Henryhank

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Hello Everyone!

I suppose I'm lucky to be alive and well today. On Monday I was driving on Rt 84 in CT on a nice, clear, sunny day -- with not much traffic. I also had my two small dogs in a crate in the passenger seat.

I was passing an 18-wheeler on the left, going about 70MPH. I heard a "thap-thap-thap-thap" sound coming from the truck trailer, and though "gee, that truck is about to throw a tread -- glad I'm not behind it!"... then seconds later, the SLK (with the top down) felt like it had been buffeted by a super-stiff wind and tossed the car to the side a bit -- luckily I had a firm grip on the wheel and was able to maintain control.

Then the "thap-thap-thap" sound became an obvious blow-out on my car as I nearly lost control of the car while crossing three lanes of highway to pull over. Yup, front right tire completely blown out.



(see more photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/heskin/TireBlowOut72808 )


Well, since I just bought this car, and it doesn't have ANY owner's manuals, I had to figure out how to jack up the car (find the jacking points), and this bizarre collapsible spare tire I've never seen before. Wow, that was strange to see and not know it was going to happen. Anyway, I got the spare on the car (oh, and did I mention, the car was already full of luggage from a 2 week trip to CA?).. I was able to put the top up and put the full size wheel in the trunk with the luggage -- it was a tight fit!).

So I had 60 miles to drive on the spare at 50MPH. Not knowing how long the spare is rated for (no manuals), I decided to pull off and find a local tire store. Long story short(er), the only tire they had that would fit was a Continental ProContact, so I had them put it on. (the other three tires are ContinentialSport Contact 2). Well, I didn't know the ProContact was a general R rated all-season tire.

So now, I'm curious if I should replace it with a Sportcontact 2 (or 3?) now to match the other front tire? Or should I replace them both with something different.

I was considering the Yokohama AVID W4S Ultra-high-performance all-season. Any opinions?

I'm looking for a three-season tire (dry, wet, cold, light snow), with low road noise. I don't need ultra-high performance (I have the BMW M5 for that need).. I just want a comfortable, low-noise, high-treadwear tire for the SLK. Any suggestions?

thanks.

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Gabus

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Man.........glad you're OK.

Here you'll find manual's: http://tinyurl.com/6qa475

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Glad your OK. Glad your car is OK. I've heard of problems with Continental tires. I had a customer at work that had a 2007 Cadillac sedan, not sure which model (not CTS or STS), maybe Deville. He had Continental tires and had bulges on the side wall of two. He stated he'd already had one or two replaced for the same problem. I have Continental ContiSport 2 tires on my VW NewBeetle. One rear tire has a slight bulge in the sidewall and I'm in the process of putting new tires on as a result.

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--------SLK 55 ///AMG---------
THE MON55TER ON THE BLOCK

DansSlk

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Sorry to hear that man.

Your tire choice is your call but I'd suggest keeping all the 4 corners the same and it is a requirement for you to keep both sides of an axle identical.

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Henryhank

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Thanks, but a "requirement"? And I know you're the expert and I'm not, and I can see making sure the driving wheels are the same tire due to the transmission and differential not being stressed, but the fronts? There's not an axle per se, so why does it matter?

thanks.

DansSlk

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You have very clever traction control and it wont like seeing even the smallest difference is rotational speed, even 2 identical tires with different pressures can cause it.

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Henryhank

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Right -- I forgot all about the traction control.

Tummy

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I had continental tires on our old 3 series and went through 5 tires and 2 rims in about a year. All got sidewall bulges, most likely due to our crappy streets and big pot holes around here. They never lost pressure, but I didn't feel safe driving around with the damage.

Baron7700

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Ive had 2 sets of michelin PS2's when I had my 350, and Countless Pirelli's on my fathers ferrari's as he liked to go through rears (No fault of the tire)

etyu

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Glad to know you're OK. Ever consider Yokohama Advan S4?

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Eddy

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Pewter/Beige, PIII package, Airscarf, Hands-Free Communication System, Lighting package
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Henryhank

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I have, but the reviews on tire rack aren't so good in terms of tread wear.

etyu

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Yokohama AdvanS4 has UTQG of 400-AA-A, link: http://www.1010tires.com/tire.asp?ti...model=ADVAN+S4

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Eddy

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UK-C200

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glad to hear you managed to steer out of it - from first hand experience, I know just how scary that can be.

Theres an interesting theory about catastrophic tire failure and the age of the tire itself. I can't find the thread, but basically the older the tire, the better the chance of catastrophic failure.

I inherited my grandmother's car when she was deemed "unfit" to drive. It was a four year old Camry with 2.2k miles on it. I lost a tire on the highway, and put the spare on. 25 miles later, I lost another tire. I'd suggest you check the age of your tires (manufacture date), and if they are more than 5 years old, consider replacing them all.

etyu

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It was ABC on 20/20. Here's a similar link: http://www.aa1car.com/library/tire_expire.htm

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Eddy

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