The tires on my '79 Dodge Ramcharger were 10.5 inches wide. They were non-metric radial tires way back then. 10.5 inches = 266.7 millimeters so they're either the same width as the tires I have now or very close to it depending on how accurate they measure them. I had 8-spoke steel wheels that came from the factory painted metallic brown to match the removable steel roof. I never took the roof off but it only had 2 or 3 bolts on each side and 2 by the top of the windshield. This is what my brand new SUV looked like when it was only 1 year old and already totaled out. I posted these before but don't remember how long ago it was. BTW 12.5 inches = 317.5 millimeters if anyone wants to know.

 

haha thats cool. that really sucks that it got totaled though

 

It was a Sweet ride with a capital S. That was the first automobile I rolled and landed on my head. I did it again with my Dodge van but that one wasn't my fault. The van should have been totaled out but it spent months at a dealer having most of the body replaced and whatever else they did to it. I think one of the front fenders was okay. I have a picture of the Ramcharger when it was still in good shape that I'll try to find and post. Off the top of my head I think the tires were Goodyear Tracker ATs but I could be wrong about the AT part. I saw a magazine ad back then where they said it was the quietest tire to make it up Pikes Peak. I switched Chevy because I never had a Dodge I could keep right side up.

 

Haha thats funny. With how hight my trucks lifted im gonna have to be careful on turns. Even with 12.5 in wide tires, a 10in lift has it sit high and gotta be more careful on turns

 

I rolled a 1980 Toyota 4x4 pickup truck, ... back in the day (1981). The insurance company replaced the entire cab, and much of the other body panels, and I drove that truck for another 12 years with no problems before eventually selling it.

 

I hope you were buckled up. I wasn't and I've had headaches nearly every day since I woke up the morning after the first rollover back in 1980 or '81. I've had arthritis for over 35 years too. I got my neck x-rayed last year and it has a little zigzag from side to side that wasn't there before.

 

Both of us were buckled up. The truck had slid sideways on a patch of ice, then while sideways slid back onto dry ground, and flipped onto its roof. It came to a stop on its roof, and my friend and I were left hanging from our seat belts. My friend started to panic, saying the truck was going to blow up, and saying we needed to kick a window out. I asked him to try to just roll down the window, and sure enough it rolled down, and we were able to just crawl out. I had a bed mounted roll bar in that truck that combined with the seat belts probably saved our lives.

 

Wow. It's a good thing you buckled up.

One time 30-ish years ago I was staying at my uncle's house for a winter break. He had a massive heart attack right in front of me and I called 911. When they loaded him in the ambulance they said follow us, so I did. This is the accident I said wasn't my fault. At that point in my life I was wearing my seat-belt all the time but I wasn't in my right mind and forgot. I don't know how fast we were going but the ambulance was hauling *** with the lights and sirens on going up I-75. We were passing people who were going 70 MPH and when we were 1/4 mile from the exit my van slid back and forth a couple of times and hit the snowbank on the right side of the road. It sounds like the same type of thing you did except for hitting a big snowbank instead of dirt. The front of my van popped up in the air and was spinning like a top and when it came back down it kept rolling. There was all kinds of stuff flying around in the back of the van where I was, including a slab of marble my dad said was a windowsill. It was 1' wide and 5' or 6' long, and I was taking it to him to do his leather-work on. One corner of it punched a hole through the side of my van. It could have killed me if I wasn't so lucky. My mom still has a piece of in on her kitchen counter. No knife is slicing through that when she's cutting things up. Most of the time I was in the air in the middle of the van with everything swirling around me. Other than landing on my head again and having strained muscles I wasn't hurt at all. I opened the side door and walked over to the shoulder of the road. Someone stopped and took me to War Memorial Hospital in the Soo where they told me my uncle was dead. They said his heart basically exploded (yeah,right) and he died instantly. There have been a few other male relatives of mine who died of heart attacks. It was always the first heart attack because they all dropped dead right on the spot. My Uncle K, Uncle L, Uncle R, cousin Jim. Boom! Out go the lights. They x-rayed my neck and it was okay except for some arthritis I had back in my 20s.

When my dad saw the tracks my van left in the snow he said I was 1/4 mile from the exit and rolled halfway there. I thought it was just one of dad stories until I saw it myself. It really did roll farther than you would ever imagine it could. When the van was rolling I didn't know which way was up and I'm not sure how long the front stayed up in the air, but my long full-size van was about 19'-20' long and the tracks in the snow were only 4' wide until it came back down and went into a regular full-body roll. This may all sound like BS but I would swear under oath it's all true. I don't have any pictures of the accident scene or my van after the accident to prove it. I had to take a 15 hour bus ride home that only takes 4 hours if you don't stop anywhere. And my van was at the dealership in Sault Ste. Marie for 8 months being repaired while I was waiting at home for it and bumming rides from anyone I could to get to work and back. I wish the insurance company would have just totaled it out. Every once in a while after that a hinge would snap on the back and side doors, but the front door hinges never broke. I think I replaced all 8 hinges before I gave my van to charity. I used to keep all the hardware I found lying around the driveway in a cardboard box in case I needed it. There's no telling how much crap vibrated loose on the roads. I have some pictures of my van I'll post later after I find them.

 

Dang Frank, sounds like you're lucky to be alive. Glad you made it.

 

Thanks. You can just call me Lucky Man. Besides the 2 rollovers I've had a lot of other crashes, almost drowned twice, got electrocuted bad enough for my heart to stop temporarily. That's all that comes to mind right now but I've had a lot of close calls. Some old fart pulled out in front of me on the highway and I slammed on the brakes so hard my truck skidded and the trailer swung over into the other lane and tried to pass me. I didn't know you could skid like that with anti-lock brakes. It was right on the corner of M-33 and State Rd just north of Ogemaw Heights High School. I'm more alert than usual there in case someone tries it again. I'm always looking out for deer up there too.

ETA: I posted a link to Google Maps but it said invalid request or something like that.