Tired of tires

[altivo]

Some of you will remember that I traded my 9 year old car last fall, and one of the reasons was that it needed all new wheels. They were beginning to leak air, and I had to top up the tires weekly. It had a lot of other nagging maintenance issues too.

Well, I thought I'd be avoiding the tire problem at least for a couple of years. Nope. Last night I left work to go home and just as I got outside of town I started hearing that thumping sound that usually means a tire is flat or at least headed for flat. Sure enough, the tire pressure warning light came on and I had to hunt for a safe place to pull over, not easy on most of our roads. I found one after about a mile, and got out in time to see the right rear tire gradually descending into collapse.

Thank the gods the weather has moderated and it wasn't raining. There was an hour of light left too. I used the cell phone to call home and leave a message, then set about figuring out how to unstow the spare and change the tire. The Escape has one of those tires that is stored under the back end, pulled up against the body by a cable and winch. While I was trying to figure out the way to put the jack together, Gary called me back to find out where I was, and said he was on his way with the big lug wrench and jack. OK.

However, other than some difficulty operating the tiny toy jack, I had managed to swap the tire by the time he arrived. The lug nuts were not frozen, and came right off. The wheel was not seized to the brake drum, and came right off. The spare descended smoothly from its cubby under the car, once I figured out how to crank it down. It wouldn't have been fun in nasty weather or in the dark with cars rushing by, but I guess it was a good rehearsal for the more difficult situation.

Gary arrived as I was heaving the flat tire into the rear compartment. He had called the Ford dealer, just a couple of miles back up the road in the direction I had come, and they said I could drop the car and tire off there and they'd repair the tire in the morning. Because of the pressure sensors in the wheel, you are supposed to have only a dealer fix flats. I know, some will say that's a rip off, but our dealer is quite reasonable and very helpful about rushing a job or squeezing you into the schedule. Went back, left the car and keys, rode home with Gary in his car.

This morning the dealer called to tell me the tire couldn't be repaired. The leak was a puncture all right, but it was a nail in the sidewall, perpendicular to the wheel and parallel to the road surface. I don't see how that could be an accident. It appears that someone deliberately drove a nail into the side of my tire with a hammer or mallet while it was parked in the library lot on Friday. Why? I don't know. It will cost me about a hundred dollars to get it fixed, plus being without a vehicle for at least three days because of the weekend.

Comments

[kakoukorakos.livejournal.com]

That's a particularly shitty thing for someone to do. Ick.

That does remind me though, I haven't put my little 12V compressor back in the 4-runner. It's really handy on slow leaks anyway, and just topping off the tires as needed, I just loathe paying $0.50 in order to use a gas station compressor for 5 min. So few leave out the air hose for free anymore. I guess I can't really blame them either, the same wastes of flesh that vandalize tires also seem to steal the air hoses, judging from the splices many have.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I'm more concerned about whether it was deliberately targeted against me by someone who knew it was my vehicle, or just a random act of vandalism. I can't think of any good or even half-baked reason for someone to target me personally, but that doesn't mean that they don't think they have cause.

The random act is really no better though. The rest of the library staff are female and I doubt that any of them are prepared to change a tire themselves, especially not after dark.

[kakoukorakos.livejournal.com]

Well, you did sock-it-to the library software conglomerate. Maybe they're union types who are so feeble-minded they have to resort to petty vandalism to harass anyone who gets in their way.

But I'd just guess that it's random or a mistaken identity thing, maybe your car looks like some prick's ex-girlfriend's car or something.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I doubt it's mistaken identity. No one else on staff drives a vehicle anything like it, and it's parked in a staff area, not the general public part of the lot.

Chances are it was random, though you're right that if they targeted me specifically it was probably some pique over computer issues. Not the fact that we evicted the half-baked consulting firm a year ago, because they have since dissolved and scattered to the winds, but more likely something about time limits on computer usage or some petty thing like that. Generally though, even in those matters I am faceless. The users don't know that I control the code that enforces rules. At best they know that I'm the one who is consulted when there is a question about why something does or does not work. And it really is true that the vast majority of our users, probably 90% or more, have no idea whether they are using Windows or Linux. Linux with a GUI configured to look like Windows is Windows to them.

[(Anonymous)]

Why? Because people suck. [Spoken like a true catalog-gnome, eh?]

