so today i was driving in 495 (in va) and it was somewhat bumper to bumper. traffic then began to pick up and i accelarted. next thing i know, there is a blow tire on the road (piece of an 18-wheeler tire). i guess some guy's tire blew out.

well i didn't see it on time and next thing i know, my driver side tire and back tire (same side of course) just went over it. it was a good size rubber/tire piece. i think i just went over it. i hope it didn't roll around.

will that do damage? i know it's just rubber. will it hurt anything in the tires? or under carriage?

please advice.

 

Mm...I would mainly check for cosmetic, ie. Bumper damage, other than that you should be fine.

 

checked bumper....no damage. i would say the rubber on the road was about slightly under half of the full circle. it was everywhere (shreds of it). i'm just worried of getting something lodge somewhere or getting something out of alignment.

last thing i want to do is go to the dealer and tell them i ran over a rubber.

 

You could say, "I ran over a tire" instead...

 

that's what i meant....sorry hahahhaha

 

It honestly all depends on the way it was facing, what type it was, and how you ran over it. My mom ran over one of those and it can pop your tire if you don't hit the right way. Your tire would probably be flat by now so if there is no cosmetic damage, then i wouldn't worry about it now!

When you said "huge rubber" i wasn't sure what to expect though.....lol Some people on this board wouldn't have gone with another type of story...haha

 

Sorry, I just can't stop laughing.

Anyway, your car should be fine. If you hear or feel something different, then check it out, otherwise, you probably don't have any damage.

 

I've hit this shit TWICE!!

Both times, on the interstate, I got over to pass someone and the car I was passing would kick it up into my bumper. First time it hit hard enough to pop the bumper out a place a little bit by the headlight.

It'll only be cosmetic. If you had wax on it, the rubber should come off with a good wash.

 

thanks all. nope....when i got to work, all tires were fine. so no flat. no cosmetic damage at all. at least not on the body of the car (don't know about underneath). and also, no noises.

well the tire was a huge rubber. i couldn't think of any other subject description

 

I would also check for any alignment issues, hitting something at a relatively high speed could throw your front out of alignment. Any issues on the highway? Shaking steering wheel?

 

The main thing is that YOUR okay. It could have caused an accident.

 

This is as good as the one where the guy said his girl likes to eat out!

huge rubber on the road

 

So was this a used rubber?

If so,

 

i'd be more than happy to take a look at your undercarriage


























but seriously, if you would like for someone in the area to take a look at the vehicle we'd be happy to help out...or let us know which dealership you take it to and maybe we can refer you to a technician or service manager to ask for so you don't get ripped off...

 

I didn't know magnums were a danger on the roadway

 

Time for horny green minded guys to chime in

 

I was wondering where I'd left it...

 

Lots of shit flying around the freeways these days...

On Monday, driving back from NYC, somewhere in MD on the 95, a flat bed tow truck about 7 car lengths in front had the camper shell of the pickup it was carrying suddenly disconnect and fly off, crashing to the road and forcing nearly every car within a 100 foot radius to slam on their brakes. It was almost surreal how time seemed to slow down when the camper shell lifted off and was flipping around in the air.

Anyway, that would have sucked to crash into that...

But a tire shouldn't have done too much damage. I would just to a quick inspection of the undercarriage to make sure it didn't dent or bend any of the pipes or suspension pieces, but you should be fine.

 

no....steering wheel wasn't shaking. it didn't feel like a huge bump but i definitely felt something when i went over it. i'll see if the steering wheel is vibrating when i go home from work.


thanks all.

 

Was it lubricated?

 

The one unmentioned thing I'd take a gander at is the engine undertray. It might have been dinged, and you'll wanna make sure it isn't loose. Just peer under from the fron and see if anything seems to be hanging down a bit on the impacted side.

Oh, and keep an eye on your brakes. While it is unlikely, if the steel cord impacted a brake line it might (just might) cause a leak. It's very unusual, but worth watching for fluid seepage by you tires or a squishy brake pedal. Like I said, very unlikely, but just keep an eye open.

BTW, you can call it a "road gator" and everyone will know what you mean without the silly comments...

 

the title says it all....

 

My dad worked in a tire shop long before I was born. He said that it's cheaper for 18-wheelers to rethread tires than to buy new tires each time. That's why you see those rubbers on the road alot. I think it costs like a third of the price of a new tire, and can sometimes outlast a new tire. Thus, it saves trucking fleets alot of money.

 

Their seems to be a lot of tire debris out here in the DFW area on 35W. Ive dodged a few but hit one head on due to last second evasion of the car in front of me and it popped my front bumper out and busted a fog bulb. Damn rubbers always in the way!!!!!

 

i've never hit rubber...it's always on the side of the freeway. One thing I got close to hitting was a sofa in the left-most lane on the hollywood freeway...it was dark, and the freeway was turning so i didn't see it until near the end. Now that would have ruined the rest of my drive =P

 

haha


im sorry, i just felt like i needed to post this here....

 

this thread

 

...by the tread pattern I couldn't tell if it was a French-tickler or a Goodyear!