ALPOC Message Board

[FelipeT]

Hey everyone...

I had a little bit of excitement, Probe-style about a week ago. I was on I-285 in North West Atlanta, about three lanes in from the right shoulder when I got this:



But wait!

That's not all!

I also got this, at no additional charge:



Want a closer look?

You got it!




Not only that, but there's also this:



I was driving along, when suddenly, I heard a clicking coming from the right, rear wheel well. It sounded as if a length of string had gotten caught in my wheel and was whipping against the wheel well. I thought that I should pull over at the next exit to see what it was, and just as suddenly, it stopped. Then it was too late. Burning rubber smell filled the car and the tire was gone. I limped across two lanes of traffic and stopped on the narrow shoulder to find what I've just shown you.

I made it back on the donut without incident... eventually. That's a long drive at 50-55 MPH, plus an additional stop along the way to make sure that the donut isn't self-destructing.

In case you couldn't tell, I took these pictures when I got home. I was changing back over to my "good" wheels. I guess that in this case, procrastination paid off. I had just put a set of tires on my 17" wheels, but had not gotten around to swapping them out yet. I can tell you that I would have been pissed if I had changed them right before heading up to Atlanta and destroyed a tire right away.

My only regret is that I didn't procrastinate more! If I had, I would have still had my 17" wheels in the back of the Probe at the time. I drove around with them in the hatch for about two weeks before taking them out, only a few days before my trip to Atlanta.

As an aside, here is one more picture:



Yes, it's time to re-paint these, but consider this: I painted these about 12 or more years ago with engine paint (I can't remember which brand, but not Dupli-Color.) Honestly, I'm amazed that it has held up as well as it has. Proper prep pays off!

PS--Sorry about the image sizes!
_________________
--Felipe I Torrejon
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[BarryG]

*low whistle* You got away lucky!!

B
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Butter!
Parkay!

[FelipeT]

Yeah, it was definitely not a slow time in traffic when it happened. I'm just lucky it wasn't a front tire--that could have been a good bit worse...

You know, a few seconds before the tire went, the guy in the tow truck next to me was giving me a really weird look. I'm guessing that now I know what that was about!
_________________
--Felipe I Torrejon
Visit My eBay Store!