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flat tire


Marc Smith
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Well got home on friday.  parked outside,  heard a hissing noise, but the neighbors ac unit was running and making its normal racket so i did not think much about it.

 

came back an hour later to go pick up my kid,  flat.  so I hop in wifes car, go get kid and stop at parts store and pick up the rubber goey string tire fix kit.

 find the hole was unable to pull out the offending object.  so I push it in and install the rubber strings.  problem solved.  but I'm planning a trip from DC to Canada so I get a proper plug patch and have the guys at work dismount the tire to make the repair.

 

this is what came out of the tire.   Just how the F$#@ does that get into the tire.

 

4/32 left on the tires  55K miles

 

so going to do a plug patch to get me through the next couple days...  argh.  wasn't planning on funding for new tires this year.

 

the plug patch goes in with almost no resistance.  so needless to say I don't have much confidence in the repair going to canada...

post-2136-0-32218200-1495563740_thumb.jpg

Edited by Marc Smith
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Yeah, its hard to imagine either of those things getting in there (sorry!).  Sure hope it wasn't vandalism - placed just right when parked.  So its not possible to get a really good patch from inside the tire or add a tube (don't know if that's even possible with TPMS)?  If the patch was reasonably trustworthy you might consider getting a spare.  I bought a full size wheel on-line from a wrecking yard and bought a new tire and took them to Nova Scotia a couple years back.  Takes up a bit of room but gave a lot of peace of mind.  Strapped it down nicely using three of the tie-downs.  Then you buy three new tires at replacement time and use one of the old ones as the spare.  Only problem with that approach is you have to buy four at once to get the $70 rebate (assuming its available then).

Edited by SnowStorm
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it was just the bolt in the tire.  not the pen.  the pen was there for size comparison.

 

i would imagine if it happened while i was at work (vandalism). it would have been flat or the TPS light would have lit before I got home. 30 minute commute.

 

The stars must have aligned perfectly for the tire to run over the bolt at the perfect angle to drive it into the tire.  maybe the bolt had dropped into crack and was sticking up.  I don't recall running over any obvious debris.

 

No way the ford fix a flat would have worked.

 

I guess I was due.  the last flat tire I had was when I ran over a pair of 90* needle nose plyers in my drive way...back in '97..

 

going to put two new tires on...

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I've had issues with flats in the last year, at least 3 of them. One was a bolt that is similar in length to the one pictured, but much smaller in diameter. It appears I got it while attending the auto show, about 6 weeks ago. I have wondered if it was vandalism; like you, it seems odd that the tire would have been punctured by that type of screw.

 

The one a year ago also seemed as if it likely was vandalism, I don't remember exactly what punctured the tire, but it did it about an inch above the ground, on the sidewall. The last one, back about February, I got a nail in the tire. It was in the tread but still required replacing the tire, as I caught it near the edge of the tire. So at least three flats, two of them required replacing a tire.

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what was really odd that it was the rear tire that picked it up,  which means i ran over it with the front tire, which probably got the bolt moving.

 

ended up buying two new tires and put them on the front axle...  made the trip to Toronto and back with no problems...

 

 

Raad.   my wife caught a peice of rebar sticking out of a curb .  went through the tire side wall took out a small chunk of the rim and hit the TPS.  expensive flat tire....

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what was really odd that it was the rear tire that picked it up,  which means i ran over it with the front tire...

Not necessarily... in a turn, your rear tires track inside the fronts, running over curb-side road debris the front tires miss. 

 

And you don't need rebar to hole the sidewall. I used a granite curb. 

Frank

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  • 3 months later...
  • 4 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

Right after buying car (the salesman surprised me at the delivery walkaround that there was no spare, jack, or lugwrench) bought a compact donut spare and jack package online and have carried it ever since.  Fits well behind passenger seat and tied down so doesn't move.  Good thing we normally only have 2 passengers and keep the back seats folded down otherwise it's essentially 3 passenger car.

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  • 2 years later...

Well after 6 years I finally got my first flat - with brand new tires less than 1K on them.  Driving 2 hrs to visit some friends, get within 2 miles of their place and I hear the "tick, tick, tick" -- as I turn through an intersection.  It's getting dark and auto shops want to go home on Friday.  After much consternation over not being able to find the plugs I bought a few years back - and pumping up the tire with the inflator going from garage to garage I was able to find an auto parts store and get a plug kit but it seemed like the tire still have a slow leak overnight.  Next day a regional Ford dealer was able to help me out with two new Energy Saver A/S .. thank goodness for extended service hours on Saturday.  So now I have my $400 memorial bolt.. the car rides like a dream .. Oh and while I was putting the inflator away I found the plugs I was looking for initially.  I think I am going to bring one of those LED lanterns, work gloves, an adjustable pliers wrench and some plugs everywhere I go now...probably also invest in AAA.  I agree that having at least a jack would also be helpful - it was a lot harder to plug with the tire still on the car but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Edited by jestevens
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Another Stevens here... I'm not happy that you had a flat but now my 'flat kit' of a spare tire, jack, ratch, breaker bar, etc. seems justified. I don't carry it all the time, just long trips (which includes Canada) but wanted to feel comfortable if I did have a flat. I tried the little joke kit under the passenger seat as a drill and it failed miserably.  I did the same drill with the jack and spare tire (an odd Kelly tire that was on the used C-Max we bought and I bought a new wheel and matching Michelin and put that on and kept the Kelly as a spare) and it worked out fine (about 14 min.). 

I already carry a headlamp, gloves, rachet with the right socket.  If you look closely you will see a little triangle marking where you should locate the jack and I marked it with white paint so I could see it more easily. The C-Max is certainly a lot heavier than my Focus as you crank up the scissors jack (bought it from a Kiwanis sale - for a Honda but works fine). 

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