73-87chevytrucks.com
73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => Body, Glass & Paint => Topic started by: Stewart G Griffin on August 10, 2011, 01:51:33 pm
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Well, i pushed it too far; i tried to get too much out of a tire and it gave way, at the worst possible time. And here's what it can do to a quarter panel:
(http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd31/sencraig/004.jpg)
It was actually a little worse---the area circled in yellow was actually pushed upwards to point where the crease is. i bent it back down by hand.
The tread actually completely separated and then the tire just exploded: i think the tread just whipping around at 60mph really gave the fender a wallop.
(http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd31/sencraig/003.jpg)
The tire was originally on the truck when i bought it and the paperwork from the p.o. states i think 1996 so that's 15 years and i was really pushing it trying to get about 12000 more miles before i was going to replace it. But that was pushing it and it bit me and now i'm going to end up spending more $$$ than if i had just replaced the tire sooner. So, it's ok to be frugal, but don't be too cheap like me.
Anyways, the important question is can i bend the metal back to shape myself? Or should i bring it to a body shop? i am not trying to get it perfect, just back to normal. i'm not opposed to bringing it to a shop, but i would like it better if i could do it myself----i'm willing to by some tools if nessesary.
P.S. Yes, that is an astro/safari spare and it works great; i would recommend this to anyone with a 1/2 ton.
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You may think I'm a jerk for saying this but GOOD. I'm glad it damaged your truck and hopefully taught you a lesson. It's people that think like you that kill innocent people because they're knowingly driving on dangerous tires. Shame on you
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Wow. ; i did say i learned my lesson above..... (i don't "think like me" anymore) ??? Really that was my whole purpose of making this thread----to warn others not to do what i did.
And the more i think about it, you're right. i certainly did learn a lesson. i've just never really had a tire blow apart that catastrophically so i didn't feel this tire was that dangerous.
Now about the fender......
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What if it was the left front on a busy 2 lane going 50 mph??? Head on collision!!! I would probably keep it the way it is as a steady reminder...
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You can hammer it out with a small block of wood and a small sledge hammer and it will come back into some shape.Sorry to hear what happened, but the biggest thing is your ok and noone else got hurt.But im sure is scared the you know what out of you. It only takes 1 time to learn a hard lesson in life..
thanks
pat
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Vile, all I can say is wow....
And that kind of reminds me of the TWO firestone tires thst shreaded on me in like the same month. And they were from 05 with good tread and no dry rot. Heres one of the tires and im not sure if I have pics of the other. But the tread ripped off and ripped up my wheel arch molding, bent up my fender, bent up my wheel well, dented my door, and shattered my mirror.
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I'm sorry if I hurt anyone's feelings but I have known people that have lost their lives because of this exact same thing.
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No need to apologize Vile.
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A few years ago, I blew a trailer tire in Birmingham. Completely took out the fender on my pneumatic tanker (yeah, 18 wheeler) and we never did find the taillight housing. Those things will flat out wreck some stuff when they blow... something to think about when drafting off big trucks.
Tire looked fine on the pre-trip, by the way, but I spent a lot of time on the slag roads at US Steel.
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glad your ok but, also glad your truck was the only victim. you can put your seat belt on but you cant help others stupidity. one guy i worked with at AutoZone was in a bike accident he stopped at a stop light with his wife on the back when this young buck in a truck that needed new breaks, and it wasn’t the fact the kid wasnt paying attention but state police said it took his truck 300ft to stop going 60. killed his wife and he wasnt the same mentally. so im with vile glad it happened to only you but i am glad you were able to walk away/ drive away
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No need to apologize Vile.
X2
A few years ago, I blew a trailer tire in Birmingham. Completely took out the fender on my pneumatic tanker (yeah, 18 wheeler) and we never did find the taillight housing. Those things will flat out wreck some stuff when they blow... something to think about when drafting off big trucks.
Tire looked fine on the pre-trip, by the way, but I spent a lot of time on the slag roads at US Steel.
I always stay at least 1 lane away from big trucks on the road. I am paranoid of one blowing and taking my passenger, myself, or my truck out,(in order of importance).
