4 Parts Of Your Ute That May Need Repairs After A Front Tyre Blowout

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Of all the various mishaps you may encounter while driving your ute, suffering a tyre blowout is one of the scariest and dangerous. Front tyre blowouts can be particularly harrowing. Fortunately, modern tyres are specifically designed to minimise the chance of blowouts as much as possible, but they can still occur if your tyres are sub-standard, or they have suffered damage due to extreme heat or obstacles in the road. 

Once you have safely gotten to the side of the road after a blowout, you may think you're out of the woods. Unfortunately, the sheer force of a tyre blowout can cause extensive damage to other parts of your vehicle, which will need to be fully assessed and repaired by a reputable car repair service. Here are four of the most commonly damaged ute components after a front tyre blowout:

Front axle

As you can imagine, a sudden, intense tyre blowout can put immense strain on the axle your blown-out wheel is attached to, and many blowout victims find that their front axle has been bent, cracked or wrenched from its housing by the force of the blowout. If your front axle has been damaged, your ute may not sit level once you have attached your spare wheel. If the damage is particularly extensive, you may not be able to fit a spare wheel at all. in these cases you should call for a tow, ideally straight to a car repair workshop.

Wheel well liners and covers

The wheel well liners and covers that encase your front wheel arch are first in the firing line during a tyre blowout, and most blowouts will cause significant damage to the external cover and the internal liner. Usually, this damage is cosmetic, and the damaged components can be repaired or replaced by any good car body repair service. However, if the external liner has been badly deformed, you may need to remove it entirely in order to properly fit your spare wheel.

Windscreens and windows

Tyre blowouts almost always occur at cruising speed, and the force of the blowout combined with the high rotational energy of your wheels can cause the shredded rubber from your tyre to travel a great distance at incredible speed. In many cases, shreds of blown-out tyre whiplash upwards, smashing the driver's side of the windshield and/or the driver side window in the process. If your windshield has suffered any damage more extensive than a minor crack, it will be unsafe to drive and you should have it towed immediately for repairs.

Front bumper

Flying shreds fo tyre rubber can also travel forwards after a blowout, damaging your front bumper and the attachments that hold it in place. Alternatively, damage to the wheel well cover can force the front bumper forwards so it no longer aligns with the ute's chassis. This type of damage can generally be repaired quickly and easily by an experienced vehicle repair specialist, but you may need to remove the damaged bumper temporarily if it starts to trail along the ground as you drive.

15 October 2019