How Often Do You Get a Flat Tire?

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SubLGT

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Went out to my garage this morning to start the car and run some errands, and what do I see? My left rear tire is flat as a pancake. Must have been that way for a day or two, because some oils were actually squeezed out of the rubber. First time in my life I have seen that. Found a #8 machine screw in the tread.

Even though I only drive 5000-6000 miles per year, I get a flat tire every 1.5-2 years. How about you?
 
For a while I was getting them about once a month. Most of them patchable nail/screw holes, but one major sidewall gash which was a side of the road flat. Not fun at 10:00 PM in the rain.

Knock on wood, I haven't had one since February, but I did find a piece of metal in one of my old tires that had not punctured the case.

Really aggravating. People here just throw all kinds of [censored] into the road...guess what happens. When I lived in NC, I never got a flat there. Not once. The only times I got a flat when I was an NC resident was when I was down in AL visiting.

In the 10 years I have been a licensed driver, I have had 6 or 7 flats. Only one was an immediate total loss of pressure that required stopping and putting the spare on. That one incident was enough for me to never drive without a good spare though.
 
Between our 4 vehicles, (2 classics) we only put on about 10000 per year, butI believe the last time I actually got a flat was about 5 years ago, and that was from driving the PT cruiser out across the corn field, and actually jammed a piece of corn stalk in the sidewall. Darn just remembered, when we had the 05 mustang we were down in Ft. Meyers florida, and picked up a nail at the construction site we had to go through to get to our motel. And that was about 2 years ago. Put on the spare, and took the tire to Wally world and for $10 was all fixed up.
 
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Originally Posted By: Planb
Soft tires? My old Re-11 found everthing sharp on the road. As a side note, the same tire always finds the prize.


Ha, that's true. I once had a tire with three patches in it.
 
Since I switched from Michelin around 20 years ago, nearly never.

Now it's rare, and always within 20,000km of having a new set of tyres. 60,000km ago, has a glass slash on a sidewall, two weeks ago a nail. (both on the 4WD)
 
I have gotten one in my 12 years of driving, and my wife has gotten another one (but that was her fault, due to hitting the curb).
 
Over 40 years of driving, I can only recall perhaps 4 times I've had a flat. The last one was last summer. A screw through the tread. That one was lucky, as I was able to get it repaired. The two before that were both sidewall punctures. Thank goodness for Discount Tire on the last one. I love how they let you buy the extended service warranty, after the fact.
 
The last time I had one that actually required changing the tire was at least 10-12 years ago (maybe longer). Our Subaru did have a slow leak at the valve stem a couple years ago-I only added air to it a couple times-then took it to the tire shop and had the valve stem replaced.
 
I haven't gotten a "flat" tire in a very long time, although I probably just jinxed myself. I do however average about 2-3 nails in tires a year due to working on different construction sites.
 
Quite frequently. I air down my Jeeptires to go off road so I am constantly fighting bead leaks.

Same with one of my winter wheels for the focus. Manufactured august 2000 ... 14 years means a lot of corrosion on the beads. I think I might have that fixed!
 
In about 25 years of driving I've had maybe two complete freeway-speed blowouts that shredded the tire and maybe four or five punctures that could be patched. One patch was iffy but the shop did it anyways since I ordered tires that would be replacing it in less than two weeks.

I've gotten a flat less than a mile from home starting an overnight trip, although I think my wife might have gotten the flat and drove it home. I drove back and took my car.

I've seen slow leaks, including one that hissed slightly that I thought it was an A/C issue (had a mouse chew open the A/C compressor clutch control wire). I've even had punctures that didn't lead to a flat.

I suppose the oddest was a puncture on a Pirelli P6000. I heard something odd, but when I got out and checked, it looked sort of normal. It had really stiff sidewalls that didn't sag. However, there was no discernible tire pressure. That one was patched pretty easily.
 
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I haven't gotten a "flat" tire in a very long time, although I probably just jinxed myself. I do however average about 2-3 nails in tires a year due to working on different construction sites.


I should note only 2 of my flats were rim on the ground, ambient pressure flats. The rest were situations where I saw that the tire was obviously low on pressure and investigated, then found a nail or screw.

Still, it's aggravating, and even with a good, properly done patch I feel like the tire is compromised.
 
I don't get flats in the classical sense. Though I often find slow leaks that are from nails in the tire and corrosion at the bead.

My dad taught me a long time ago to NOT remove a nail from a tire unless you're prepared to change the tire.
 
Id say each car gets a flat every year, I usually catch it before its an issue and get it repaired, by periodically inspecting the tread. Sometimes you catch it early before it actually penetrates. On motorcycles, had so many it isn't funny. Ive been lucky the last couple of years. But I get enough screws and nails to warrant flat protection along with tires on autos, normally one flat pays for the insurance.

I have a tire changing machine for motorcycles, cause nobody will repair them. It only takes a couple rounds of having to rebuy a $160 tire to be looking for alternatives.
 
Wife's got a headless nail in her tire. It's staying there. Most nails have those ridgy barb things near the head, I figure that'll do just fine.

I picked up a screw in my cutlass ciera in the LR tire and only noticed going through a cloverleaf onramp... numb car.
laugh.gif


Then in August in what passes for heat up here, my first "blowout" at 55. I was mostly mad to get out of the AC. My 19 year old donut had air in it... I checked it once or twice in my 10 years of ownership.
01.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Kestas
I don't get flats in the classical sense. Though I often find slow leaks that are from nails in the tire and corrosion at the bead.

My dad taught me a long time ago to NOT remove a nail from a tire unless you're prepared to change the tire.


That was my last one...12psi down in pressure, checked the next week and 2psi for the week...left nail in, and wife took it to the tyre place.
 
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