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Might be easier to cut out the bad section and go to the junkyard and weld in a replacement.
Luckily, it was a rear tire that went rather than the front. Also, many people make the mistake of jamming on the brakes during a blow out which causes them to lose control. Though it's much less likely, I've had blow outs with virtually brand new tires too.
Tires can have plenty of tread left but the rubber lose its elasticity due to age. I still remember going to a used tire shop and the salesman wanting to sell me this tire that looked virtually brand new. I checked the dates on the sidewall and the tire was 10 years old. I said no thanks and bought new tires.
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Definately glad you're ok. Tires are something I don't mess with. Only cheap tires I buy go on vehicles that wont see the street. Just for rollers around the property. I hate having to change flats or even air up tires that go flat after a few days. The last set of tires I bought for my work truck were over $1200. I buy 10 ply because the oilfeild roads I drive on will destroy a weak tire. I was asked why I bought the high dollar tires all the time. My answer is simple. A $200+ tire is cheaper than a body repair shop.
You may be able to bend it back out and straighten it out with a hammer and dolley, but its gonna take time and patience.Good luck too ya
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You can straighten that out with a hammer and dolly. It's a single layer of sheet metal. It'll be way more work and expensive cutting it out and sectioning in another piece. (probly not look as good either) Get a bodywork hammer and dolly kit (a cheap one like at harbour frieght) and a book/ video on how to do it. Take your time and don't clobber it thinking you can get it done with 2 big blows. Get it close and apply the bondo (that is what bondo is actually for) then hit it with some paint. It'll be fine.
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I just met a guy who bought used tires and had a blow out at 85 mph causing $2500 in damage to his 06 Chevy pickup.I understand not everyone has the money for 4 new tires but this guy could afford it. Needless to say he learned his lesson.
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People ask me all the time when I'm working on their car, "do you know where I can get some cheap tires?" My response is always the same thing, "YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!!!" (And if you go that route, don't do 85mph. DUH!) It seems like people think the only difference in tires is the price. They're not all built the exact same and to the same level of quality then priced differently. The only similarity is their all round and black, that's it.
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Well what are the highest quality factory sized tires? In my experience, the best tires made are Michelin. Then again, they're usually the most expensive tire in a particular size.
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i havnt had any bad luck with a "cheap" tire as long as they are new you shouldn’t have any problem. i see a problem with tires when they are old. most times we sell our old/used tires to south America so they can use them on their roads. their gild lines aint as strict as ours
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They probably have a lot of tire problems haha. Then again, its likely they could never afford to buy new tires so they have to buy that old used stuff
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Well what are the highest quality factory sized tires? In my experience, the best tires made are Michelin. Then again, they're usually the most expensive tire in a particular size.
i think that's a safe bet; i'm looking at michelin x, and ltx m/s. They are about $140 each. i'm also thinking about giving hankook a shot with the optimo 727. This is about $100. It has a 100,000 mile warranty.
My size is 235/75 r 15
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100K mile tires sound great if you can wear them by the time they start weather checking due to age. I always keep usage in mind when I buy mine. Educate yourself on the tire dating and see them before you purchase. I have seen new "2" year old tires before. DOT stamping after 2000 to be the first 2 numbers are the week of the year and the last 2 are the year, hence 2611 would be mid year 2011, manufactured 3 months ago.
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Part 2:
What's happened is that i did not want to attempt to fix it myself---one bodyshop did not want to work on it due to rust---i'll get into that in a sec.
If we can review, we see that the fender got bashed upwards by the separated tire tread. If we could focus in on the yellow circle:
(http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd31/sencraig/newbodypictures013.jpg)
Note: The paint IS NOT shiny---it was raining and this was the only time i had a chance to take a picture.
There are actually 2 small rust pinholes at the yellow circle area. If you can imagine looking upwards from the ground. i apologize that it is blurry. i do not know if this was cause by the tire incident or were they there before?
(http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd31/sencraig/newbodypictures016.jpg)
What i DO know is that i would like to prevent further rust spreading until i can find a bodyshop. i'm looking at por-15 but i read that it won't work properly on painted/coated surfaces. i'd like to apply it on the inner side of the fender, but isn't there also a coating or some rustproofing on inner fenders?
