75 pickup, RF tire keeps blowing out

[grand_wag_85]

My buddy's got a 75 either commanche or gladiator and the RF tire keeps blowing out. He's put on new: tires, shocks, struts, hub, axle, leaf springs, many balancements and alignments and a new rim and it still keeps blowing out. It is getting very costly for him, and I gotta tow him alot, if you guys could help we'd both appreciate it.

[FSJ Thing]

How many times has it happened? Does it happen on the same stretch of road or in the same plce every time? Properly aligned tires with good wheels shouldn't blow out unless your hitting a curb at a good rate of speed or something. That's strange.

[grand_wag_85]

It's happened @ least 10 or so times on different stretches of road, usually about 30-45min. into a raod trip at speeds from 45-70. He's taken it to half a dozen different mechanics, they tell him he needs something, and he gets it& it happens again.

[Sycho15]

how are the wheel-bearings? sounds like something is heating up the tire/rim...

What part of the tire is blowing out? Could the tire be rubbing the inner sidewall on something?

[BIGYELLOW78J10]

Is the rim bad?

[Rande]

This is very odd.

There only a few ways to blow a tire. Something has to poke it, cut it, or overheat it. The steering stops on the axle should stop it before you can turn the tire far enough for something on the frame or axle to contact it.

If the front brakes were causing it to over heat, I would expect you could smell the pads or bearing grease burning way before the tire got too hot.

You'll just have to get in there, look around and reason it out. Drive the truck a ways, get out (stop first ;) ) and check the front wheel for eccessive heating.

Also, the truck is not a Comanche or a Gladiator. Gladiator was last made in 1970 or 1971. The Comanche didn't come out til 1984 or so, with the little Cherokees. It would be a J10 or a J20. For some reason, AMC chose not to use the Gladiator name.

[ January 08, 2004, 09:00 PM: Message edited by: Rande ]

[grand_wag_85]

We checked the truck for heating, none that I could tell. He put in new brakes a while back on the whole thing, I guess the next thing to do is to replace the bearing.

[The Anti-Chrysler]

I would say check the wheel. What is the defect of the blown out tires?? Punctures?? Belt Separation??

I don't think a bearing could have anything to do with it, especially if he doesn't hear the bearing groaning.

[grand_wag_85]

The tread comes right off of the wall kinda like the "alligators" you see on the side of the inter state it is a brand new rim. Once it just collapsed and stayed intact though.

[Rande]

That sounds like an underinflation problem. There may be a crack in the wheel releasing the air and deflating the tire, could be a defect of some sort in the bead. Also, if the tires are being replaced but the inflation valve is not, the problem may be a faulty valve allowing the tire to deflate.

With tread seperation, that sounds like an inflation problem.

[kenny1221]

Bad Bearings can cause a misalignment(Camber) and cause the tire to wear out fast. I had an Eclipse that would wear out a tire with 10,000 miles of tread left on it in less than 7 days. What are your wear patterns indicating? If it's got a good tire on it check the tire after every drive and see how it's wearing. Is it 2wd or 4wd?
A bad lower ball joint will do the same thing.

[kenny1221]

Also if you had a collapsed brake line or a bad caliper on that side it could bind at times and cause the tire to scuff off tread. Does the truck pull to the affected side?

[Stuka]

dont think this has been mentioned, but I have come across it a few times. there is a clip that goes on the knuckle that keeps the tie rod nut from comming loose. if installed backwards the sharp end of the clip can rubt he tire, causing little slices in the sidewall right above the rim.

[grand_wag_85]

We checked out that clip it is on right, he got new bearings and brakes (& brake lines) this past month, and the valve has been changed every time. It is a manual trans w/2 sticks 1 for gears and one for 4wd. It only pulls to any side once the tire blows. After each blowout he had it aligned for free. The tires say 40 psi and that's what he's kept it at. He has checked each tire out and not one of them leaked when he checked it out. Other than that there are no problems w/ this truck whatsoever.

[PlumCrazy]

Paint the inside of the tire with a bright color and drive it a small ways...see if it is rubbing anywhere.

