Ever have a tire explode while your filling it?

When I was in the Navy,the outfit I was in had about 10 F-4's(all test aircraft).We used to do a lot of,"touch and go's"(simulated carrier landings on the runway).The F-4 main mounts were about the same size as a regular passenger car tire(but wider)and were 26 ply.Normal inflation pressure was 375psi and for carrier landings 450psi of water-pumped nitrogen.(oil pumped nitrogen would rot the tires as well as being a fire hazard).Whenever they were filled,there was ALWAYS to be a cage around them.

One morning as we were pre-flighting the aircraft,three mechs were filling a main mount WITHOUT a cage and from a 5,000 psi UNREGULATED nitrogen bottle.Needless to say it exploded.

The result:Two guys died instantly losing various parts of their bodies and the third had both hands and part of his arms(up near the elbow)blown off and bled to death before anyone could stop the bleeding.There were pieces of the tire embedded in the pavement and the wing looked like it had taken a flak burst.Several windows in the hangar were shattered.

That is one sight I will not soon forget.

 

Popped a bike tire when I was a kid.
I always treat old parts car tires with respect.
I was at a highway rest-stop once, and a semi trailer was stopped there with a smoking wheel bearing. The heat in the axle must have heated the air in the tire, because after about five minutes, the tire exploded. kaBOOOM!
I didn't go to see if anyone was hurt, because there was another tire on that axle, and I didn't feel like being the sacrificial stranger that day.
I remember when I was a kid, driving down the highway at night with my dad, and seeing the axle of a semi trailer glowing orange from a dry bearing. The whole hub was bright orange. We alerted the driver, and kept driving.
Another time I was driving right next to a semi truck when the tire blew. My door was next to the tire that went bang. That'll scare the hell out of you.
No damage to my vehicle, though.

I'm waiting for that day when Boy Wonder blows up a bike tire. Seems like we all manage that one.

-Brad

 

Wow, I used to not be scared to air up my tires....but after reading all of these posts, I will be careful!
That is what is so good about the HAMB, if there is an injury to be had, you can find stories about them here!

 

I havent had a tire explode, but I once had a mate that pulled the pin on a grenade and it blew up. Messed him up real bad but didnt kill him, lost an arm.
Some dickhead ahd packed instany fuses into delayed boxes

 

Real men use Ether...

I
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I see a lot of references to split rims, they were dangerous pieces. A guy I worked with went to a truck shop to take the owner to lunch. There was a new guy there putting a tire on a split rim. He was a big guy and a hard worker, but you know how it is with the new guy, you're never sure how much he really knows and how much he's pretending. He said he knew how to do those rims when he was hired. On his way to the car Shop Owner says "Let me make one thing clear. When you air that tire use the cage or you'll be fired on the spot when I get back. I don't want anyone killed in my shop." When he came back from lunch Shop Owner found out that New Guy was using the cage...by cramming his whole body inside and reaching out with the air hose to fill the tire!

 

"New Guy was using the cage...by cramming his whole body inside and reaching out with the air hose to fill the tire!"

I laughed...then I began to wonder whether New Guy was dumber or actually a lot smarter than everyone else...??? Give him a gas tank to cut open and we'll see.
After reading this whole thread, I think I am looking for some 1920 Mack wheels with solid tires for everything I own, and I'm gonna hide in that cage til conversion is completed by hired hands!

 

I seen a car tire blow on a guy once.he somehow got the air hose stuck on the valve and couldn't get it off.I seen him walk around the front of the car 2 or 3 times then kept going back to the tire.guess he was trying to figure out what to do.I noticed him while pumping gas.seemed strange the way he kept jumping up.he nealed down in front of the tire out of my site and then goes the boom.if you have ever heard a grenade go off thats what it sounded like.scared the shit out of me.it knocked him off his feet and fell straight back with his hands over his eyes.I ran over to him and forced his hands off his eyes ,it was a mess.I don't know if it was the steal belts or what but it cut his face and eyes up bad.he couldn't see.I calmed him down and called 911.I sit with him til they got there.he told me he couldn't see.I tryed to play it off and tell him it was where the air blasted him in the eyes that it would take a bit for him to get his self together.but sitting there for 15 minutes or more with him it was clear it was more than that.strange colored stuff was running out of the corners of his closed eyes.It was strange to me .I didn't know the guy at all but I held his hand while waiting, saying a prayer.he looked like billy badass with all his tats and he was a big dude.every time I'd let go of his hand he would beg me to not leave him.they took him off and I never found out what happen to him.wish I did.I have new tires on my cars but I still stand off to the side if I'm at the air pumps