Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Branches New England Scary/bummer

So I was driving up to my mom's from RI, and I hit about 120 on a straight part of 95 north where they re-paved it in Woburn. The car seemed to be feeling a bit 'off' but didn't think 2x about it, thinking it was me being paranoid.

So I get into the driveway later, and I see that my front pass tire is 1/2 flat. Clearly I have a leak but didn't see from where. I will change it in the AM and get it plugged. I find that rather scary that I was driving that fast with potentially flat tires...! Maybe I should do a tech inspection before I decide to haul ass next time...and in the meantime count my blessings!

$100 tire
$3500 repair bill
$500 deductible

investing $2.50 in a tire guage and avoiding a crash... priceless

No actually free since I have one in the center console! I use it regularly but again, it was fine a few days ago when I had my tires rotated.

Ok 27.50 and a few scratches on my rim later I am back in business. Hey at least I didn't drive off the road last night

scratches on the rim? did they mess them up when they plugged the tire? i hate how it seems that no one is capable of working on these cars!

btw, jsmith ROTFLMAO!!!

Basically when I dropped off the wheel, I was quick to point out both the two nails in the tire and the fact that the rim was clean.

"well I can't be held responsible if the machine nicks the rim" Said the manager/owner

I thought to myself, well what is the chance that he will nick it, and what is my patience for searching for other places, etc. Well, he did manage to nick it...grr

I am planning on getting these 17"s refinished over the winter, so I am really not sweating it. I am just glad that I have a decent wheel to drive on now

OK time for bed...long night of drinking and must sleep now...!

machine nicks in the rim are caused by the tire mounting machine. It has a steel arm that rides the OD of the rim in order to stretch the tire bead over the rim.

This steel arm being forced against and mving over the aluminum rim will causr galling or a slight surface deformation right along the immediate edge of the bead seat. It will hardly be noticable but is there.

The manager is right he has no control over this since that is the only method of installing the tire. However, it can be reduced by using a lubricant, When I used to change tires in high school I used soapy water, its amazing how well it lubricates.

I work at a ford dealer and chane tires everyday. NOT ONCE have i nicked the rim. The machine should have had a plastic peice that clips into the arm. If set up right the arm stays about 2 millimeters away from the rim. It is inexcusable to nick the rim. Also if he forgot to remove wheel weights that will scratch the rim. I would not have accepted the rim if it came back nicked.