TAMPA, Fla. — When a tire explodes, you can't always pinpoint exactly what happened; was it a nail, was the tire compromised in some way, or was it a combination of old tires and extreme heat?
AtBrazzeal Automotive, they do it all, from automotive work to checking and installing new tires. Owner and General Manager Chris Brazzeal told ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska that generations past and present have prided themselves on tires.
Brazzeal gave some expert advice on how to keep your family safe.
"The problem comes in when the tires are not in good condition," Brazzeal said. "Aged, dry rot, like you're talking about very common on trailers and RVs. Because they don't drive as much and they sit.
The first piece of advice is to ensure your tires are properly inflated. Low tire pressure can lead to significant issues on the road.
"It's kind of interesting; a tire with low pressure will heat up even more," Brazzeal said. "The vehicle load will heat that tire and cause damage."
The tire will start to collapse onto itself and potentially begin shaving rubber off the interior of the tire. Brazzeal showed us a tire at their "tire graveyard" Brazzeal pulled out shavings to show us how damaging it can be.
Brazzeal said the most important thing to remember is to check the tire's age. You can do that by finding the DOT number, and the last four out of the sequence will show the week it was manufactured and the year.
"It's never as good as it was when it's new. It's always losing life slowly over time," Brazzeal said. "And, if it's six, seven years old, you want to get 40,000. The age becomes more important than the mileage at that, at that, at that time."
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2021, 622 people died in tire-related crashes.
Brazzeal said checking your tires more often can save a life.
"If you see any large cracks or cuts that would, that would be a reason to have it checked in a steel band show. No good, yeah, if you got your steel bands coming through you, you pass your useful life, and you're in a dangerous position now because that's telling you that the tire is starting to come apart," Brazzeal said. "When you see the steel band, That means that casein is starting to spread, and it's a ticking time bomb at that point, all right."
