Unneeded New Experiences
I was driving home for lunch from a job site about 17 miles from my house, and about two blocks after leaving the parking lot, my decided my car was handling very rough, even for the road I was on. I finally pulled off into a side street, and gave my car a quick walk-around... to discover that my rear right tire was flat!
I'd never driven on a flat before, and it wasn't as difficult to drive on as I would have thought, but I'm really glad I checked. I drove into a nearby empty parking lot and unpacked my car's tire changing gear. While taking the tire off, an older gentleman with a very scruffy beard (he might have been homeless; it was that area of town) volunteered to help, but I felt I had things well in hand, so I sent him on with a thank you. He was very polite as he walked off, so I'm guessing that's what he was.
Anyway, I jacked up the car and got the tire off without any trouble, and I didn't see any obvious damage. So I took my portable jumpstarter/air-compressor out of my car, hooked it up, and started inflating it. The flat spot caused by the car sitting on it quickly inflated out... but after another minute or so of pumping, it wasn't gaining any air pressure.
Since the compressor is very noisy, I turned it off, and was rewarded by a loud hissing noise, which I finally identified as a quarter-inch tear on the inside sidewall.
Now, earlier this morning on the freeway, there were a couple flatbeds that were carrying crushed cars someplace, and I saw something white and lumpy in the road. I swerved to avoid it, and evidently failed my dexterity check pretty badly since I ended up driving right over it on the right-hand side. I never noticed anything as I kept driving - and it was still another ten miles to go to the job site from that point - but it's possible the damage was done then.
After that disheartening discovery - the tire was almost literally brand-new - I swapped out with the spare tire in the trunk, glad I'd checked on that only a few months ago to make sure it was in good condition and still inflated. At this point, I let my boss know that I was going to be very late back into the office, and I might not be back at all since I had to get this fixed.
Fast forward past lunch, and I drove my car into Discount Tire, and explained that I had a break in the inner sidewall. They checked over my receipt, and I discovered that I'd bought the rear tires less than 90 days ago.
Approximately 30 minutes later, I had a new tire, at no charge!
And I got an early end of my work day, since it was after 4pm when I got home after all of that.
So... driving on a flat and exchanging a tire are two more things I can cross off my list of 'things I hadn't done, and would have been just fine not doing.' At least it ended well. =)
I'd never driven on a flat before, and it wasn't as difficult to drive on as I would have thought, but I'm really glad I checked. I drove into a nearby empty parking lot and unpacked my car's tire changing gear. While taking the tire off, an older gentleman with a very scruffy beard (he might have been homeless; it was that area of town) volunteered to help, but I felt I had things well in hand, so I sent him on with a thank you. He was very polite as he walked off, so I'm guessing that's what he was.
Anyway, I jacked up the car and got the tire off without any trouble, and I didn't see any obvious damage. So I took my portable jumpstarter/air-compressor out of my car, hooked it up, and started inflating it. The flat spot caused by the car sitting on it quickly inflated out... but after another minute or so of pumping, it wasn't gaining any air pressure.
Since the compressor is very noisy, I turned it off, and was rewarded by a loud hissing noise, which I finally identified as a quarter-inch tear on the inside sidewall.
Now, earlier this morning on the freeway, there were a couple flatbeds that were carrying crushed cars someplace, and I saw something white and lumpy in the road. I swerved to avoid it, and evidently failed my dexterity check pretty badly since I ended up driving right over it on the right-hand side. I never noticed anything as I kept driving - and it was still another ten miles to go to the job site from that point - but it's possible the damage was done then.
After that disheartening discovery - the tire was almost literally brand-new - I swapped out with the spare tire in the trunk, glad I'd checked on that only a few months ago to make sure it was in good condition and still inflated. At this point, I let my boss know that I was going to be very late back into the office, and I might not be back at all since I had to get this fixed.
Fast forward past lunch, and I drove my car into Discount Tire, and explained that I had a break in the inner sidewall. They checked over my receipt, and I discovered that I'd bought the rear tires less than 90 days ago.
Approximately 30 minutes later, I had a new tire, at no charge!
And I got an early end of my work day, since it was after 4pm when I got home after all of that.
So... driving on a flat and exchanging a tire are two more things I can cross off my list of 'things I hadn't done, and would have been just fine not doing.' At least it ended well. =)