Dirty US roads with sharp objects

[KrisZ]

Seriously not sure if it’s my luck or US roads are littered with sharp garbage, but ever since I moved to US I regularly get tire punctures. It was a very rare occurrence in Canada for me.

This is what I pulled out of my front tire yesterday.

How often do you get punctures?

 

[JayhawkRoy]

About one out of every twelve tires on the road. Daughter in Wichita exceeds that to around one in every four tires.

 

[supton]

Maybe every 5 years? actually more now, now that you ask. I think I went about 20 years with maybe one nail. Daughter put a thorn into a sidewall last fall (no idea how) and the wife just had a nail pulled from a tire. Lots of tires worn out and rarely a need for a plug.

Not a lot of suburbs around here, maybe that's the trick? lots of highway too.

 

[dubber09]

I had 3 punctures since 1995 in BC.

edit: that's about 435k miles driven.

 

[KrisZ]

On the minivan, I had one when I lived in CA and now two in TX. I also had two on my motorcycle in TX.
So 5 in the span of 5 years or so for me.

 

[IndyIan]

2 vehicles, combine to 30k miles a year, and maybe one puncture every 3 years? My ideal route to work goes past the dump so I watch for anything on the road there and avoid it. If I didn't pay attention and tailgated I could probably get a couple flats a year from that stretch.

 

[LubricantEngineer1965]

I am new here. so people may not believe me that much yet. But one of my tires had a tack stuck in it this past week. It looked like it was from the bottom of a piece of furniture.

 

[ecotourist]

Since 2000 - 4 times, so once every 6 years: 1 sharp stone, 2 nails, 1 unknown (only left a hole).

2 tires ruined, on the same car. Our Solara rode so well it didn't give a warning that a tire was running out of air (on trips both times), and by the time I found it, the tire had wear on the sidewalls and was replaced.

When we moved to this neighbourhood we walked along all the roads and picked up sharp stuff. Found lots. Time to do it again.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Seriously not sure if it’s my luck or US roads are littered with sharp garbage, but ever since I moved to US I regularly get tire punctures. It was a very rare occurrence in Canada for me.

This is what I pulled out of my front tire yesterday.

How often do you get punctures?


View attachment 213433

I wonder if it's the seasonal snowplowing which keeps the roads in Canada free of sharp debris.

Between my wife and I we've had 1 puncture in the past 6 years.

 

[BrendanC]

knock on wood i stay on tollways whenever possible and i have never had a tire puncture. the other 'freeways' in houston are a nightmare for sharps with the amount of trade work in this area.

 

[Oillover]

None since I started driving in the late 90s.

I have a theory that many who get nails etc, tend to drive closer to the curb/sidewalk.
I noticed my GF doing this and told her to move closer to the middle/left portion of the lane.
Maybe it's fear of a head-on collision or making contact with oncoming traffic?

 

[PF52]

When I was working in construction I'd get a nail or a screw a few times a year..... I'd carry a plug kit with me and those usually were successful. Its an on-the-job hazard you just have to get used to. The bigger issue were the gravel haul roads some jobsites used which were made of crushed concrete, and those sometimes had bits of rebar or wire mesh and I'd shred a sidewall a couple times a year.

Other than that though, just an occasional nail or something every five years or so. Plug kit to the rescue!

A few years ago, I had a rental car in Florida and I hit a piece of debris on the highway and shredded two tires. A nearly-new car. too, less than 3000 miles on it. I had to sit and wait while they towed my car back to JAX and brought me a replacement; about a 4-hour delay.

 

[gman2304]

I had a small screw in a tire causing a slow leak a couple of weeks ago. First one I’ve had in a decade or so. I Plugged it and all is well.

 

[Jdeere562]

Maybe pick up a nail every 2-3 years. Last on was on CC2's that I had bought 2 months earlier.

Got rid of my problem-gave the vehicle to my Granddaughter.

 

[Reggaemon]

Yesterday I got, actually my wife, got the first flat tire in 5 years. It was a nail too close to the sidewall to repair.
Funny thing is it's in the same place on the tire and the same position, passenger side front as the last flat.

 

[SeaJay]

I had a nine year stretch, about 125k miles with 6 flats. One or two were repaired, the rest needed to be replaced. This was in the New York Metro area.

 

[vpr5703]

I work in an area that has multiple construction companies. I get punctures multiple times per year. The road hazard warranty works overtime on my cars.

 

[AZjeff]

Never ending residential construction and workers who don't care about securing supplies here.

This was a couple of months ago.

 

[SeaJay]

I had a nine year stretch, about 125k miles with 6 flats. One or two were repaired, the rest needed to be replaced. This was in the New York Metro area.

I had another today, it was a screw in a middle tread but was still holding air. I would have let them patch it at the closest place for about $40 or so (this shop will not plug), but there was a 3-4 hour wait as it was crowded. Went down the road a few miles to a less afflluent area, stopped at the first tire place which appeared to be quite busy also. I asked if they could plug it and they got it done right away for $12. Tossed the fellow that did it a $5 spot for his few minutes of work and was in and out start to finish in under 15 minutes.

 

[Chris142]

i get so many punctures that I carry a plug kit in every car. Im guessing the bumpy dirt roads let things bounch out of work trucks. I would say I get a flat at least once a month . One of my Jeep tires has 2 plugs in a sidewall.... Gotta run it untill I can buy tires.