Posted on 08/04/2022 2:36:25 PM PDT by algore
LOL...I have to tell you my other “tire story”.
My wife and I were driving up 95 North near Bridgeport, middle of a workday, no breakdown lane, elevated highway, traffic was bumper to bumper doing about 70mph.
I was driving my wife’s 1985 Toyota Corolla, and had all my attention on the road in front of me. All of a sudden, the car in front of me swerved, and before I could even open my mouth to utter an oath, we ran over a 4x4 post and a cinderblock just sitting in the middle of the highway.
I smashed my head on the roof of the car (even though I was belted in) and the car began to vibrate violently. I had blown the left front and the left rear tire in this thick, 70mph scrum of cars.
Needless to say, I managed to get into the right lane, but there was no breakdown. Worse, there was a high retaining wall that limited both my visibility back and those cars in the right lane coming around it could not see me until they were right on me.
Trying to steer that car was like trying to hold onto a panicked cat, and I wasn’t even looking at the road in front of me. My eyes were glued to my rear-view mirror seeing an 18 wheeler come bearing down on me at twice my speed while cars were swerving to avoid me.
My wife, who was looking at my face as my eyes were glued to the mirror kept asking “What’s wrong? What is it?”
Thankfully, we came to a ramp, took it, and immediately pulled onto the grass median at the top of the ramp as we exited and stopped the car.
Fortunately (and most suspiciously) there was an auto tire place within a few hundred yards of the bottom of the exit, so my wife and I walked there, and they agreed to send a truck up to get the car.
Funny that. How convenient to have a tire place right within view of where there was some “random” debris in the road. Not that I am accusing them of drumming up business or anything like that...
Anyway, while we waited, I decided to go back to the car to get something out of it. When I walked back up to the car, there was a Connecticut State Trooper vehicle there and a tow truck hooking up to the car! This was probably less than fifteen minutes after my wife and I had left the car!
I ran up, and there was this big, black Connecticut State Trooper there. I said “Whoa! I have a truck coming for this right now! You can’t take this car!”
He said: “Sorry sir, once it is hooked up, we can’t unhook it” or something like that.
I began saying things like “NO F******* WAY YOU ARE TAKING THIS CAR! I AM GOING TO LAY DOWN IN FRONT OF IT AND YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO RUN MY G********* ASS OVER TO TAKE IT!” (and began walking over to lay down between the car and the tow truck)
The trooper put up his hand and said in a loud voice: “SIR. WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE.”
And I said: “THERE IS NO WAY YOU ARE TAKING THIS CAR!” (still trying to get around him while he kept moving to stand in my way. I also know that when a State Trooper tells you to watch your language, you are getting perilously close to having a bad day that is unrelated to a tow truck or flat tire)
After another minute of me having a hissy fit, the other truck showed up, and the trooper told the guy to unhook the car.
If I had arrived back at the car a minute or two later, it would have been gone and I would have had no idea what to do or where it would have gone!
Just because you don’t cotton to the terms doesn’t mean the proffer of a business deal is a scam. In fact it’s a fur piece from a scam because they were up front about it. If you don’t like it, stop buying 4wd vehicles.
I usually spend $150 for 2 mounted and balanced. I’ll get a couple years out of them
I pay full price at the dealership I bought the car from. Those tires will run me a good 45-60k miles and if anything happens before then, they repair or replace it with no fuss and at no charge.
Thanks.
TireRack.com
I hate it when that happens. Only working with partial info, but willing to quote “company policy” for their reason.
While there are exceptions, most “4X4”s have an open differential for their transfer case, just like an open differential on your rear end. You do not replace both back tires if you blow one, do you? No need as the wheels go at different speeds depending on road conditions and whether turning or not. A 4X4 with an open (not locked) transfer case does the same thing.
Ebay sells tires, 1 or however many you want. Usually 2 day shipping. It is not difficult at all to mount and balance them. If you need some help, harbor freight has a manual tire changer for about 40 bucks.
I picked up a 45 year old pneumatic tire changer at a yard sale, ugly but works as intended.
The tire shops around here want $25 plus tax to mount and balance a tire. The heck with that. I have more than 30 tires I keep up with, not going to send the tire store owner’s kid through college!
Excellent question.
I got hassled by a Walmart attendant and I asked if the Manager was aware of their own rules. The store mgr told me if I did not like the way Walmart does business, then take my business elsewhere, and I did.
All this is why I would never have a full-time AWD car nor let anybody I care about buy one. If 4WD is absolutely necessary, as it is where I live in snow country, I want a proper transfer case with the big-ass lever to clutch in the front axle when needed.
Flat tire story: Lady walks into a gas station and says her car is parked just up the street and one of the tires has gone flat. The attendant says, “here’s what I can do. I can fill this air tank with air and you can walk it back to your car and fill your tire from it.” She says, “ok, sounds good”. So he disappeared into the back of the station and reappears with an air tank. He tells the lady, “there you go, I put 100lbs in there. That ought to do you.” She says, “what are you crazy?! I can’t lift 100 lbs!!
I used to have them do tire repairs and I would pay and give 'em a nice tip.
This last time, when they refused to repair my leak, I used what would have been their tip to buy a Slime Deluxe Tire Plug Kit and a bottle of Slime liquid sealant at Autozone. I plugged the place where a small screw had punctured the tire and put the sealant into the tire, then used their free compressed air to inflate the tire.
I have to go back there every two months to top off the pound of air pressure that tire loses with their air, but I never buy anything there anymore.
Hey thanks. A new one on me.
I bought two new tires for a Jeep Cherokee once. Big mistake, even though the other two tires were fairly new.
Probably a bad ground.
CC
The same thing happened to our car. One tire blew out and we had to purchase four tires. We also purchased the extended warranty (ten years I believe). Unfortunately, about two weeks the car did not pass inspection (Maine) so we were out the purchase price of the tires. What upsets me is that I asked for a refund on the extended warranty and was refused.
I am pursuing the refund up the corporate ladder.
But the most important thing to look for when buying tires is the manufacture date. Do NOT let them sell you some old junk tire that is 2 or more years old. Tires have a life span of 10 years or so, so make sure you know how to read the tire to know the week/year it was made.
Bet you would get a different response from an owner/operator.
Thanks.
I'll keep that in mind for the next time I have
that particular problem. Which I hope is never.
Generally if you’re in a fix you can just replace one. For better safety and riding and tire life, the opposing tire should be replaced. Doing all 4 might not be a bad idea, but its not required, awd or not.
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