Date:         Sat, 25 Jun 2005 20:08:35 -0700
Reply-To:     Leo Lee <leo0365@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Leo Lee <leo0365@SBCGLOBAL.NET>
Subject:      Re: Three busted tires on same wheel, why?
Comments: To: Joel Walker <jwalker17@earthlink.net>
In-Reply-To:  <003401c579f1$3030a220$16ea79a5@DB7KQF61>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

Thanks Joel for the good explanation of the syndrome. The first two times when it occured, there was a good possibility that these tires were rotated from one side to the others. But this time, the front tire was only about 10,000 miles new, which is the Capitol metric 8 ply tire with max tire pressure to 65 psi. I inflated the front to only 45 psi. These tires are made in Korea, I have never seen anyone discuss about the Capitol tire. The busted belt this time probably is a result of poor quality tire.

Leo

Joel Walker <jwalker17@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Just came back from a long camping trip to West Texas. It was hot
> there and still about 1000 miles from home, I experience the same
> old familiar pulsing steering wheel pulling to the right syndrome. I
> closely examined the tire on the passenger side, yes, the tire
> became deformed because of busted belt. It happened two times before
> on the same wheel of my 91 multivan. Could that be just a
> coincidence or is there a problem with the front suspension
> somewhere? The multivan runs straight and steady, with all the ball
> joints and other suspension components looks good. Any suggestion
> will be greatly appreciated.

that's enough to make me suspicious, too. but ...

were the two tires the same brand and model?
bought about the same time? or was one purchased a lot later? if the
same, it is possible you got two out of a bad batch. :(

if there's no sign of wear on one side of the tire, then i think
there's only a couple of possibles:
- you got two bad ties.
or
- you got some radials that had been run a loooong time in one
rotational direction (like 10,000-15,000 miles on the same side of the
car), then was for some reason swapped over to the opposite rotation
(other side of the car). i've seen some radials that can/should only
be rotated front-to-back, never swapped sides. the tire companies
claim that's not true, but i've seen those radials come apart after a
long stint on one side, then being swapped to the other side.

good luck!
joel