Came out this morning and my Equinox tire (225/65R17) was dead flat and resting on the rim. Fortunately my other car had a dead battery. I took the tire off and dropped it off at the local tire shop for repair. My question is, was there any chance of damage to the tire if I had left it sit until I came home from work tonight? Would damage occur if I let the tire sit for a couple of days?
Thanks,
Ed B.
How old is the tire? Ur equinox could be a 2006 and the tire is a 2009.
I think the tire shop you took the tire to would be qualified to answer your question. Also I have never considered it fortunate that a car had a dead battery.
Just resting flat will not hurt the tire…It’s when they go flat at speed that they destroy themselves very quickly…Your tires serviceability will depend on where the puncture is found…
running them low or flat can damage them but i dont see it damaging it just sitting there unless the tire is dry rotted but it shouldnt be on that new of a car
your tire will be fine…your repair guy will tell you if something is unordinary and not safe. at that point he should refuse to fix tire due to safety
It’s possible the tire could be junk if it was being driven with low tire pressure before it went completely flat.
Hopefully the tire shop will examine the sidewall for any scuffing.
If there is damage to the tire or wheel that makes it unsafe, the shop that is patching the tire should let you know. Otherwise, I wouldn’t worry about it. This is really a question you should ask the folks who are repairing your tire.
Thanks for the replies. I must have picked up something on the way back from daughter’s high school last night, it’s only a 5-10 minute drive so it wasn’t driven with low pressure. I wasn’t comfortable leaving the tire on the car all day. The tire shop said the tire was fine and patched it from the inside.
Ed B.
sometimes I ll just slip the jack under and lift the car or truck enough to take the pressure off the tire if i m in a hurry. i don t think its good for the steel bands to have all the weight resting on them
As others have said, it all depends on what happened BEFORE the vehicle was parked. While sitting on a flat tire isn’t good for the tire, the tire would have survived 24 hours in that condition. Months or years is a different story.
It’s a 2013 Equinox purchased 11/12, currently has 25k miles. Out of habit I check the TPMS readout every day, the tire pressures were 33 - 34 PSI the day before. The tire went flat overnight so it was sitting on the flat no more than ~8 hours. As wesw suggested I originally jacked it up to take the weight off the tire, then I figured I might as well drop it off at the tire shop on the way to work.
The shop takes the tire off the rim to do an inside patch and then remounts and balances it. The shop has a good reputation and would not have repaired the tire if it did not pass their inspection. I remounted the tire last night and as of this morning it is holding pressure.
I’ve had more than my share of flats this year (2003 Taurus, 2010 Cobalt, and 2013 Equinox) and each time the donut spare needed air. The worst was the Taurus where the spare was down to ~15 PSI. It looked like it had never been out of the trunk. Even the Equinox spare was ~40 PSI instead of recommended 60 PSI. I’m going to get into the habit of checking the spare pressure on a regular basis.
Ed B.
I check the donut at each oil change.
I check my spares every once in a while, but I also carry a 12 volt compressor and a manual air pump in the trunk.
Why was it fortunate that your other car had a dead battery?
"Why was it fortunate that your other car had a dead battery? " I was being facetious.
As long as you did not drive on the flat, there is no problem.
Yosemite