[Serious Johnson]

OK, this is strange! Let's assume that there are no pressure issues from a bad rim or valve, no gross static misalignment from a bent axle tube or such, and it happens in 2WD.

There must be something causing rather severe dynamic alignment distortion. Tie rod ends, ball joints? It's hard to imagine that a part so worn as to cause a tire to blow in 45 minutes hasn't fallen off already, or at the very least caused horribly evident handling problems. Does the truck basically stay in its lane when the tire is still good, or is he constantly struggling to herd it along as speed increases? What happens if he lets go of the wheel, backs off the throttle, and then hits the brakes?

Something is going to break soon on this truck, and it'll be a lot worse than a blown tire. Have your friend up his life insurance.

:-

[Rande]

What kind and size tires are they? What sort and what size rims?

[Joe Guilbeau]

16.5 inch rims and 16 inch tires...stay off the circle track?

As Rande has stated, details work best.

[grand_wag_85]

Same diameter rims&tires as my stock 85 gw, I'd put my rims on it but diff. amount of lugs. He has new tie rods, ball joints& wheel bearings(one of the 1st things replaced). We painted the WHOLE tire day-glo orange and drove it @ about 35 for a good bit(tire only goes above 45) the only paint that came off is where it contacted the road surface. The truck only pulls after the tire blows out, but has once pulled very shortly prior to the blow-out(5-10 sec.).
He bought it this summer from the original owner, who got it in 1975 and used it sparingly up until 1980, after then it sat in a barn under an army-like tarp until this summer. My buddy found it in an add in the paper and went to go check it out, it didn't crank and still had the original tires on it (the RF was flat...go figure). He paid $50 for it and it was in like new cond. no rust, dents and very shiny red paint. After he got it he had the engine, tranny& tc rebuilt, and we replaced all hoses. There's the history of this money guzzler, if you were wondering.

[Bob Barry]

Now you know why they sold it to you for $50; it's possessed by a demon! :D

OK, after looking over all the posts again and again, you say that he replaced most of the obvious things (really, he changed out the whole front axle, housing and all???), and had it aligned.

Many times, however, an "alignment" is nothing more than adjusting the toe-in, because the other adjustments are so difficult.

I'd try to have a top-notch alignment shop tell you what specs it is reading at right now; real bad camber might be part of the problem. Also, make sure that you spring for getting the front axle and wheels aligned in relation to the rear wheels; if that thing has been tweaked, then a twisted frame might prevent it from being properly aligned as an entire vehicle. So, the front tires might be properly adjusted in relationship to each other, but both can be out of whack in relationship to the rest of the chassis.

Next, what transfer-case does it have? Is it full-time or part-time? Is there a traction-device (locker/limited-slip) in the front pumpkin? How about the rear axle?

Since the wheels won't interchange with your GW, I'm assuming this is a J-20. Since the original owner bought a "heavy-duty" truck, he may have used it like a "heavy-duty" truck, on a farm, I'm presuming (since you say he stored it in a barn). That means you've either got 16" or 16.5" rims; which tires are you putting on there that keep blowing out?

[grand_wag_85]

I'm not sure on the exact size of the tires, I will post them next time I see him. W/each blow-out the place he got the tires from gave him what they called a "complete alignment". I'm starting to think this thing IS possessed!

[Rande]

Might be time to give the complete run down on what sort of truck we are talking about. Year, engine, tranny, tcase, axles, tire and wheel sizes, lift, etc.

[Bobbo]

Any pics? Get me a pic of the blown out tires, pic of the wheel, and valve stem. If it blows out a tire that fast and there is no rubbing/heating, you would see if it was and alignment problem. The tire would be way cocked off to make it blow out that fast. I would say its a wrong combination of tire/wheel/valve stem. The only way a tire will lose it's treadbelt is a underinflation problem or a defect, (not a chance 10 tires in a row would do this!) If it was the alignment the whole tread would not come off. It may be a overloaded tire for the aplication. Like I say get me pics, I could probably help.

