I was PLANNING to get the new tires for my car next month, but it’ll have to be today. All are bald and the front driver’s side tire has been filled with umpteen cans of Fix-O-Flat.
So I stopped to put a little more air in today before work, then I get on the highway. Just near my exit, and at 68 MPH-- KABLAMMO! Tire goes poof! Thank goodness no one was next to me. It was pretty easy to control, but I was basically turning right to go straight.
I remove the shredded tire. It had a two-inch hole on the side from where it popped. Next I put the doughnut on, fasten the bolts and drive away.
10 feet later, I can hardly steer. I thought the damn doughnut fell off. NOPE! It shredded too! WTF??? The car is a 2008 Honda CR-V and I’ve never used the doughnut before. My Facebook cohorts tell me they wear out just sitting there. So, what’s it made of? Cardboard? Fairy dust?
So, hello Pep Boys. I’m getting 4 new Cooper tires now. 80,000 mile warranty. The Bridgestones that came with the car evidently have no mileage warranty.
Two college degrees, but no knowledge of tires whatsoever. Must’ve skipped the auto repair classes. How do doughnuts “go bad” sitting in a wheel well for a few years?
(Please feel free to share any of your embarrassing tire stories too. Might make me feel better. Grumble, grumble…grrrr…)
Did you buy the car brand new and are certain nobody else has used the donut? They’re only have a lifespan of 50 miles or so and aren’t to be driven on very fast. Could have been a perfectly good donut that you just drove on wrong.
Since it went out so fast my guess is that you didn’t secure the lugnuts well enough.
Bought it brand new and never used the spare. The tower even tried to re-inflate it but it was shredded. People tell me it should be filled with air every few months to maintain it. Same advice from the tower and Hector at Pep Boys. Even though I’m bad with auto repair, those bolts were on damn tight, believe me. The rubber (whatever material it is) buckled underneath and sort of wrapped itself around the wheel.
No, no. I never got over 5 MPH with the spare. It collapsed when I rolled forward. I didn’t even go a full car length with Mr. Doughnut. And I was even planning to take surface streets to Pep Boys or some tire place when I put it on-- driving slowly as you suggested.
Save your best tire. (if there is one worth saving) Go to a Wrecking Yard/Auto Salvage and buy a used rim that fits your tire. Tire shops will mount and balance it for you. Now you have a spare that you can depend on.
you could ask at Pep Boys if they have any used rims. Save a trip to the Wrecking yard.
The full-size tire may not fit in whatever contraption his car uses to store the donut, especially so on modern cars, and he probably doesn’t want a lose tire floating around the back seat.
A full size spare should fit in most car trunks. You’re right, it won’t fit where the factory doughnut mounted.
The spare in my wife’s car rides pretty well in the trunk. There’s still room for groceries or boxes. I got the rim at a wrecking yard and my tire shop had a used tire with some tread still on it. I didn’t want my wife relying on that doughnut if she got a flat.
Evidently, that’s what happens when you let them sit around. Or I could blame the NE Patriots… (sorry, had to)
Got the new ones! 4 brand-spanking new Cooper Touring tires. 80,000 warranty. You can feeeeeeeel the surface, man. And no, I’m not buying another Doughnut. I bought something better: Triple A membership. I let it expire. Stupid. Everyone should have AAA,
It may have been flat. Those fake spares can feel solid and look good even off the jack when the pressure in them is critically low. Start to move and instant failure. One of the reasons to be sure to check them regular-like.
My adventure last winter wasn’t quite as bad, but it did get me to buy a compressor thingie mentioned on the Dope so I can fill my own tires. Picture it: I get to the garage by work after a snowstorm, and everything isn’t cleared yet. I have my four snow tires on. I sideswipe a mighty granite curb and BANG – an explosion noise and the “low tire” light comes on. Yeah, I guess so! I drive as slowly as humanly possible down the ramp to a spot where I park and assess the damage. A big rip in the side of the tire. My co-worker takes off the wheel (I could have, but he volunteered to help) and we put on the doughnut.
You know the doughnut that is supposed to be 60 pounds? It’s at 20. So I limp to the first service station – mind you, it’s snowing again and not too warm in early January – only to find someone has cut off the handle that you use to fill the tire. Limp to the next gas station – still snowing – and theirs won’t function correctly, or the frozen claws I had for hands wouldn’t work. Roll ever so slowly to the tire place where they make me anxious telling me they’re low on tires – but luckily they have a pair of new snows. Hooray!
Anyhoo, two things. I got the compressor, and I realized that even though the regular service I have is supposed to include topping off tires and the spare, the fact that the contents of my trunk are never disturbed makes me think otherwise.
Ever take a chem class while you were in college?
It’s called oxygen.
Rubber oxides. Rots if you prefer. Plus if no one put air back in the tire it was probably way low on air when mounted.
Tires do have a finite shelf life. My various mechanics have told me that.
If you have a donut spare tire that’s been sitting there for umpteen years, the rubber has probably gotten brittle. Good fucking luck finding a replacement for it anymore. (Cite: Been there, tried that.)
It can get worse: My last car had the donut spare stowed on top of the engine instead of in the trunk. So it was getting baked all that time.
We call those mini donut spares "50-50” spares as you should go no faster than 50 MPH, no farther than 50 miles and there’s a 50/50 chance that it will last that long.
