Tires/SUV'S etc

[oldsub86]

Rather than carry on with the Goodyear/Durango accident post, I am starting a new one.

A couple of thoughts on tires and my 68 Chevy as well as my other truck.

I have a 95 Toyota 4Runner with the factory 31.5 X 10.5 tires. These are not huge but do have a bit of sidewall and I have often wondered how the vehicle might react if I had a blowout. I assume it would be no better than Explorers, Durangos etc if it suddenly lost air in a tire and I assume that is due to the height of the sidewall. We blew a rear tire on a 77 Mercury Monarch a number of years ago. It was NOT a car that could be recommended for good handling but the car did not do anything wierd when the tire blew. We were going about 80 mph having just passed a car on 4 lane highway when the back left tire went boom and shredded itself. We had noticed a vibration at certain speeds and learned later that all of the Goodyear tires on it had suffered tread separation. At any rate, I am assuming the relatively low sidewall height may have been what saved us - that and a lower center of gravity on a car.

My truck has Hercules tires on it - new from the dealer when I bought it used about 2 or 3 years ago. These are not common in Canada and I wondered if any of you people in the USA have any experience or opinons on the brand.

Last but not least - the Chevy content - my poor old 68 Chevy has a set of Uniroyal steel belted radials on it - undersized at 215/15 instead of 235/15 which would closer approximate the original tires, and blems to begin with but they have been tough. They are only car rated tires but I blow them up to 40 pounds sometimes and haul home things like a full yard of crushed rock. They don't have a lot of miles on them but they have bad weather cracking on the sidewalls and on the tread. I have got to the point where I won't go far from home or too fast with them for that reason. I need to replace them with some truck rated tires but I keep putting it off.