What to do with a flat tire?

[sifan]

While traveling on interstate 64 to the Virginia beach at 70 mph over the weekend, my 1997 Toyota Previa van equipped with 15" factory alloy rims hit a piece of concrete debris with both driver side's front and rear tires. I did not steer away from it fearing the loss of control of the van. Once getting off the highway and onto route 60 the left rear tire became flat. Thanks *** the air leacked slowly that I did not get strained or rollover on highway.

After taking off the flat tire I saw not puncture of any kind on it. I am not sure if the rim was bent. My coworker suggested the seal between the tire and rim was bad. He said to try inflating the flat tire to see if it still holds air. I have not yet done anything to the flat tire. Should I replace the flat tire with at new one, which means I might have to replace all 4 tires because of All-Wheel-Drive nature? The tires are no more than 2 years old. If the flat tire holds air when I pump it, is it safe to use it?

 

[blupupher]

Best bet, replace the tire and rim. You may have just busted the bead and everything is fine. You could also have some internal damage to the tire belts that can't be seen. Same issue with the rim. The alloy could have stress cracks in it that could give at any time.

 

[sifan]

I believe the concrete debris came out of the highway concrete surface. This country is getting too poor to maintain the highway system properly. It is getting dangerously to travel on highway nowadays.

The driver side's front tire/rim survived the 300 mile trip home. I wonder if I should replace the tire/rim also even though it is holding the air.

 

[surfstar]

Take it to a tire shop.

Some repair flats for free, some for $10-15.

 

[b_rubenstein]

What I would do is inflate the tire to its mamimum rated pressure (it's on the sidewall of the tire). Then see if it held air and that there weren't any bubbles in the sidewall or tread area. If there doesn't seem to be any damage to the tire then I would take it to a shop and have them check the balance. If it's a high speed balance they can see if there is any runout in the wheel. Since alloy wheels are machined there is no more than a few thousands of lateral or axial runout. The alloy used in wheels isn't very hard and they will bend before they will crack.

 

[michaelc80]

Without a doubt at least have them inspected by a trusted tire shop. There could be small cracks in the rim or damage to the tire that isn't apparent now, but will show up in the near future.

 

[97f150]

I hit a piece of road debris a few days ago. The ending was not so happy.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b150/bigdaddyII/flattire004.jpg
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b150/bigdaddyII/flattire001.jpg

 

[road_rascal]

Comp/collision insurance may or may not cover this. See if you can get a photo of the area and maybe the debris. A few years ago when going through New York on my motorcycle I nailed a large pothole when changing lanes (I didn't see it because my head was turned looking for traffic) and I bent the front wheel. Insurance covered it ($700-$250 deduct) but it was a chargable 'accident'. Someone who knows auto insurance can answer this one.

 

[sifan]

I took the flat tire to a Mobil gas station. The mechanic inflated it as I watched. It turned out there was a invisible hole on the side wall. It is a good thing that the tire did not explode as in 97f150's photos. I did not have a chance to replace the flat to see if the rim was bent.