Trod Bogs Sadly – Oddstray's Blog

Well, there we were, thinking that we’d got through the worst of LA traffic relatively unscathed, with only a few slow-downs on the 405.

On the 101, at a place called Seacliff, between Ventura and Santa Barbara, I (Simon) heard a ‘pop’. Not terribly loud, but it was there. The obvious WTF moment ensued, and then the trailer’s Tire Pressure Management System (TPMS) went berserk, and we pulled over to the shoulder, got out and had a look.

Flat on the curb (kerb) side. The alloy wheel looks OK, as the tire didn’t come off the rim.

And the big message is that the TPMS saved the wheel, as there was no difference in handling, and the ‘pop’ wasn’t terribly loud.

So, we called AAA, and after a while, ‘Peter’ the tow guy showed up. I dropped the spare, and he had it torqued up in no time and we were on our way. Basically, we lost an hour.

We could have changed it ourselves, we have a jack, but better we have AAA. (why buy a dog and bark oneself?)

But holy heck, turn that wheel over and what do you see:

Complete sidewall separation! Tire failure in a big way. We’ve kept these tires religiously at 50 psi, but the wear pattern on the tread looks like over-inflation, and there’s this inner edge wear which doesn’t look good.

I asked Peter what he thought, and he said it was probably the age of the tire (2013).

Guess where we are going next: to get 3 new tires.