[ January 14, 2004, 09:01 PM: Message edited by: Bobbo ]

[mdill]

He could always try and get a skinnier girl friend,
boy friend.. (Sorry I could not help myself)

Mike D.

[grand_wag_85]

Very funny he is straight but, I'm afraid there's nothing more anyone can do for this old truck. It blew up this morning in my buddy's driveway (he's ok) but it nearly took my GW and my flatbed w/it. We were getting ready to drive it up onto the trailer, he started it and warmed it up for a minute or two for the heck of it. I was backing my GW w/flatbed into position when he started waving for me to stop. I put it in park and got out to lower the drive-on ramp thingy, and he started to pull up on it, and while he was doing that we both heard a "woof" from under the hood. It was almost the same sound as when you light up a BBQ. I motion him to stop and pop the hood, he does so and gets out and I go to open it. As I look through the grill and radiator I see flames and scream FIRE! I hopped in my GW and started to pull away from it, while he turned it off (the truck was barely on the ramp so it came off easily plus the deck on the trailer is wood) and left some perty bad scrapings in the driveway, after I got maybe 25 feet away I stop and grab my exstiguisher and try to put it out. After mine runs out I go to get one out of his tool-shed when the truck exploded. He called 911 and they came in 5-10 minutes and put it out. Amazingly the firewall on the truck did it's job and the truck was melted from the bottom of the windshield forward. It had a full tank of gas and I was supprised the tank didn't blow up. The fire was so hot it melted the asphalt driveway.

[grand_wag_85]

It was a '75 J20, Buick 350 and I'm not sure what t-case or tranny it had I'll try to find out, and I'm perty sure it dint have a lift.

[Bob Barry]

I think he's just been playing with us; this truck doesn't really exist...

;)

[grand_wag_85]

This truck does (or did) exist and I have proof to prove it!

[Rande]

A military unit came out with a flat bed and hauled it out under cover of darkness to a secret airbase in the Nevada desert. What people saw in the driveway was swamp gas or a temperature inversion.

[ January 15, 2004, 02:34 PM: Message edited by: Rande ]

[mdill]

Well we on the list are proud to say.
+1 for the message board, another member
problem is not longer an issue soon after
he posts to the FSJ list !

Yeah team smile.gif

(If it does exist, I am glad you buddy, you and
your wag are fine, sorry to lose another FSJ
to the grim reper though.)

Mike D.

[Buggzz]

But the important question, Did the right front tire blow out during the fire?

[Bobbo]

Dang I think we could have solved it!
Sorry about your friends luck !

[grand_wag_85]

All the rubber burned from just about the bottom of the windshield forward melted or burned.

[Sycho15]

Hope he had insurance and can find a better replacement.

[woodybeone]

Did he try changing the brand/model of tire ? May seem obvious but are they truck tires and not car tires ? I have seen trucks and vans running around with car rated tires.

[grand_wag_85]

The thing I just realized, they were Firestones. Go Figure. Thank you guys so much for all the help!

[grand_wag_85]

I'm not sure if they were the wilderness ones or not, I'll check. That does make sense, car tires or truck tires.

[grand_wag_85]

The tires: on the front Yokohoma Super-Digger IV's. In the back all it says is Firestone Radials. The side of the rear tires say P235xR15. They're more meaty or tough looking than average street tires.

[mdill]

If your buddy has poor depth perception, the
right front would be the one to take most abuse
from curbs, so maybe he just brused them to death.
(My wife likes to park by brail, i.e. go untill it
hits them back off, not good for tire life)

Mike D.

[Rich 89 Gr. Wag]

Are you pulling our legs.....this is really bizarre.....kind of a Christine thing. Wow.

[Mike D]

really ....

[badaboom]

Better a Full tank than near empty.

Hot Tamales Batman

And so now we have the cure for the tire blow out problem...Badaboom.

[ January 16, 2004, 09:15 PM: Message edited by: badaboom ]

[grand_wag_85]

No I am not pulling you leg, this really did happen.