On the way back from the hardware store today I had the windows open because it's actually nice out for a change, and noticed that I was hearing that typical tik-tik-tik-tik of a stone stuck in the tread. It didn't go away after a short while like it usually does when the rock finally gets flung away, so I pulled over to look... . ... and found some sort of screw firmly embedded in the tread. So tight that it wasn't audibly leaking, so I turned around and made it to a nearby tire place where I changed to the [HIDEOUS yellow!] donut and left the wheel there for them to patch. . This is leading me to wonder about the puncture-resistanc of the various tire options that folks have talked about here at length. Y'all that have bought Hydroedges and MX-whatevers and such, have you noticed any verbiage about overall damage resistance of any particular brand/type? Is that just too much to hope for when encountering a pointy thing angled just the wrong way on the road? Does one particular tread configuration tend to encourage said pointy thing to stick into the tire rather than being pushed down and left behind? It seems that a tire with a *deeper* tread than the Integrity, which seems to have not that much tread at all as compared to some other tires, might have a better chance of surviving an encounter with such objects. . Argh... . _H*
I used to live in the Portland Oregon Metro area and one really nice thing about there were the Les Schwab Tire stores. If you got a screw in your tire, you could pull in and they would immediately take the tire off, fix it, and put it back on while you wait, in 10 minutes or less. And it was free. It didn't matter whether or not you bought your tires from them. They will rotate your tires for free too. It is a truely great chain of stores. As a marketing tool, free and speedy tire repair and tire rotations are a great idea, because here I am, 3000 miles away, and I still have warm fuzzy thoughts about a tire store. (Sorry to go off track a bit, but I do miss my local Les Schwab tire store)
Same thing happend to me a couple of weeks ago. Heard the Tic-Tic at low speed - found a drywall screw in the tire but no leak. Just be sure to file your repair with the Road Hazard warrantee site. I just got my money back last Friday As far as puncture resistance, short of a Kevlar belt, I'm not sure anything is going to resist a drywall screw. One thing I can say is don't try to get BJs Wholesale Club to fix your tire. It was the nearest tire shop, so I changed to the spare and dragged the screwed up tire over to them. They had a whole tire sales annex. They told me that they wouldn't even work on the tire unless I bought it there. Even if I was a club member, they still only work on tires they sold. Luckily, the Sears Auto Center didn't care
I don't know if it's just me, or these tires, or people are just leaving more construction detritus around on the roads and parking lots. [Frankly, I'm not at all sure how long it was in there.] . Where's this "road hazard warranty" site? . _H*
You should have gotten the Road Hazard Warranty info with the rest of the documentation for the car. There are instructions in there how to file claims. The tires and wheels are covered for 3/36 under a separate policy from the regular warrantee. You should also have a Roadside Assistance card. The number on mine for Road Hazard authorization is 1-877-304-6495 I mailed my claim to Cross Country Automotive Services Toyota Prius Reimbursements POB 9145 Medford, MA 02155
H: From what I've seen, pretty much every passenger car "P Metric" tire out there has about the same "resistance" to puncture. Those two steel belts help a bit, but they're not perfect. The best puncture resistance I've seen is in E-rated truck tires, as they usually have 3 steel belts and deep tread, sometimes 18/32 or deeper. But they only fit HD 3/4 and 1 ton trucks, and when empty it rides like a buckboard. Some tires are run flat or have a special puncture sealant in the carcass. I suppose with a run flat you could do away with that fugly yellow "spare" tire altogether. Just curious, how often do you folks check your temporary use tire? It's supposed to be inflated to 60 psi. When I checked mine this Spring it was down to 45 psi. When I checked in September it was down to 54 psi. J
I got the plugged/inside-patched tire back home and put it back on the car but am leaving most of that corner's weight on the jack while the thing finishes curing. Then I thought to check the pressure in the donut, and surprise, it was down to about 45 here too. Felt hard enough when I put it on, so I didn't think about it beforehand. Fixed, and I guess I'll check it a little more often but it's vaguely inconvenient because it sits in the butt of the car with the valve stem pointing inaccessibly down. . Somehow it seems like a deeper tread would give a little more damage resistance, i.e. if something is picked up in the outer circumference of the tread there's more rubber to have to go through to reach the belts. The tread depth on the Integrities seems sort of shallow, and that's on *new* ones too... picked up a different kind of screw earlier this summer, which fortunately wasn't long enough to get all the way in and I simply extracted it, but it looked frighteningly close. . Of course more rubber out there is more rolling weight, driving home the concept of YMMV. . _H*
A little tire info for ya'...higher pressure means less "give" means more likely road hazard punctures. I expect Prius owners, due to their desire for better mpg, will experience more road hazard punctures than in their "other" cars. Could be just a crazy theory though!
