Drove with a flat rear tyre - problem?

[Welly]

Set off from work last night in the piss-wet soaking rain and after a few yards heard a 'rippling' noise at the back was a busy one-way street so pulled in at the end of it as soon as poss.

Tyre was flat as a pancake this will sound a bit anal but the spare wheel/jack has never been used! they are still brand-new from the factory and I kinda want to keep them like that it's also a space-saver and the alloys are notoriously difficult to remove (stick to hubs) and it was pissing it down sooooo.....I gingerly crept along at 15mph to the Tesco Petrol station (they know me there ) so I've now driven 400mtrs in total at low speed.

Do you think this will harm the tyre wall realistically?

Turns out I'd caught the tyre valve on the curb when I parked yesterday and split it also turned out the tyre machine at Tesco was out of order so I bought a cheap 12v compressor and pumped the tyre up, also used gaffa tape to bind the tyre valve and went home - did a good job as there was still 20psi the tyre this morning

Going to get the Valve replaced today but do you reckon the tyre will be ok? it's a Pirelli P7 (one I kept as a reserve when I had the Kumho's fitted and then needed again after the suspension scrubbed one rear tyre away).

[grasmere59]

Your really not going to know untill the tyre is removed from the rim and the inside of the sidewall can be inspected,the sidewall can overheat and disintergrate quite quickly when run flat.

[highlander]

Don't chance it Welly, that tyre is the most critical safety component in your car, simply because it represents 25% of the car's entire contact patch with the road.

If you get it repaired so it holds air, you might find it lets go at any moment. You don't want a blowout at 70+ down a motorway. A new tyre is a small price to pay by comparison.

[omega]

the tyre is scrap
you will have damaged the inside of the tyre,when you take it off there will be bits of rubber inside where it has come away from the main caseing.
i hate spending money[okay iam tight] but even i wouldnt use a tyre that i had done this do.
a tyre is made up with diffrent layers[cords] and even if the inside and the outside look good you cant see the middle layers and if these are damaged and if it lets go on a wet night at 50mph with your family in the car.....................

[Welly]

Mmmm, ok I'll replace it. I regularly drive at high speed so would be daft not to really. It was making that proper rippling noise as I went along, and it would have spent 8 hours or so being flat beforehand

I feel stupid now but that's what I decided to do at the time mind you even if I had put the spare on; the fact that it was sat dead-flat all day won't have done it any good I suppose.

Typical though that this has happened to the 'newest/best' tyre on the car

[scotty73]

Wouldn't putting a space saver tyre on a car with 3 big ass alloys do even more damage? Heard that somewhere but cant remember the reason behind it.

I always have a tyre compresser and a can of run flat in the boot of my car just for that, i was showing a couple of young lads how the two seats in my boot work the other day and a thought hit me.

What if i had a puncture when going on holidays? I've always got a full boot plus a crazy dog in it.... i'd have to empty the whole lot just to get at the jack... Loads of fun on a motorway i bet.

[sirwiggum]

Is it low profile?

I found low profiles tended to destroy the sidewall even by losing a couple of PSI and going a bit soft

New tyre probably the safest. Not worth risking. Tyres and brakes are the things I never skimp on.

[Welly]

Just back from the Tyre Shop........

£94.00

Now sporting a new Kumho 205x50x17 tyre to match the others.

They said the old tyre looked fine but you never know........

Oh well, onwards and upwards

[sirwiggum]

Ouch.

Did they use my favourite tyrefitter line

"It's a bit of an oddball size"

I must have bad luck, every car I've driven has had "oddball" tyres

Still, at least you don't have to worry about an immediate risk of blowout welly.

[Doggy]

I think you've done the right thing.

You'll never know how it would have turned out, but I will sleep sounder in the knowledge you're not intent on testing the Volvo's safety credentials unnecessarily.

After all, who else would I have to wind up - puggy doesn't seem to be biting much these days...

[Welly]

Thanks Doggy,

I'm sure when Pugs roles up he'll find some way of taking the piss.....something to do with rubber/splits/bursts/flat/floppy etc

Do you think it's safe for me to eat Baked Beans for dinner every day for the rest of May?

[jasper5]

You absolutely did the right thing changing the tyre!

My son is always complaining about Volvo alloys being hard to remove, yesterday he came home asking for a new wooden hammer for bashing them off, he broke his

I told him to use make sure the wheels and hubs get greased when they are off.

[omega]

Wouldn't putting a space saver tyre on a car with 3 big ass alloys do even more damage? Heard that somewhere but cant remember the reason behind it.

I always have a tyre compresser and a can of run flat in the boot of my car just for that, i was showing a couple of young lads how the two seats in my boot work the other day and a thought hit me.

What if i had a puncture when going on holidays? I've always got a full boot plus a crazy dog in it.... i'd have to empty the whole lot just to get at the jack... Loads of fun on a motorway i bet.

there are 2 proplems with this stuff
1 as you car bounces along the road the stuff gets shook up and turns into a big blob so dosnt work
2 this stuff will only fill a small puncture if you get a blow out/hit a curb and wreck the tyre/rim you are stuck

i do have a bit of a intrest in this as i sell/fit puncturesafe which goes in the tyre before you get your puncture.

[sirwiggum]

I assume you put that puncturesafe stuff in when you buy it, then forget about it?

Or is your office like minority report, and you have a pool of psychics who can predict punctures, and you chase down the motorist and sell them your wares before it's too late?

[omega]

I assume you put that puncturesafe stuff in when you buy it, then forget about it?

Or is your office like minority report, and you have a pool of psychics who can predict punctures, and you chase down the motorist and sell them your wares before it's too late?

i do have a bit of a intrest in this as i sell/fit puncturesafe which goes in the tyre before you get your puncture.