I went for a quick cruise, breaking all the rules of desert 4x4 travel except the one about hauling a spare tire. It's mid 90's out here with zero shade. I was travelling alone in shorts and flip-flops, no sunscreen, no big floppy hat, no water, 7-1/2 miles to pavement.
About 1/4 mile from the canyon entrance at the Big Four mine I paused to let the cooling system catch up and heard a solid "fssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhh" with each wheel revolution. Knowing what was up, I turned around and tried to haul tail back home to change tires either in the shade or after sundown (not at 3pm). I made about 2 miles before I could tell the truck was doing the 3-wheel motion and had no choice but to change the tire there - the air impact sure made the job pleasurable considering the circumstances.
Here's what happens at 30-40 mph with no air (I was running about 14 psi before this happened - sure rides smooth at that pressure):
This tire was in pretty bad shape to begin with. It had a sidewall cut running from the wheel to just below the tread (where one of the big holes is now) but it never gave any troubles on a couple of 500 mile round trip freeway runs. You can also see some of the other pre-existing damage in the pics. I think I hit a cactus spine this time around and driving on the flat caused the tire to split like it did. At least it only went flat on the bottom! Oh, the crack in pic 3 was there before today - I just wanted something to zoom in on.
Wanted: one or more XL's from Owens Valley to Las Vegas.
Chris