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Car Question.. Busted a tire today..

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Pathogen03

Golden Member
I was driving along a neighborhood street, about to get to the main load when all of a sudden i hear a "bang" and it *feels* like my fender is dragging into the road. I pull over immediately, and see i have a flat tire! I check my trunk, yes i have a spare. no i dont have a jack. I call Triple A, they send a guy out with a jack to change my tire and put the spare on. Then the guy left, i got in to my car, and drove about 1.1 miles home, at 30 mph in a TORRENTIAL downpour.

I get home, i park. I look at the spare, and the damn thing is about flat. Now i watched the guy do something with a little compressor that *looked* like he was inflating the spare for me.. So i dont know if my spare got shanked sometime in the past, or he just never inflated it. (It felt fine driving home, i only noticed it was weird when i pulled up near my house.)

Its now parked outside, and i was wondering... Is it bad for the car to drive short distances with 3 full tires, and one (front right) spare tire thats 99% flat? It looks like there is a tiny cushion of air between the wheel and ground. I have to get my car to the gas station early tomorrow morning, and i want to know if i should just go there, or pay them to come to me and reinflate my tire so i can get there. I would like to know how bad it is for a car to go about 0.8 miles to the gas station where my tires (2 months old!) can get replaced under warranty.

im driving a tank, err i mean 93 Mercury Sable.
 
Originally posted by: Pathogen03
Its now parked outside, and i was wondering... Is it bad for the car to drive short distances with 3 full tires, and one (front right) spare tire thats 99% flat? It looks like there is a tiny cushion of air between the wheel and ground. I have to get my car to the gas station early tomorrow morning, and i want to know if i should just go there, or pay them to come to me and reinflate my tire so i can get there. I would like to know how bad it is for a car to go about 0.8 miles to the gas station where my tires (2 months old!) can get replaced under warranty.
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Click to expand...

It's bad for the tire (which should be replaced now, if you drove it flat for pretty much any length of time), and can be bad for the rim. However, if you drove slowly, you can get the rim inspected and it will probably be fine.
 
You're probally fine driving to the tire place if its less than a mile away.

As long as its not riding on its rim, and has enough air in it, you're okay.
 
Driving for extended periods with tires of differing radii on the drive axle can stress the differential. Do not drive it to the gas station. Use a bike pump if you have to.

ZV
 
i drove the original tire flat for about 10 feet, but thats busted up anyway so i assume you mean im gonna have to buy a new spare..

Damnit! my rims shanked my spare! 🙁

I hope its not expensive.. lol im 17, my car gets 9 MPG...




Edit: I have no sort of pumps. And i have no immediate access to any, especially cuz im going to the gas station in about 7 hours.
 
Originally posted by: Pathogen03
i drove the original tire flat for about 10 feet, but thats busted up anyway so i assume you mean im gonna have to buy a new spare..

Damnit! my rims shanked my spare! 🙁

I hope its not expensive.. lol im 17, my car gets 9 MPG...




Edit: I have no sort of pumps. And i have no immediate access to any, especially cuz im going to the gas station in about 7 hours.
Click to expand...
Buy a pressure guage and check you tire throughout the day. You should be able to limp (maybe 5-10 mph max) to the gas station on the under-inflated spare as long as it stays inflated. If the car is resting on the rim of the wheel, then you cannot drive it.

In the future, a $20 cigarette lighter powered air compressor would be a good investment.

ZV
 
hrm, define resting on the rim.. it was pretty weak when i last checked.. i mean there was definetly rubber between the rim and the road, but...

and i cant buy anything, as its currently 12:00am, and at 7:00AM im going to the gas station.
 
Do not drive the car with a flat or almost flat tire. It is bad for the differential, and is most certainly bad for the tire. Get it pumped up, then drive it to wherever you're going to have it fixed.
 
man. That means im not gonna be able to take my car untill wednesday afternoon at the earliest..

I still dont know how im gonna fill it. 🙁


The Triple A guy was an asshole. Though it was during a torrential downpour, and neither I nor him had jackets.. =/ under normal circumstances id have disliked him, but he was ok given the environment. He definetly wanted to get back in to his truck.


As to why he didnt tow me.. I dunno.. It never even occured to me.
 
If it is a space saver spare, they generaly have a very large sidewall buldge because of the reduced radius and width. Check the air rpessure of the spare. It should probably be up around 50 PSI. Check the sidewall.

If the tire is flat, or close, get a friend to go buy you a compressor for $20. Don't drive on it any more then absolutely neccessary. As Zenmervolt said, the axlesafts will rotate at different speeds, which can put undue stress and cause wwear on the diff.

The spare was designed to get you to a safe location. That's it.

If you are going to the gas station to have them fix your other tire, forget it. Buy a new set for the axle. One new tire and another used tire will cause real weird handling and breaking, expecialy if on the front.
 
What i ment is call AAA and have them tow your car from your place to the gas station, no need to find a pump, no worries about damaging the rim, etc.
 
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