This whole post is particularly of interest to me as I'm driving a (rental) Escape this week and not only had I never heard of the car before getting into it Thursday night but I'd never even considered where the spare might be or how to access it! Thanks for something new to worry about! :-)

I'm sure the drive over the mountains tomorrow will be FINE. I'm sure it will be. Right? heh

--Cat.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

If you get back here to read this:

The jack and lug wrench are under the floor of the rear compartment. With them you'll find a printed plastic sheet that tells the whole procedure. It's actually quite slick.

[(Anonymous)]

Made it one say with no issues; hopefully the other way will be a breeze, too. Thanks for the 'starter' course, though! :-)

Cat.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

No problem. Have a safe trip.

[hellmutt.livejournal.com]

Sheesh. I certainly hope you weren't being deliberately/personally targeted.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I really can't come up with any reason or any suspects for that. Either it was random vandalism or it really was a freak accident. Just conceivably I might have run over a piece of debris with a nail in it such that somhow it flipped and did that, but it's hard to believe.

[tinbender.livejournal.com]

It is possible to get the sidewall like that, especially if you have tires that go low all the time or have driven on soft surfaces. Keep in mind that the sidewall bulges out and that if it catches something like a nail, it's going to do exactly as you described. I guess the question is how far up the sidewall was it? If it's fairly near the tread, then I would say that there's a good chance you picked it up but if it's farther up then I'd agree with your assessment.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

That makes sense. Thanks for the explanation. I hope you're right. I'd rather it were that than actual vandalism.

[quickcasey.livejournal.com]

Yeah, what tinbender said. I was going to make a post to that effect. But he beat me to it. Another such incident, and we can then rule out a freak occurance.
But sidewall bulges can pick up suspicious punctures.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Hopefully that was it. Still an irritating nuisance, but not as serious.

[corelog.livejournal.com]

Some people are just assholes. :P I'm sorry they had to poke their noses into your life. (And nails into your tire!)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well, on the bright side, the weather is warmer and I'm over my cold. :)

*hugs* *hug for Finrod too*

[octatonic.livejournal.com]

This reminded me, and I had to go check.

The regular "tire iron" that you use to
beat idiots down that try and carjack you,
isn't great for tire changing. You need those
cross ones, that you can "grip and spin".

*checks* Yep, still in the trunks.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I would usually agree. However, in this case the supplied lug wrench did do the job, without any strain or hernia required. Alloy wheels and nuts may have something to do with it. The wrench applied, they loosened right up.

Gary was bringing one of those big X type ones just in case, but it wasn't needed.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Nails can be flicked and go in at weird angles, I had a stick go through the sidewall, and it happened while I was driving. It was perpendicular to the road surface too.

Gad I think I'll do without lower pressure sensors O.O They couldn't plug it? Or tube it?

[altivo.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen the damage, so I take their word for it. No tubes. Apparently the lawyers settled that by filing lawsuits claiming that tubes were not safe, so now you can't get anyone to put an inner tube into a tire. I ran into that already.

Innertubes overheat radial tires

[bladehorse.livejournal.com]

most tire shops will not tube a radial, cause there designed to not have a tube, and very easilly overheat with a tube. I had one done myself, but it was for a trailer that i was gonna move 1 time, and I ripped the bead on the tire tryin to get the tire off to change rims. Bias tires are more suted to tubes. Also a rim liner is needed to stop chafing of tube on the rim. (my 1930 ford truck has split rim tires with rim liners, tubes, bias tires and a lock ring, and weigh in at like 100# ;P )

Re: Innertubes overheat radial tires

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yes, those are all good points.

[goldenstallion.livejournal.com]

Dear Rider.

Probably picked up on the road rather than done by somebody. If I was to get even or be vindictive it would be all four tires but would probably just unscrew the valve stems as I had done once in the past. (The way the guy was driving he was gonna kill somebody so when he pulled into a shopping mall parking lot I followed him and after he went into the mall I unscrewed all four and waited in my car nearby to watch. They guy totally flipped out and was banging on various nearby cars and the cops showed up and he was too drunk to drive so they arrested him. Towtruck guy had to blow the tires back up and was laughing).

Of course I am very careful when in my inflatable flap pony form. *wink*

Imperator

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Gods I miss you. Yeah, you should be careful when inflatable.

*puts a valve core wrench into his jacket pocket in case someone loosens yours when he isn't looking*

I would laugh this whole thing off if it wasn't costing me the price of a new tire. It was different being able to change a tire without all kinds of shenannigans required to get the wheel loose from the hub, though.

Love,
Rider