Hi there - I have a question for all of you people who know something about cars/tires!
The other day, I arrived at the store and noticed my passenger side rear tire was almost completely flat. No idea if the damage happened on the way, or if I set off with fairly low pressure. I had just been driving on the interstate (!) although I didn’t feel/hear anything strange while driving. I refilled the tire and the pressure gauge on my little pump read VERY low, <10 psi.
From everything I read online, I was certain the tire was destroyed and afraid for the rims. I took it to the tire shop, explained what had happened, and - to my very great shock - after inspection they said they could repair the puncture and I’d be good to go. Great! But I was halfway-watching them while they were working, and I never saw them remove the tire from the rim…which made me a bit paranoid that maybe they didn’t fully check for the sidewall damage I read about online…
So my concern: can I really be sure there’s no sidewall damage from driving on the almost-flat? Should I be worried, or drive along on my merry way?
Edited to add: to my knowledge, these are definitely NOT run-flat tires. Regular old Firestones on a RWD sedan.
Very few tire shops will repair a tire if they even suspect it is marginal . The liability is too great . I guess your vehicle does not have the tire pressure monitor system so it might be a good practice to just look at your tires and check the pressure more often . As for not removing the tire they can be plugged while still on rim .
Thanks guys! Absolutely correct that my car has no tire pressure monitor system and that I should check them more often than I do. It’s a good wake-up call.
I would say the tire has around 25-30k miles on it and is under 2 years old. It wouldn’t kill me to replace it, but it’s definitely got some life in it yet - assuming the sidewall is safe, that is!
Also, I may just not have been watching closely enough, because I looked on the shop’s website (Discount Tire) and allegedly patching is always part of their repairs. If that’s the case, I take it the tire did come off the rim and they would have seen any damage?
To answer the original question, there is a small chance that the tire was damaged enough that it could fail at a later date. What you want to look for is a vibration that gradually gets worse over several hundred miles. If that happens, go directly to the tire shop and get it replaced. Don’t wait!!