Rubber vs Rock

MarkBC

MarkBC

The Weatherman
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May 24, 2010
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Location
Bend, Oregon
This happened late this afternoon, as I was maneuvering into the perfect position in my favorite camping spot in the White Mountains, a spot that's probably the best view-site I've ever camped.

But the rock up here is very sharply shattered...

_DSC1456.jpg


And I was trying to get close to the base of this outcrop because the lay of the land required that to make the camper level (without using leveling blocks). However, there must have been a sharp rock near the base of the outcrop that I didn't notice...
Because, as I pulled up there I heard a sudden pop and saw a blast of dust get blown up...and the right front corner of the truck sunk down immediately:

_DSC1448.jpg


Yes, the sidewall had a bit of a cut in it:

_DSC1454.jpg


A hand-swallowing cut in it:

_DSC1453.jpg


My poor BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO... :(

Darn... So I backed down to a flatter spot and put on the spare -- only the second time in over 120,000 miles that I've had to do that.
(I should mention that the cut may have enlarged a bit from its initial size to the dramtic size in thse photos as I drove a hundred feet or so to a flat spot to change the tire...but it was a fatal wound from the start, so it didn't really matter.)

But I wasn't going to let inanimate inorganic matter dictate where I park, so I drove back up to the scene of the carnage (after clearing from the area every rock that didn't have blunt edges), and I'm in the finest -- for the view -- camping spot in the White Mountains:

_DSC1508.jpg


Not shown, and what makes it so very fine, is the view of the east side of the Sierra Nevada, which I didn't want to shoot at in the setting sun, but can be seen in shots from last year when I camped in the same place. (below the antenna installation that's near the top of Silver Canyon -- "legal" because it's just outside the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest protected area)

So...now I'm without a spare tire. I have a patch kit, as advised by the wise folks here on WTW, and compressor...but when I descend in a couple of days I'll probably buy a tire in Bishop like the one I destroyed so that I have a spare again. The dead tire was two years old and still had good life left, so it was an unfortunate lo$$ (stupid, careless Mark!)... but at least it wasn't very new, so I don't feel too bad.
 
Second those folks. At the start of a dirt roads NW->SE diagonal trip thru DV a friend had the right rear wheel bearing in his Early Bronco start to fail. They were extremely helpful and very reasonable in getting him back on the trail.
 
Ouch! That is two punctures in one trip. You will need to be a bit tree and rock shy for the rest of the trip.
 
Mark , there are some things you can't plan for. :unsure: Hey, how far would you have got if you had stock 2ply tires on your rig or forgot the jack or had no spare? We go out there to have fun and despite all that WTW experience, ya just have to gut it out :p when things happen. My worst day was driving my brand new government rig out in the back country the first time with those nice new 2ply stock street tires, yep had three flats before noon! I went against my better judgement to take her for a drive before it was field ready. They had to send out a rescue party so I could get back to town so I get four new tires (10 ply off road like my last rig) put on. I could never understand the gov't, let me order a new truck with all the widgits I needed, but it came with stock tires, and one who knows better (like me) had to take it out to see what it would do-more of that learning curb they talk about! I always carried two spares in my old power wagon, but again most of us did because we learned over time that there where no "Big O's" out in the middle nowhere where we worked. Have fun, might see ya out there when I get off jury duty!

Smoke
 
That is quite a cut! I love that it happened right where the writing on the tire says: Danger! do not backup into sharp rocks." :)
Glad you had a good spare anyway. The view does look like it is worth it.
 
Thanks for the tip, Lighthawk and ntsqd, about BishopAuto -- I'll check them out.

The first puncture on this trip that Ted's referring to was a hole punched in the skin of my camper by a tree branch, which will be the subject of a separate Topic later.

Yeah, I know "these things happen"...but it annoys me that it happened through carelessness on my part.
There's the cost...and the fact that I'm without a spare until I get it replaced makes me a little nervous, since I've never used the patch/plug kit... :unsure:
On the other hand, the fact that this happened in an unusual circumstance -- driving onto the base of a sharp-rock outcrop -- makes me feel better than if I'd gotten a flat while driving down a regular gravel road, since I do that all the time, which means I'd be vulnerable all the time.

And, yep, the view is worth it! :)

Pano-01.jpg
There's 6500 feet of relief from my spot down to the Owens Valley, and there's 8000 to 9000 feet of relief on the Sierra side -- Magnificent!

(and there's Verizon 4G service!)
 
Thats why I carry a tube now. Of course that'll mean its my second puncture. Here's a hint, don't try and get a tire on a Sunday. Enjoy the rest of the trip.
 
Mark, sorry to hear about your tire. Ironically I am posted up at your exact spot (roughly anyway) as I read this post. I would wholeheartedly agree that this must be the best spot in th Whites. Happy that I stumbled upon it after coming up Silver Canyon this afternoon. You can bet I'll be taking it easy on my way out in the morning!! I guess BFGs aren't invincible after all.
 
A relatively happy update to this sad story or "Sometimes things work out better than you expect":

One of my getting-ready-for-trip tasks was to replace this deceased tire.
(That's right, I hadn't replaced it in the 6 months since the accident -- meaning I didn't have a spare for that time...but I only drive my truck on camping trips (and local blizzards), and I haven't been on a truck-trip in the past 6 months.)

I took the tire to the America's Tire store where I bought it, expecting to pay the full $200+ to replace it. I knew the tire purchase came with a pro-rated warranty against "normal road hazards", but I assumed that impaling the sidewall on a sharp rock outcrop in the White Mts would not be considered a "normal road hazards".
I told the America's Tire guy that I killed the tire with a side-wall cut...and then we got the tire and he proceeded to measure the tread depth. He said it had a little over half its depth left (which kinda surprised me in itself -- I thought they were more worn than that :unsure:).
And so, he said, I get credit with that percentage towards the new tire price -- half off.
So I'm saving $100 over what I expected this stupid event would cost me. :)

Hey -- that's enough to buy me 325 "free" miles (gasoline-wise) for my trip! :D
(Although...it's kinda sad when you look at it that way -- such pathetic gas mileage. :()
 
That's great Mark!

Driving off road with the 4-runner I hit a log with the back pass tire and it took out the rear quarter panel. Cost me my deductible for the fix. but what I did not realized it gashed the sidewall of my BFG a-terrain E rated tires that cause a small leak. Costco measured the thread depth and charged me accordingly for a new tire.

I'm surprised you went 6 months with no spare. to much stress knowing I did not have one for me. On the other hand how much air is in that spare???
 
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