ramo1246

Ok yesterday i was driving on the interstate, i nearly got a blowout on the passenger side but instead of blowing out the treads from the tire started to tear off and started to hit some wires directly above the tire. a few seconds later my ls 400 makes a loud thump and i start to think its just the tire that blew out. but when i got to the passenger side tire, the tire was still inflated but the treads were all gone almost to the tube and I saw wires hanging right above the tire i have pictures to explain further.

This First picture is just what wire and what it looks like.


Ok the second is sort of what i found it like but the i saw the yellow wire more visible(sorry i didnt get the wire in but ill put it in later)


Ok the last is where the wire is going into the engine, the wire goes directly to where the fuel pump relay is located.( The piece of the yellow wire is what i found first when i pulled over)


Ok i also forgot to mention the my air bag went off in the car as well, my uncle told me that the car is basically trashed because it cost around 1500 to fix because it will cause some electrical problems will arise.

Can anyone help on how i would approach on fixing this.

TJW98LS

iTrader: (1)

Did you.... retread your tires?? And why is the wire exposed? Shouldn't there have been a rain guard on the inner fender well?

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Ouch.

Did it have the fender liner prior to this incident?

emarknot

not completely trashed.

looks like its time to learn you some wirin skillz !!!!

seriously though, junk yard the steering wheel, and an impact sensor for the airbag......and as tjw98ls said, get the rain guard/panel.
your lucky nothing worse happened. I had a tread come off at 90mph while on the freeway in a 85 mr2. scariest thing that ever happened to me !

and tjw...the tread cap coming off is fairly common now-a-days. im in phoeinx az ana you see tread caps often. in fact, on my way home from work last night, saw it on a honda crv, it managed to rip off the side step rail.....and this in a 40mph zone. I think it was around 111 degress f yesterday too.

to the op, glad you got away ok.

emarknot

sorry.....there is a company called LKQ.

http://www.lkqselfserve.com/

we use these guys in az. "we" have gotten 2 honda complete steering colums with airbags for $30 each. not too sure "you" would get them for as "we" are a commercial account.

BCP43002

Mine happened 1st week of June doing 80. What make of tire and how old? Mine was Bridgestone and it was covered under Bridgestone's tread separation warranty less wear.

emarknot

he's running michelin's. you can see it in the pics. my blow-off was on a warrior brand tire.

ramo1246

ok as for the wiring, would i just go and hook up the copper wires back together and tape them up and for the air bag what it would run me? not 1500 like i herd.
Also i live Arizona as well this happen on the I-10 between riggs road and the gila river bridge.
i never noticed if it had a rain guard first time i ever saw the wire. but ill post pictures of my fuel pump relay

emarknot

as for the actual wires, yes. you could ,cheapo not HIGHLY RECCOMENDED, but can be done with the 'ol butt connectors. the proper way is to get the metal butt connectors with solder in them. you put the wire ends in and heat them up and they solder together.
or
call lkq and see what awire harness would cost. there is a junk yard that prides themselves on lexus cars of i17 and deer valley-ish....as an alternate.

bit to be up and running...a minimum of butt connectors. then to be safe, the airbag shock sensor with wire harness and new steering wheel with airbag, and the all out......full wire harness,airbag sensor and the steering wheel.......oh, and a tire......just quote it all out and see what happens.
since your a semi-local, I MAY be able to help you through the shop...but dont quote me on it.

your only about 2 hours away from.


get your quote, and then ill call lkq, and we can compare....everything is delivered on a cash ticket, so c.o.d. is how it works and I could bill it out on a work ticket under my name plus 10%.

sorry if this kinda jumps around,im brainstorming on a smoke break and guitar time.

ramo1246

so would you think that its worth fixing, my step dad is trying to get me to junk my car because he said that the car wont start without the air bag because the computer in the car. i dont want to junk my car for 600 when i paid two times that.
do you think it would cost more than $1000 to repair?

sdls

.... just junk the car.

ramo1246

ive been looking online found some driver side airbags for 50 to 100 bucks, do any of you think it would be safe to install the airbags and steering column by myself?
im not bad at replacing parts on the engine but i never dealt with the airbag, i dont want to waste my money on a broken nose ill get by installing it.
but im really thinking of just doing what sdls said JUNK IT

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

if you can swing the labor then its not too much to save....

fix the wiring yourself (PROPERLY!!!)

and have a shop install the airbag if you're afraid/uncomfortable.
should be able to run just fine once the wiring is fixed.

deanshark

I've never replaced an airbag that blew but I had mine off the steering wheel a few times. It's only held in with 4 torx screws after you take off the steering column cover. The passenger side is a big PITA to get out. If you're afraid of it exploding just make sure there's no power getting to it. (unhook the battery) The thing I would worry most about is the wiring. If there's any airbag wiring mixed in with what got yanked out (I think that big yellow wire loom is airbag) maybe you should take it to a profesional. In the manual it says DON'T pull on the wires.

91LS400vgb

Wow - scary stuff. I never considered this ever happening to me. It would be good to know how old that tire is. It's hard to tell from the pic, but if that "0403" (see left side of tire in 1st pic) follows the DOT code, then it would indicate that the tire was made in the 4th week of 2003. See this:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=11
That would mean that it is an 8 year old tire. I've heard that it's a good idea to replace tires after they reach about 6 years of age, even if they still have lots of tread left. See this:
http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=4826897