Was drivin along the 15 (a freeway) and was exiting an offramp. While going off the offramp, i noticed there was smoke coming from my right rear tire... so i slow down to pull over and the tire just blows off the rear of my car... leaving it on the metal disk thingy.. wow.

has anyone ever heard of this before?
i didn't have my cell phone on me and luckily, a policeman drove by and called the towing company...

took my car to the infiniti dealership and got a loaner...

 

What kind of tires? were you driving hard? Is your car lowered? could the tire have been rubbing?

 

LMAO

 

Sounds like what happens when you drive on an underinflated tire. Sidewall starts to flex and rub against itself and causes enough heat to disintegrate it (rub your hands together really fast). Tire eventually blows.

Not saying this is what happened to you, but I have witnessed it on the freeway in front of me before (on 163 heading south past Balboa SDG35C). Saw the low tire on a car in the fast lane, and moved to another lane because it looked bad. Before you know it there was smoke and rubber chunks flying in the air.

Now, this will also happen if you get a small puncture that lowers your pressure quickly, so it might not be avoidable.

Curt

PS - "metal disk thingy" = rim.

 

haha, the wheel base. sorry, i was frantic. But yeah, car is bone stock. no modifications whatsoever. nothing is lowered.. stock tires. under 20k.. i just had the 15k check in a couple weeks ago.

also, i've never driven the car hard. forgot to mention that. as the tire blew out, the heat left black marks on the rear bumper... do you think any of the events that happened and the damage that ensued would be covered under warranty?

 

[QUOTE=Curt G]Sounds like what happens when you drive on an underinflated tire. Sidewall starts to flex and rub against itself and causes enough heat to disintegrate it (rub your hands together really fast). Tire eventually blows.

Not saying this is what happened to you, but I have witnessed it on the freeway in front of me before (on 163 heading south past Balboa SDG35C). Saw the low tire on a car in the fast lane, and moved to another lane because it looked bad. Before you know it there was smoke and rubber chunks flying in the air.

Now, this will also happen if you get a small puncture that lowers your pressure quickly, so it might not be avoidable.

Curt

PS - "metal disk thingy" = rim. [/QUOTE +10

 

How can you not know that your tire blew out? I doubt if that is covered under warranty.

 

I had a rear tire blow out on me once almost 20 years ago. Not a fun thing.

In my case, I thought I felt a vibration while driving, stopped, checked the tire (it felt like the front right). No problem. Continued down the road, thinking it was out of balance, noticed it again, so started slowing down, then whamo, the left REAR tire went out. Luckily, no other traffic at the time, since I ended up facing the way I came.

Last time I ever bought used tires.

 

wheel base?!

 

I had a blow out on my Sebring convertible a few months before I got my G. The right front blew when doing about 80 on I-40 in the middle of nowhere. I was surprised by how well the car responded and never felt like I was losing control. The tire just disintegrated. Fortunately, I had the wheel lock and was able to put the donut spare on.

Tires are usually covered by the tire manufacturer's warranty, which then only covers a prorated replacement due to tire defect. That's why the Infiniti dealer sells a separate tire and wheel warranty - probably the only dealer add-on warranty worth having.

 

How often did you check the tire pressure?