On my BMW I have Gislaved Nordfrost 5 winter tires. I have had them for three winters now and they are the best thing in the snow I have ever seen. However, in those three winters I have had three failures of the tires. The first one my daughter was driving nearby our house on city streets at low speed, and the right rear tire suddenly went flat and by the time she stopped the outside sidewall was shredded on the wheel. The second failure was on the front, where after being parked for a while it was found flat. The tire store said there was a “cut” in the sidewall, not a knife cut but some other type of cut.
The third failure happened last week. I was a bit late this year putting on the summer tires and she drove the car up to Green Bay, a couple of hours away on the interstate. About half way there the car starts fishtailing and bottom line, the left rear tire is shredded on the outside sidewall. She said she didn’t see anything in the road and didn’t hit anything.
These are new tires. With the two previous failures and two other new ones I bought before having to rebuild the front suspension, all four are relatively new. But the three failures are making me worried, if that would have happened on the front at 70 MPH she could have been hurt or killed.
One thing that I am wondering about is the recommended tire inflation pressure. The BMW has asymmetrical pressures with 33 in the front and 41 in the rear for this type of tire. The maximum pressure on the tire is 44 PSI. It wasn’t that warm last week and the previous failure where the sidewall shredded was in the winter.
What could cause this type of failure? I can post pictures later but essentially the entire outside sidewall is shredded and she was slithering around on the rim.
I’m at the point that regardless how good they are in the snow I am beginning to not trust them. Her drive next year to college and back is four hours and I’m not sure I want her to do that this with these tires. I'm almost thinking of buying four all seasons and be done with it.
The third failure happened last week. I was a bit late this year putting on the summer tires and she drove the car up to Green Bay, a couple of hours away on the interstate. About half way there the car starts fishtailing and bottom line, the left rear tire is shredded on the outside sidewall. She said she didn’t see anything in the road and didn’t hit anything.
These are new tires. With the two previous failures and two other new ones I bought before having to rebuild the front suspension, all four are relatively new. But the three failures are making me worried, if that would have happened on the front at 70 MPH she could have been hurt or killed.
One thing that I am wondering about is the recommended tire inflation pressure. The BMW has asymmetrical pressures with 33 in the front and 41 in the rear for this type of tire. The maximum pressure on the tire is 44 PSI. It wasn’t that warm last week and the previous failure where the sidewall shredded was in the winter.
What could cause this type of failure? I can post pictures later but essentially the entire outside sidewall is shredded and she was slithering around on the rim.
I’m at the point that regardless how good they are in the snow I am beginning to not trust them. Her drive next year to college and back is four hours and I’m not sure I want her to do that this with these tires. I'm almost thinking of buying four all seasons and be done with it.