Blue89Bird

I had a nasty tire blowout today, side wall of the tire blew out at 80mph, and I thought I was going to die. Well, I had the same thing happen about 2 months ago, same wheel, same side/position on the car (driver side rear)

I took the wheel off to put the donut on, and the bump stop is complely destroyed and all that is there is the aluminum hunk and none of the triangle foam/rubber part.

I know I need my shocks/springs replaced, but would they cause the bump stop to rub against the sidewall of the tire? I did hit a curb with the rear/passenger side tire during the winter, but that was a long time ago and they were my winter wheels and nothing has happened until the last 2 months, so I doubt thats the cause.

ANYONE HELP! I lost control today at 80mph and almost ended up in a guardrail.

LPEdave

It sounds like your wheel/tire setup puts the tire right up against the bump stop. Maybe also your axle is shifting left/right (check your panhard rod lately?) and allowing that wheel to come in toward the bump stop. I'd just put a wheel on, and take a look around under there - some clearance is way too close...

If needed, you can trim that bracket a bit shorter, or remove it entirely (though then you potentially have the problem of your wheel hitting inside the fenderwell on a big bump, especially if you already know you need springs)

Dave

Injuneer

Give us a hint... what wheels and tires are you using? Did you check the clearance after the first blowout? Did you check for damage after you first hit the curb?

The jounce bumper bracket actually sits inside the rear of the wheel when the car is at normal ride height.... a lot of people running 17x11's claim they don't even bother to trim the edge of the bracket off. I did, to prevent what you just described.

Blue89Bird

I am running 17x9.5 American Racing TT2's, sorry, should have specified.
Mounted on them are 275/40/17 BFG Comp TA KDWS tires.

After I first hit the curb, I never looked for damage, as it was at about 2-3mph in the snow and nothing felt wierd afterwards.

I have them removed right now (bump stops) and the spacers that SLP put on from the factory, and I'm going to order new bump stops from Dal today and mount them with the spacers I have.

My real question I guess is what would cause the left one to be worn down to nothing, while the right one wasn't. I mean, that right one shows its age, and it was dry and brittle and looks like crap, but it is all there, the driverside on the other hand was completely destroyed.

I'm getting 2 new rear tires mounted tommorow, and I'm going to have them look for any clearance issues, but to be honest, I can't see any with the car sitting on its own weight, or jacked up.

*edit*
I have a BMR panhard bar sitting here waiting to be installed, do you think the axle may be shifted causing the driver side tire/wheel to rub, and this will recenter the axle?

Looking at the car from behind, It sure doesn't look off center, but I'm guessing I wouldn't be able to see 1/4 inch with my bad eyes anyway.

LPEdave

The left one was destroyed because the wheel wacked into it. When you've got the new setup ready to go, someone's got to get under there, with the wheels on the car, and run the axle up and down to see how the wheel was hitting that bump stop. It could be the axle is shifted, something's bent, who knows, but that's not normal.

Oh, and I'd leave those spacers off, they're not going to do any good (not that I think they had anything to do with this incident).

Dave

Blue89Bird

alright, well I ordered new bump stops from Dal, and I'm having 2 new rear tires and my panhard bar installed tommorow.

Hopefully that will recenter the axle (if that's it) and I am going to install the new bump stops without the spacers that SLP put on, and everything should be good to go, I'll keep everyone posted when I get the car back on Sunday.

Injuneer

Measure it BEFORE they change out the panhard rod. It's really simple to check the tire to the fender or subframe clearance on both sides of the car. If the dimension isn't close to the same on each side, something may be bent, and it might be something other than the panhard rod.

Perhaps the one jounce bumper disintegrated because you have the spacers, which causes the bumper to hit the axle sooner (no one uses those spacers - they are not needed). Couple that with a weak shock on that side, and the jounce bumper could have been overworked.

Blue89Bird

well, the rearend was centered before the PHR was changed and still is afterwards. I'm guessing the driver side bump stop was broken off (don't know how) and then when I hit a hard bump or something, the tire hit something and caused it to blow out.

I will have my new bump stops installed tommorow ( to Dal) and they will be going on without the aluminum spacers from SLP, so hopefully everything will be alright.