctures the tire.

 

[SMAlset]

Glad you are okay. Blowouts can be frightening and end up badly. A co-worker years ago had one and her car veered off to the side curb on I-94 in Chicago (very busy section) and it flipped the car. Probably harder to do in a Tesla but still could have loss of control. Did you have to fight to keep the car in control? Notice you had TeslaCam active, did you think to save the video from when it happened?

 

[WilliamG]

Glad you are okay. Blowouts can be frightening and end up badly. A co-worker years ago had one and her car veered off to the side curb on I-94 in Chicago (very busy section) and it flipped the car. Probably harder to do in a Tesla but still could have loss of control. Did you have to fight to keep the car in control? Notice you had TeslaCam active, did you think to save the video from when it happened?

I did save video (will look when I get home). Car was definitely squirrelly. Also just noticed this. Jeez.

 

[VQTRVA]

I did save video (will look when I get home). Car was definitely squirrelly. Also just noticed this. Jeez.

Is that where the stem was??

If so looks like failure @ that point IMO.
Something ripped off the stem?

 

[Daniel in SD]

Is that where the stem was??

If so looks like failure @ that point IMO.
Something ripped off the stem?

There's also a hole in the tire. Obviously OP hit something or was shot.

 

[timk225]

Those 20 inch wheels seem to have problems. Tesla needs to redesign them.

 

[SD_Engnr]

I did save video (will look when I get home). Car was definitely squirrelly. Also just noticed this. Jeez.

Whoa! You hit something quite hard!

Is that where the stem was??

If so looks like failure @ that point IMO.
Something ripped off the stem?

Nope. The valve stem is visible in the first picture.

 

[SomeJoe7777]

Very clearly you ran over something. Looks like a long object, approximately 4-6" long, maybe 1/2" in diameter. Perhaps a piece of rebar from the concrete.

The rebar (or similar object) looks like it punctured the tire, went all the way through and then punctured the wheel from the inside. Take a look at the edges of the hole in the wheel, they're beveled from a smaller diameter hole on the interior surface of the wheel (the part where air is under pressure) to a larger diameter hole on the exterior surface of the wheel (the outside surface next to the hub/brake). This beveling is consistent with a fracture force from the interior of the wheel to the exterior.

Also, look at the tire tread near the hole, there is a sculpted section where an part of the tread block has been removed, consistent with an impact that sheared the rubber before penetrating.

 

[WilliamG]

Very clearly you ran over something. Looks like a long object, approximately 4-6" long, maybe 1/2" in diameter. Perhaps a piece of rebar from the concrete.

The rebar (or similar object) looks like it punctured the tire, went all the way through and then punctured the wheel from the inside. Take a look at the edges of the hole in the wheel, they're beveled from a smaller diameter hole on the interior surface of the wheel (the part where air is under pressure) to a larger diameter hole on the exterior surface of the wheel (the outside surface next to the hub/brake). This beveling is consistent with a fracture force from the interior of the wheel to the exterior.

Also, look at the tire tread near the hole, there is a sculpted section where an part of the tread block has been removed, consistent with an impact that sheared the rubber before penetrating.

Thank you for the information. Can you explain the bumper damage?

 

[Oldschool496]

137 miles on the car. Sigh.

Thats a first hole completely through the tire then the rim I have ever seen. I feel for you at 137. Get a new rim and tire and get back on the road. Its a blip and you gotta move along.

 

[Daniel in SD]

Thank you for the information. Can you explain the bumper damage?

Debris went into tire and was launched at the bumper.

 

[SomeJoe7777]

Thank you for the information. Can you explain the bumper damage?

I am guessing that the object was sticking up from the concrete, but the other end was embedded in the concrete, thus held firmly on that end. As the tire completed its rotation over the object after getting punctured, the object broke off of the concrete, and you were left with a piece of the object sticking out of the of the wheel/tire. As the tire continued rotating, the object then hit the bumper, then centrifugal force dislodged it from the wheel/tire.

You can see that the bumper scratches are in the direction of the tire rotation (swept upwards), and slightly swept backwards indicating that centrifugal force was causing the object to move outward from the wheel/tire.

Looking at the scratches, they are exactly spaced as if a threaded rod made the scratches. I believe this may point to the actual object being a large bolt.

 

[Daniel in SD]

Looking at the scratches, they are exactly spaced as if a threaded rod made the scratches. I believe this may point to the actual object being a large bolt.

I'm expecting the next post to name the culprit
I wish I had noticed that.

 

[remlemasi]

I would go to the scene of the blowout (if you can even call it that!) and see if there is any evidence of rebar or something similar sticking out of the road surface. Might be able to get the city for pay for this.

 

[WilliamG]

I got the videos, but the quality is so crappy. The issue happens right before I slow down and pull across into the lane to the left of the carpool lane. I didn't realize the cameras are so crap. You can see the car shimmy a little after it happens.

Dropbox - 2019-05-09_07-53-front.mp4 - Simplify your life
Dropbox - 2019-05-09_07-53-right_repeater.mp4 - Simplify your life

 

[SD_Engnr]

I got the videos, but the quality is so crappy. The issue happens right before I slow down and pull across into the lane to the left of the carpool lane. I didn't realize the cameras are so crap. You can see the car shimmy a little after it happens.

Dropbox - 2019-05-09_07-53-front.mp4 - Simplify your life
Dropbox - 2019-05-09_07-53-front.mp4 - Simplify your life

I didn't see anything obvious. How about the right or left repeater cams?