A little background: about two weeks ago I noticed my car (2000 Acura 3.2TL w/ 209k miles) pulling to the right but I hadn't hit any big potholes or anything but I figured I'd make an appointment for an alignment. It was aligned about a year ago when I put on a set of Dunlop Direzza DZ101s in 215/50-17 (Plus-1).
So this past Friday I was driving in to work, zipping along I-285 (ATL perimeter interstate) at 70 mph when the car started shakin' and hollerin' like a banshee! I immediately pulled over to the shoulder (at ~02:30AM so thankfully there was no traffic). Here's my right front wheel/"tire":
I think the belts were coming apart inside the tire which was causing the car to pull to the right; it finally let go and the tire disintegrated - nothing left but the beads. Since I had pulled over right away, the wheel wasn't even scratched.
I pulled the temporary spare out of the trunk and here's what it looked like:
I put it on the car hoping I could limp to the next exit but I hadn't driven more than about 200 ft at about 10 mph when it went flat. I called for a flat bed tow truck and he loaded up the car and took me to a 24 hour tire shop in a bad part of Atlanta. The only 215/50-17 tires he had were two used Falken ZE912s so I had one put on.
So today I took care of the spare tire. I thought about getting the donut temporary spare tire replaced but remembered I had the four original 16" wheels that came on my Acura sitting in the basement. I pulled one out and cleaned it up. I checked the local Discount tire, Pep Boys, NTB and Kauffman Tire and found the cheapest tires in the original 205/60-16 size to be no name (Chinese made) junk. I checked the nearest Walmart TLE and they had one Goodyear Eagle Authority in my size so I brought the 16" wheel there and had them install it. It's made in Chile (meh) with a date code of 3314 so it's not too old. I didn't want to spend $100+ for a high end tire since it is going to be my spare tire.
I feel a lot more confident now that I have a robust full size spare wheel and tire (my 17" wheels are Honda/Enkei so they use the original lugnuts and therefore they'll work with the original 16" wheel). The trunk floor doesn't lay flush with the full size spare but I don't carry anything in the trunk and I'm willing to sacrifice the trunk space for the confidence of having a full size spare. Plus it'll be better for the transmission if I have to put the spare on the front (again).
Now I'm going to look into a full size spare for my wife's '06 Ford Freestyle. Rock Auto has OEM wheels for $129 and I'll put a decent stock size 215/65-17 tire on it.
Anyone else "ditched the donut"?
So this past Friday I was driving in to work, zipping along I-285 (ATL perimeter interstate) at 70 mph when the car started shakin' and hollerin' like a banshee! I immediately pulled over to the shoulder (at ~02:30AM so thankfully there was no traffic). Here's my right front wheel/"tire":
I think the belts were coming apart inside the tire which was causing the car to pull to the right; it finally let go and the tire disintegrated - nothing left but the beads. Since I had pulled over right away, the wheel wasn't even scratched.
I pulled the temporary spare out of the trunk and here's what it looked like:
I put it on the car hoping I could limp to the next exit but I hadn't driven more than about 200 ft at about 10 mph when it went flat. I called for a flat bed tow truck and he loaded up the car and took me to a 24 hour tire shop in a bad part of Atlanta. The only 215/50-17 tires he had were two used Falken ZE912s so I had one put on.
So today I took care of the spare tire. I thought about getting the donut temporary spare tire replaced but remembered I had the four original 16" wheels that came on my Acura sitting in the basement. I pulled one out and cleaned it up. I checked the local Discount tire, Pep Boys, NTB and Kauffman Tire and found the cheapest tires in the original 205/60-16 size to be no name (Chinese made) junk. I checked the nearest Walmart TLE and they had one Goodyear Eagle Authority in my size so I brought the 16" wheel there and had them install it. It's made in Chile (meh) with a date code of 3314 so it's not too old. I didn't want to spend $100+ for a high end tire since it is going to be my spare tire.
I feel a lot more confident now that I have a robust full size spare wheel and tire (my 17" wheels are Honda/Enkei so they use the original lugnuts and therefore they'll work with the original 16" wheel). The trunk floor doesn't lay flush with the full size spare but I don't carry anything in the trunk and I'm willing to sacrifice the trunk space for the confidence of having a full size spare. Plus it'll be better for the transmission if I have to put the spare on the front (again).
Now I'm going to look into a full size spare for my wife's '06 Ford Freestyle. Rock Auto has OEM wheels for $129 and I'll put a decent stock size 215/65-17 tire on it.
Anyone else "ditched the donut"?
