Flat tires suck! and Sears sucks! (rant and question) - UPDATE: Sears is EVIL!

[psteng19]

On the drive to work, I'm driving and all of a sudden I here a loud pop that scared a little. I thought i ran over a water bottle or something so I ignore it. About 2-3 miles later, I feel a slight wobble and I'm thinking, crap... must've popped my tire.
So I pull over the next exit and it's nearly flat. I bring it to sears to get it patched and I wait nearly an hour until they tell me, "Sorry, the hole is too big to be patched. Can we interest you in a new tire?"

I'm like BS! if the hole was that big, I would've gone flat a lot faster than actuality. (of course im thinking that to myself - also thinking they're just trying to sell me a new tire to make more money). So I ask him to show me the hole which he did, and I didn't see the BIG hole he was talking about. I didn't even see a small hole.

So I leave Sears on my spare, cuz I don't wanna spend $70 on the new tire they wanna sell me.

it's finals week, i'm at school, and money is tight.
so I'm going to throw on my old 13"s and drive with 3 15"s and 1 13".
Is that safe to do it for an extended time?
(i plan to drive 200 miles home to my local trusted tire patching place)

TIA

EDIT: update below

 

[Jerboy]

<< On the drive to work, I'm driving and all of a sudden I here a loud pop that scared a little. I thought i ran over a water bottle or something so I ignore it. About 2-3 miles later, I feel a slight wobble and I'm thinking, crap... must've popped my tire.
So I pull over the next exit and it's nearly flat. I bring it to sears to get it patched and I wait nearly an hour until they tell me, "Sorry, the hole is too big to be patched. Can we interest you in a new tire?"

I'm like BS! if the hole was that big, I would've gone flat a lot faster than actuality. (of course im thinking that to myself - also thinking they're just trying to sell me a new tire to make more money). So I ask him to show me the hole which he did, and I didn't see the BIG hole he was talking about. I didn't even see a small hole.

So I leave Sears on my spare, cuz I don't wanna spend $70 on the new tire they wanna sell me.

it's finals week, i'm at school, and money is tight.
so I'm going to throw on my old 13"s and drive with 3 15"s and 1 13".
Is that safe to do it for an extended time?
(i plan to drive 200 miles home to my local trusted tire patching place)

TIA >>



Try Les Schwab or Chevron. I got mine fixed for $20 at Chevron.

 

[The Stigenator]

I wouldnt suggest running on a 13 inch with 15 inchers.. your car will pull to that side and also its unsafe..

just puto n the doughnut.. and drive.. make sure you dont go faster than 50mph and 50miles. If you go 65 miles, remember to stop every 30 minutes for about 10 minutes or so that tyre can cool down.

 

[Soybomb]

If you do it, put it on your non power driven spots
ie: if you're front wheel drive, but it in the back
if you're rear wheel drive put it in the front
If you're all wheel drive or full time 4wd don't do it unless you're sure it won't harm the transfer case.

 

[psteng19]

<< I wouldnt suggest running on a 13 inch with 15 inchers.. your car will pull to that side and also its unsafe..
just puto n the doughnut.. and drive.. make sure you dont go faster than 50mph and 50miles. If you go 65 miles, remember to stop every 30 minutes for about 10 minutes or so that tyre can cool down. >>



but if the spare is even smaller (i think it's 11" or 12") AND thinner, wouldn't I be able to drive safer, longer and faster with a full size 13"?

 

[Zenmervolt]

Soybomb is right, your best bet is to put the 13-inch on the non-driven axel. If you put the 13-inch on a driven axel, it will cause a lot of wear on the differential (which is probably the main reason that a temporary spare is not supposed to go faster than 50 mph or longer than 50 miles). There will be some issues with one 13-inch even if it's on the non-driven axel because it will throw off the alignment somewhat. However, 200 miles should not be enough distance to generate a large problem. Perhaps a better solution would be to drive with 2 15-inch wheels and 2 13-inch wheels, with each axel having two wheels of the same diameter. Of course, this only works if you in fact have 2 13-inch wheels available, and it would require some extra trunk space for the other 15-inch wheel that you'll then need to carry in your trunk. However, I think that driving on 2 15-inch wheels and 2 13-inch wheels is likely to be the best compromise, assuming, of course, that your car does not have AWD or full time 4WD, because having differences in wheel size between the two axels would wear out the center diferential.

ZV

 

[The Stigenator]

really your dougnut is that small..
mine is one size smaller (and so it is in the other cars). If that is the case put the 13" and run it home, but careful..
also put it on a non power wheels.. if your front wheel drive, just put it the rear, that way steering will be easier.

