Ugh, tire trouble. As the sole connection between the road and everything that makes your car capable of car stuff, a bum tire means you aren’t going anywhere. Assuming you regularly cast your peepers upon those precious rubber donuts to anticipate pending tread trouble, odds are when something does go bad, it’s a surprise – and with the worst possible timing, probably.
Today’s Autopian Asks invites you to share your stories about tires gone bad, and I’m sure most of us have had at least one or two experiences with flats or failures. That certainly includes me, especially if we factor in bicycle tires. But if we keep it to cars, there are two tales that stand out for me.
Before getting my brand-new-at-the-time 2012 Mustang GT, I had exclusively driven meagerly powered “regular cars” and was used to tires lasting at least a couple of years, no matter how hard I drove. Not so with the Mustang GT. Though I never performed any smokey burnouts (never had a desire, TBH), I did drive the car like it was meant to be driven, with lusty rows through the gears at every opportunity and – because I live in North Texas – only occasional chances to really feel the car’s handling, mostly brief moments on highway exit and entrance ramps. And so, after maybe six months with the car, I was surprised to discover what looked like paint on the rear tires. White paint, down the centers of the treads. Had I run over freshly-painted lines? No, wait, that’s not paint – those are the cords of the tire carcass. Yikes. I quickly learned how much more expensive fresh low-profile, high-performance rubber is compared to the cheap treads I was used to putting on Civics, Camrys, and Corollas. And I drove more gingerly after that.
The second tire tale is my most recent. Anytime there’s a hailstorm, the roofing guys descend to repair damaged shingles, and roofing nails soon litter the alleys that are the arteries of Texas suburbia. I inevitably pick up one or two during roofing season, which sucks, but I can generally seal the tires. But not my last puncture – it seemed nothing would work. Not the sticky-rubber strip plug, not the sealant I dumped in there after. What a drag. I Slack’d the whole fiasco.
… anyway, I eventually got it sealed up with the third attempt at a strip-type plug. That sucked.
Your turn:
Tell Us About The Last Time You Had Tire Problems
Top graphic image: DepositPhotos.com
I live on a state highway that sees over 8000 vehicles a day and a lot of those vehicles are trucks. I run over stuff in my GMC Canyon all the time. Usually, the stuff gets run over by one of the front tires, which somehow makes it stick up just enough… to puncture the rear tire a few milliseconds later.
The worst was a 5/16″ box wrench, but I’ve also had finishing nails, staples, screws, and even a sharp piece of stone once.
Good thing I get the road hazard warranty at Wal-Mart so they just fix it for free when I bring them the tire. I get my money’s worth out of that warranty. Unless it’s too close to the sidewall. Then I have to buy a new tire.
The last time I had a flat it was a staple. I was parked at work, and it was raining. A few people saw the low tire during the morning and told me about it, so at lunchtime I clocked out, ate my lunch in about 8 minutes, then put my coat on and went out to the muddy parking lot. (in the rain) I quickly got out the jack, the hardware, and the 4-way, loosened the lug nuts, jacked up the truck, lowered the spare from under the bed, took off the flat tire and threw it in the bed of the truck, installed the spare, raised up the spare tire holder, lowered the truck, tightened the lug nuts, then tossed the jack and hardware in the bed of the truck, and made it back inside with 5 minutes to spare of my half-hour lunch break.
Like a NASCAR pit stop, only slower and muddier. 🙂
Not a tire problem so much as a wheel problem, but my foolish self forgot to properly torque the lug nuts once and the thing nearly came off when I was going 70 on the interstate. Sheared 2 studs off and was hanging on by only a single nut. Thankfully this was at like 5 AM so nobody else was on the road at the time.
I drove a Pontiac Vibe for almost a decade, and for some reason that thing was the queen of flats. On the one hand, I’ve changed tires in uncomfortable and sometimes dangerous situations. On the other, I got really good at it.
One time I was swapping a flat out for the donut in a college town. These 4 big guys swagger up and take over. I let them since I was in a dress and wedges and they were fun to flirt with. After they left, I started the car but just had … a feeling. I got out and checked the lugs and they were not even handtight! You could shake the tire around it was so loose on there. I jacked the car back up, took the donut off, and redid the entire process since I was worried of what else they might have screwed up.