What's a good course of action here?
BTW i did get a new tire---a hankook optimo 727, but that's not important now.
P.S. i may still try to fix it myself but right now the immediate objective is to neutralize the rust.
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I have used por-15 a lot. But we have some stuff at work that is rust converter. I can not remember the name right now. All I know we use it all the time on old machines and we apply it right over the paint. It works good for me. As far as por - 15 goes, it is recommended not to apply over paint, it needs contact with the rusted area.
If you want I can look tomorrow and post back.
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If you are interested it is called, Gempler's rust converter. Hope this helps.
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OK, thanks. Will look into it.
P.S. the one bodyshop did not want to work on it due ONLY to those two tiny rust holes. i think they are snobs. Fine---they don't want money?
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Here's a better picture of what we are dealing with:
(http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd31/sencraig/000_0264.jpg)
(http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd31/sencraig/000_0264-1.jpg)
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The rust converter is very thin and doesn't stick very well at first. Any suggestions on how to get it to stick?
i've tested it on flat(parallel to the ground) surfaces and it works well, but as you can see here we are dealing with an almost overhead situation. i've tried spraying behind the fender as well, but it runs thru the holes.
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A piece of clear 2in packing tape on tge vack side, then spray then more packing tape on the front?
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http://store.73-87chevytrucks.com/merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=7&Product_Code=0855-133-134&Category_Code=7387Beds
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OK, scratch that last statement----it does work-----i apparently did not give it enough time to dry; i had sprayed it at about 5pm yesterday and now it's all pretty much black. So i guess it does work---even on "overhead" situations.
Will post pics asap
2) as far as the patch panel. i have not made it up to the point where i can just cut out and weld in new metal. i may very well go this route.
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OK, scratch that last statement----it does work-----i apparently did not give it enough time to dry; i had sprayed it at about 5pm yesterday and now it's all pretty much black. So i guess it does work---even on "overhead" situations.
Will post pics asap
2) as far as the patch panel. i have not made it up to the point where i can just cut out and weld in new metal. i may very well go this route.
Never doubted for a minute. Like I said I use it a lot at work and as long as I use it for what it is intended, It never has let me down. Glad to hear it worked for you.
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Yes, it certainly seems to work. By the way, and i'm not sure i'm allowed to post this here, but Gempler's the store has some pretty fast service.
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blow outs stink!
i got lucky had 34000lb on those tandems.
(http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/308372_2393145941621_1040072946_2701050_486231725_n.jpg)
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Recap?
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Sometimes, but not always. Virgin rubber is assembled too, and I've had tread separation on them as well. Retreads are a heck of a lot better now than they used to be. (Note: not a salesman....) ;)
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yeah cap had 190 miles on it when it peeled. replaced cab has 9k on it already
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Malibu i had a tire blow in the same spot on a kenworth t2000 i drove a while back and it took out my catwalk. When i got the truck from the company it was on all new virgin rubber. i think it had 15k miles when it blue but we ran the trucks as close to 40 ton as possible.
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Definately glad you're ok. Tires are something I don't mess with. Only cheap tires I buy go on vehicles that wont see the street. Just for rollers around the property. I hate having to change flats or even air up tires that go flat after a few days. The last set of tires I bought for my work truck were over $1200. I buy 10 ply because the oilfeild roads I drive on will destroy a weak tire. I was asked why I bought the high dollar tires all the time. My answer is simple. A $200+ tire is cheaper than a body repair shop.
You may be able to bend it back out and straighten it out with a hammer and dolley, but its gonna take time and patience.Good luck too ya
same thing i say... i don´t like buying cheap tires... they loose air and tend to get more flats than a name brand tire... and breaking and handling is a whole different level when it comes to name brand tires...
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Just payed for two new front ones yesterday. Didn't get them put on today like I was supposed to. We were both busy. Tires that came on truck are over twelve years old but have nearly all tread. I guess the truck sat parked for a decade or so. Glad mine are waiting on me. I don't want to think what might happen to my truck if one of the front tires blew out. Would flip that big...pickup before I hit someone else though.