 

[KeyserSoze]

I agree. Sears does suck. IF you contact their main offices, cuz they helped us out. We told them how rude this guy was, and how he didn't help us out at all on our battery. In the end, they refunded our money on the battery, and just asked that we pay 10 labor. So we glady did. Then after that, the store manager gave us a 5 dollar gift card to anything in the store. (Hey, it was something.) So, it went from costing us 50 bux to 5.


Good luck to you.



KeyserSoze

 

[psteng19]

my stock tire size is 13" so the spare is probly 12".

sears isn't so honest after all. they're just out to get our money. the whole time, the guys was very persistent in getting me to buy a new tire, buy a new tire...

at the end, he reluctantly give me the $5 coupon survey thingy that everyone else gets..

 

[Brutuskend]

Back in the 70's when I worked for Sears they had (and I think still do) a satisfaction guaranteed of your money back policy.
You raise hell long enough and LOUD enough. They will come through.
Is the bad tire from Sears?




Another option is go buy a used tire from a junk yard or tire store. Sometimes you can score one for around $5 then you just need to pay for mounting and balancing.

And the above posters are right about NOT running different size tires on your drive end. Not only can it damage your car, but it will also speed your other tire on IT?S way to being bad!!

Also there IS a max size which the hole can be and still be repairable. It they patch a hole that is larger than that, and you go out and kill yourself because the tire blows, they can be sued back to the stone age!

 

[Ladies Man]

go to salvo or pep boys or whatever and buy a tire patch kit... its plugs that go into the hole and seal it.

First off inflate the tire to find the hole... then follow the directions
easy as apple pie

kits are cheap too.... and have fixed many a tire that "needed to be replaced"

 

[psteng19]

I brought it to Kost Tires this morning (a small chain that specializes in brakes, tires, shocks and struts).
They patched it up for me in 45 mins (there was a short line).

The dude rang it up to $10.75... I handed him a $10 and a $5 - he took the $10 and said don't worry about it - he probably knew I was a poor college student.
Then he got one of his henchmen to jack up my car and mount it on the rotor for me in less than 2 mins.

Now that's service! which is more than what I can say for Sears.

The whole time at Sears, I had the feeling the guy was just trying to sell me a tire, rather than help a young kid in need.
I really have the urge to call up Sears and file a formal complaint! :|
First for lying to customers, and sales pressure...

at least now I don't have to ride with different sized tires...

 

[Thegonagle]

Just don't go to Sears. I don't let them do anything to my cars except install a new DieHard. Those are still good batteries.

 

[iamwiz82]

my girlfriend got a flat on a sunday, so no tire places were open. Went to Sears with her tire in my trunk, bought a new one, had them mount it on the rim, and all those goodies, $40 total. Not too bad.


On top of it, the mechanic let me wash the dirt fromthe tire off in their break room

 

[notfred]

I got a flat last sunday. Pulled the tire off the car, threw it in the back of the car and took it to sears. The guy there said"Hey, this is off a 5.0, isn't it?" We talked about mustangs a bit, he fixed the tire, I paid $15 and everything went fine.

Tires dont go "POP!" and jsut get a tiny pinhole in them. You sure that there isn't a big hole in the tire, and you just dont know what you're looking at? All the air in 2-3 minutes is quite a leak. I mean, if you couldn't spot a hole in your tire AT ALL then I guess your tire is fine, right?

 

[Thegonagle]

<< On top of it, the mechanic let me wash the dirt fromthe tire off in their break room >>



How curteous!

I still only like them for batteries.

 

[StageLeft]

Well since Kost repaired it you should find out from sears why they were unable too - call them.

 

[Thegonagle]

<< Well since Kost repaired it you should find out from sears why they were unable too - call them. >>



Heh heh, that might be fun!

I would just let it go though. I really don't care. It's buyer beware.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Send a letter to the service center manager stating the facts and ask for a written response on why you were treated as such. REquest the response within a reasonable time frame (2 weeks).

If you do not get a good response (in your judgement) send a copy of the original letter to the district manager and to Sears HQ in Chicago.


I am in this process right now because of an incident with a child last week.

This advice came from another daughter who is a manager of a Sears Auto in DC.

 

[psteng19]

<< Tires dont go "POP!" and jsut get a tiny pinhole in them. You sure that there isn't a big hole in the tire, and you just dont know what you're looking at? All the air in 2-3 minutes is quite a leak. I mean, if you couldn't spot a hole in your tire AT ALL then I guess your tire is fine, right? >>


Actually it was all the air in 2-3 miles, probably closer to 5-7 minutes.
The pop was pretty loud, and it did scare me, but I could not find nor see the hole at all.
I drove on the highway a little more cautiously today, and all seems fine.

Eaglekeeper, good idea. i think i'll do it. Hopefully they'll give me a discount or something on my next purchase