H: Tell me about it, talk about a royal PITA. You have to empty the entire butt of the car, take out the cover and that tray, THEN take out the fugly yellow "temporary use" tire, just to check the pressure. It shouldn't be more than a 1 minute deal, but it turns into a 10-15 minute production. J
You need a flexible valve extender http://www.getagauge.com/USAProducts.cfm 6 bucks is cheap for the convenience and safety http://zvalve.com/va_extensions_rubber.html If you want better, look for ZIP (Zero Internal Pressure) extenders at a truck stop or RV dealer for Duallies
Not exactly what you are talking about but I have been having a problem with only one tire. The drivers side front. About every three to four weeks, I notice it looks low. And with checking, I find it has lost about 4 to 5 pounds pressure. I have had many cars and many tires, and have never run into this problem before. I took it to the dealer and they said they checked everything- no problem. But it continues. I went to Pep Boys and bought a small tire puffer upper. Every 3 to 4 weeks I have to give that tire a boost. What do you think? Bad valve?
Could be bad valve, could be bead leakage, could be some tiny puncture in the tread or sidewall. A decent tire place would probably dunk-test it to figure out where the leak actually was. . One thing to try, of course, is find a Schrader valve tool and see if you can tighten the valve inside the stem at all. And/or listen carefully for a small "pfft!" just at the moment of loosening the valve cap, if the cap has a gasket inside and helps hold pressure. Had a bicycle tire that did that at one point -- didn't leak if I kept the cap on, and I could hear the reason when the cap came off. . If it's the left front tire, you definitely wanna fix that! That's the *important* tire, the one you kick when there's any problem elsewhere on the car, and that makes it all work better! . _H*
I had a new tyre (front) put on my old Renault Clio and that was losing pressure straight away - took it back to the tyre garage and they said there was rust on the wheel rim (which they hadn`t scraped off when they put the tyre on in the first place - they had the cheek to talk as if they were doing me a favour fixing the wheel correctly the second time round). If not rust, it could be some dirt or something?? Just a word of warning - I had a front tyre (on another car) burst when I was doing 75mph on the motorway (wheel balancing problem it turned out). The car spun and we were hit by a large truck that was close behind: 5weeks hospital, 2weeks intensive care. So I`m a bit paranoid about tyres now and would never drive with a tyre I had my doubts about. NB
What I like and it is the same thing tire stores use is those tire repair kits. They are cheap and you can get them at Autozone or Pepboys or whatever. You get 2 "T" shaped tools and like 4 or 5 really sticky gummy worm looking things. If you go quick you don't even need to take the tire off. One "T" tool is a reamer and the other is the threader (kinda like a big sewing needle). Thread the worm through the needle so it is ready. Grab a pair of pliers and pull the screw out. Air will come out so be quick. Ream the hole to make a good clean hole, then jam the worm in and pull the tool out so the worm is doubled over on it self and the ends hang out. Trim with a blade and fill any air that got out. If you are quick about it it should take less than a minute. The hardest part is threading the worm in to the needle hole.
