A few words on big trucks...

[DiverRay]

Back to the tires. Some of the tires that come apart are NEW tires! If there is a problem when built, it will throw the tread, and some of the steel cords to go with it. I've had 10 years behind the wheel of a truck, from owner-operator to union driver. And yes, the car drivers are usually the problem on the road.
If you DO have to ride near a truck, in traffic, try to ride by the cab door, or just in FRONT of the rear tires, and on the outside of your lane from the truck. This will give you the most time to react, and more important, keep you in sight of the driver.

[ViperRon]

You are right about the quality of tires and they have always been dangerous but now with so much being made overseas it is common to have new tires go flat that you can't balance etc. You think when you buy a name brand you are ok but just like pocketbooks and tennis shoes tires have knockoffs too. Now some Japanese tires are much better than ours but if you get some from Africa they will be cheap and you might not be happy.

[Gmac]

I hammered a cap this AM

I was driving my son to work at O dark thirty this AM on I-565 and saw pieces looming in front of me, swerved a bit and missed the big piece but my left wheel hit a chunk that was to the left of the big piece that I swerved to miss. It came up really fast and my reaction was tempered by the fact that the road was just getting dampened by rain.

Lots of noise but no damage, thought it was ironic because I was reading about it here the night before. I have never had the opportunity to hit a cap riding a bike, I expect it could get ugly fast.

[TopCatGr58]

According to Mythbusters: Their initial test in 2007. I remember seeing a more recent episode, I think they revisited it and used a Motorcyclist as well, with similar results.

A tire on a big rig can explode with lethal force.

CONFIRMED

The MythBusters first tested whether a big rig tire could actually explode. They managed to obtain several truck tires and subjected them to actual road conditions, to try to replicate certain circumstances that could cause a tire to explode. Although they could not make a tire fail catastrophically, they managed to cause it to disintegrate violently by running the tire flat at highway speed, though the flying debris failed to hit the dummy set up next to the tire. However, the MythBusters were able to measure the velocity the debris. Taking an actual piece of the exploded tire, the MythBusters launched it at its measured initial velocity into a pig spine-equipped ballistics gel dummy behind a car window. The piece of debris smashed through the window and literally decapitated the dummy, proving the myth was in fact possible.

Here's their video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvcwCCWkhBI

All good valid points. IMHO it's important to allow enough following distance to have time to be able to see any road hazard in front of you to be able to react to avoid it. On highways ALONE, I prefer to run IN THE MIDDLE of the lane, due to chances of wind gusts blowing me sideways, possibly over towards the other lane and vehicles or too close to the shoulder/road edge. Due to the speeds of the vehicles, not much chance for much oil or other slippery fluids to be too thick/plentiful in the center lane "at highway speeds". If you ride in the right tire track, you are looked at like a bicycle, and cagers will often try to SHARE your lane. As stated earlier, in the left wheel track, you're quite close to the vehicles in the lane to your left. In the middle....you OWN the lane.... at least until someone tries to take it from you!

Now in town, especially near intersections, YES I run in the tire lanes to avoid slippery stuff dropped by vehicles while waiting for the light to change, etc.!

T.C.

[dbeardslee]

According to Mythbusters: Their initial test in 2007. I remember seeing a more recent episode, I think they revisited it and used a Motorcyclist as well, with similar results.

Here's their video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvcwCCWkhBI

That piece of rubber they shot at Buster was amazingly similar to the gator in the video in the OP. That cage driver is probably very lucky that the windshield is sloped, and made out of safety glass, as opposed to the side glass the Mythbusters used, which is not safety glass. Plus, it looked like it hit the hood/front of the car first, which seemed to have caused a little deflection too. Wouldn't want to see that coming at a motorcycle windshield.

[dbeardslee]

Back to the tires. Some of the tires that come apart are NEW tires! If there is a problem when built, it will throw the tread, and some of the steel cords to go with it. I've had 10 years behind the wheel of a truck, from owner-operator to union driver. And yes, the car drivers are usually the problem on the road.
If you DO have to ride near a truck, in traffic, try to ride by the cab door, or just in FRONT of the rear tires, and on the outside of your lane from the truck. This will give you the most time to react, and more important, keep you in sight of the driver.

I would much rather be sharing the highway with an owner/op or a union driver than some of the company drivers that are running around out there.

Question: How do you know when your wife has been cheating on you with a Swift driver?

Answer: When you get home your mailbox is knocked over, and he's still trying to back out of the driveway.

