Hey guys,

I got to work this morning and realized I ran about 12 miles on my tire and it was pretty much completely flat the entire way! Big screw stuck in it.

I run 275/40/17 Nitto 555s and the sidewall was pretty hot when I got to work. How do I know if I ruined my tire? Should I just drop $165 and get a new one or is it salvageable? Will I have to look inside to know whether it really damaged it or not?

Thanks

 

All I would do is just put air in it and see what happends.

Ive run tires completely flat about 1/2 mile on this Kia Sephia I have thats a field car me and my buddies drive through the woods and the tires always come right back up w/ air.

Im surprised your rim isnt screwed up...how fast did you drive to work?

Good luck man

 

You are probably not going to be able to tell by looking. And it reallly depends on how hot and for how long it was hot. What usually happpens is the rubber starts to separate from the fabric belts internally. If this was my dailly driver, I would take a chance. IF, there were no obvious signs of problems.
However if your going to worry about this every time you drive, you may as well shell out for a new tire.

 

i would not reinflate it. chances are you got run flat damage inside. when it gets dismounted, youll see lots of tire shavings inside. Or just look at the sidewall...if you see a 'groove' shaved into the sidewall, called a heat ring, tire = no good. Where did ya get the tires? if they were fromt discount tire, road hazard will cover it

 

I agree with Zack.
I use to work at a tire shop and I saw a lot of tires like yours come in.
You just don't know anything till you dismount the tire and see what the inside looks like.
I have seen tires that had a line on the outside but the inside was fine because the tire didnot get that much heat into it.
Check it first a coupple of bucks is not worth maybe getting into an accident.


Chris G.

 

Thanks guys, I agree. I called the tire store in the area that carries Nittos and they said the same thing. We'll look inside it and see how it looks and go from there.

 

am I the only one who wants to know how you drove with no air in the tire and didn't notice it?

Last time I got a flat, I had a THUMP THUMP THUMP WHAP WHAP WHAP as soon as it lost air.

 

I do a lot of drugs...

No, really it didn't make a sound. I did suspect something because it was taking bumps hard...

 

I guess it would all depend on the tire.
Every tire has a different feel to it even if you can't feel it other people can.
It all depenes on how hard the side wall is.
He is runing a 40 series so thats got a pretty hard side wall.
Maybe the Nitto 555s have a harder side wall then others.



Chris G.

 

Yeah, and it was the rear tire. I think it would be much more noticeable on the front. I had that happen one time (blew while driving) and it was obvious.

 

Hopefully you didnt burn up your posi driving on the flat tire.

 

Really? How so? On the way home I was thinking that the spare must have to spin faster than than the other wheel due to a smaller diameter. Is that what you're thinking?

If so then the spare would burn up the posi too...right?

 

yes, if used on the rear. You're supposed to put a "good" wheel on the rear, and the donut on the front.

 

I did that before.. I completely loss air while it was parked at work.. I left, jumped in pulled out. everything seemed okay, just putting around the lot, but the first turn out of the lot, it definantly did not feel right.. At the light, I even got out to run around my car,and sure enough, the passanger rear tire (always seem to be unlucky with that tire) was just about completely flat.

I limped around for like a few more blocks, then filled it with air, and then got went to tire shop. They said it was fine and patched it up.. The tires were worn anyways, so I used the excuse to get new ones.