1Y2KS2K

Yesterday, my right rear tire split when I hit an 8" water main cover which had been left in the middle of the road by a workcrew, after taking off the top surface on Friday night. I called AAA and when the tow truck arrived an hour later, I had the guy change the front tire to the rear, and put the small spare on the front. Now I had a problem. How do I get the bad tire back to a tire shop? As I had a passenger, it couldn't go in the front seat, so I ended up putting it in the trunk and then tying the lid down to the tire. After I arrived at a local Firestone store, they didn't have any SO2 for me, so they checked all their stores in Los Angeles area. No luck. I even had MARKS2K call around for me, but after some promising leads, there was no way I could get an SO2 on a Saturday afternoon. Nobody stocks that tire; it would have to be special ordered, and it would not be available until Monday. So....nobody in the whole of LA has an SO2, on the shelf.

I ended up driving 60 miles home, on the freeway, in 100 degree heat, with that silly little tire on. I certainly p'd a few drivers off by driving at 50 mph (tops) on the inside lane (which is the 'normal' high speed overtaking lane in downtown LA traffic)!

I did, however, learn a few lessons from my experience:

1) If you take out the bottom shelf and tool kit (+ mold) in the trunk, there is enough room to stand the tire up, and you can then close the trunk lid. (It took me a while to figure that out!)

2) If your tire cannot be repaired, and you need a replacement, then you'll be lucky if you can find a tire store which has one, and can get it fitted the same day.

3) When you have the spare tire on, don't let go of the steering wheel; you're likely to go around in circles!

The end result of this was that besides getting a very nice sun tan, I won't have my replacement tire fitted until Monday afternoon (so the car will be 'down' for 2 full days). Urrrrrrrrr!

ricosuave

i hope you shifted the front tire to the rear position when you put the spare on.

nibble

For 1), it's in the owner's manual.... another reason to read owner's manual.

cheers,

pellisS2k

You did /read/ the post, didnt you?

xviper

So where'd you put the tool kit & stuff?

Sander van Zoest

You can put the tool kit in the old spare tire spot in the trunk.

It is all in the owner manual.

MarkS2K

Hey Clive,

Sorry to hear that those leads didn't work out for you. I couldn't believe that the Firestone guy couldn't tell you which independents would have the tire in stock. Talk about bad customer service.

Glad to see that you made it home alright though. We'll try to hook up the next time your down here.

VA S2K

Clive,

Sorry to hear about your tire problem. Glad to hear you made it back home safely

Good post though, I've had 2 flat rear tires myself. My car was out of commission for a full week when I had the first one............out of town in rural VA with NO replacement in sight within several hundred miles.

SoCalster

I once hit a ladder on the freeway and killed my front tire. I tried all tire companies and only one tire place in LA had it.

You can try Chatsworth Tire on Devonshire. They had it the same day!

Good Luck!

1Y2KS2K

Nails in tires I can handle, but I learnt a lesson that if you need more than that (a replacement), then you have to be prepared for a very long wait - several hours or even a few days. It's scary to think how you're going to manage if you need a replacement tire, a long way from home. It's almost worth considering carrying a spare tire rather than the mini wheel. Pity a tire won't fit in the opening though.

Thanks Mark for trying to help me out. Too bad it didn't work out, but nice try! I owe you a lunch.

SoCalster: Thanks for the advice; however, my local tire store has 6 in the supply depot and will get me back on the road today. The real problem is that almost no store stocks the SO2s, and have to get them delivered from some depot....and they all close at noon on Saturday. Forget about Sunday!

Ivs2k: I did - 20 months ago, when I bought the car!