[DiverRay]

Question: How do you know when your wife has been cheating on you with a Swift driver?

Answer: When you get home your mailbox is knocked over, and he's still trying to back out of the driveway.

+1!!
We like to go down to the boat ramp at opening of salmon season. About every two years we have someone park the trailer, AND truck in the ocean....

[tcoop]

I learned to stay away from trucks when i had my driving permit (back in 77). We lived in Texas at the time, I was driving with my dad and we were going from Fort Hood to Waco to get some freeway experience. I was driving next to a truck right next to the trailers tires when one exploded. It scared the carp out of my dad as some of the tire hit the car near him (the window was down, no air conditioning). Luckily for us I was so focused on driving I didn't flinch or things could have gone bad quickly.

Lesson learned I stay way behind a truck or I pass them quickly whether in a cage or on a bike.

[ViperRon]

Guys that windshield will not always stop a large chunk of tire if hit right and will not stop a large rock. And I have seen tires on logging trucks explode but the main cause is damaged steel cords heat up and standard corded do not seem to have the same issues. Tread damage seems to not cause severe issues but side wall will. A hanging brake is always good for boom and does not take long.

[dbeardslee]

A hanging brake is always good for boom and does not take long.

I was in a nap trap one night on I65 just this side of Chicago, and had just gone to bed. I heard a big bang at the back of the truck and I thought somebody had hit my wagon. So I got up and walked to the back of the truck. What I saw was a buggy with all eight wheels on fire. Evidently the driver hadn't adjusted his brakes in forever, and he had driven quite a distance that day. Other drivers said his wheels were smoking for quite a while coming up 65. The bang I heard was when one of the tires burned through and exploded - which all eight eventually did. Every time one went it sounded like a bomb going off.

The driver managed to unhook from his wagon and then pulled his burning buggy forward - right behind a gasoline tanker, of course. I knocked on the tanker's door and told him there was a big tire fire right behind him, and that he might want to move his truck. At first he didn't want to get out of bed, but I guess curiosity got the better of him, and he went back and took a look. Then he moved his truck.

As the fire continued to burn tires exploded and springs popped, and by the time the fire department got there, there wasn't much left but a charred frame and motor. I knew I should have brought marshmallows on that trip.

[tomcos67]

Split Rims.

Does anyone remember split rims???I had a Dodge 1977 3/4 ton standard Granny gear.pickup.with split rims..Do big trucks still use them.???Change them in a cage.!!.

[BA80]

I think they've outlawed them. Too dangerous.

Saw one leave a wheel of a 3/4 ton Ford 4x4 going down a city street and put a hole in the wall of a house. Good thing there wasn't a kid playing in the yard.

[dbeardslee]

Does anyone remember split rims???I had a Dodge 1977 3/4 ton standard Granny gear.pickup.with split rims..Do big trucks still use them.???Change them in a cage.!!.

Split rims have been known to kill just from airing the tire when it's first installed. I had an uncle who used to own a garage years ago, and he had a cage built to air up tires so if a split rim came off his head wouldn't come off along with it.

[madmax-im]

damnedest thing I ever saw a truck do was blown its engine while running down the NJTPK at 75 mph...Truck was southbound and I just entered the TPK northbound and had driven about 1 mile when I saw it happened... The engine exploded and the hood to engine blew open and tons of smoke billowing out and totally obscuring the truck's driver...since i was going the other way i just watched in my rear view mirror until I was out of sight. I kept listening to the traffic reports but there was no mention of it...apparently the driver was able to keep the rig under control...

[STEPPENWOLF]

Ran the split,Budd and Dayton wheels.Love watch a guy spray ether in side a tire,light it, to get the bead set
Had a steel flat bed blow atire beside me,sounded like a shot gun and then wham..tire hit the top of my hood then windshield and box.That was scarry.
Have seen a truck or two loose a wheel,a JB driver plowed into a stray wheel from the truck in front of me.Don't think any body got hurt.
I lost a wheel on my way to Chicago from Cincinnati just north of Indy,didn't know it,had a light load on the pig I was hauling and at night.Lots of cb chatter...it was me.So I turned around looking for it and heard it(on the cb) rolled into the truck stop so I went there and they had the torn up rim and tire.
So after the company( Haulmark,division of Mid West Emory) would not
haul any more Santa Fe pigs with that type of trailer.
Just glad no one was hurt,running as an o/o then.