21

Last night I ran over a bolt and it went straight into my front passenger tire. The shop that I usually take my car to for repairs is about 8 miles away (if I take no freeway), 7.5 miles away by freeway. The tire has sat for about 15 hours so far and does not seem to have lost any air and I can't hear any air escaping from it.

Here is a picture of it: enter image description here

So, is this safe to drive on to get it to the shop? Thanks!

Dev 404
  • 313
  • 1
  • 2
  • 8
  • 2
    If you do, then drive slooowly, in the slow lane, carefully, and expecting to lose control at every moment. Also, realize that if you have a blow-out which leads to an accident, then you are gong to have a lot of explaining to do to the police – Mawg says reinstate Monica Jan 04 '18 at 11:42
  • In most cases a tubeless tire with a puncture like this will lose pressure very slowly so a couple miles is OK but don't stretch your luck. – Paulo Scardine Jan 04 '18 at 14:43
  • 2
    I'm surprised nobody suggested to plug it? With a plug from a local auto store. I try to keep some in the glove box – LateralTerminal Jan 04 '18 at 17:02
  • 3
    The people who made that tire should be very proud of their work. – A. I. Breveleri Jan 04 '18 at 18:15
  • 5
    What I can't tell from the picture is whether there's a puncture, or the bolt is just stuck between the treads. I've had the latter just recently, and it looked a lot like this. If there's no actual puncture, you can just pull it out. – Don Branson Jan 04 '18 at 20:19
  • 1
    @DonBranson This one was definitely in the tire. I know the picture doesn't show it but once I took the tire off it was clear that it was punctured. – Dev 404 Jan 04 '18 at 22:43
  • 1
    @Mawg There's absolutely no "explaining to do to the police", tire blowouts happen all the time. Unless you enjoy talking yourself into trouble, save your breath for talking to your lawyer only. – Xen2050 Jan 05 '18 at 06:19
  • Some of us would be honest. It's how we were raised. I mean no offence to you, but the OP may be such. – Mawg says reinstate Monica Jan 05 '18 at 07:06
  • @LateralTerminal do you by any chance also ride a motorbike? Here in the UK I've only known those to be carried/used by motorcyclists who obvious don't carry a spare tyre. – Chris H Jan 05 '18 at 09:41
  • @Mawg The two concepts aren't mutually exclusive. Refusing to incriminate yourself is a world of different from being dishonest. Further, one almost certainly wouldn't even be asked specifically if they knew the tire would blow and - especially in OP's case - they wouldn't be lying if they did respond with "I did not know my tire would blow". The question itself is about the OP's lack of knowledge about whether or not the tire will blow in the first place; there's rock solid plausible deniability there. – jbowman Jan 06 '18 at 21:51
  • Same thing happened to me. I drove it to the shop to get a patch with the bolt in but it was only about 2.5 miles. – JRowan Jan 06 '18 at 21:52
  • @jbowman If it caused an accident, I think that the ethics of the situation should be clear to all. Personally, it's cleat to me without the accident - I would be getting in the car knowing that I probably ought not to, and prepared to 'fess up if something goes wrong. The mileage of others may vary, and lies in the mirror may be larger than they seem – Mawg says reinstate Monica Jan 07 '18 at 07:37
  • @Mawg I think you've glossed over the fact that the OP does not know whether or not it is safe to get in the car and drive. Hence the question. As Xen mentioned, blowouts are an extremely common occurrence and everybody on the road should be aware of and prepared for the fact that one may happen at any time. Furthermore, it isn't really clear without knowing how long the bolt is whether or not it really is safe to drive the car or not. – jbowman Jan 08 '18 at 16:59
  • While the OP may be unsure, hence the question, he is obviously aware of the possibility, or there would not be a question. In such a position, I (and I speak only for me), would be thinking "I am taking a risk here, and if things go wrong, it will be 100% my fault, and I should not try afterwards to deny that I was aware of that risk". It's the same logic whereby I would not drive "just a little under the limit". – Mawg says reinstate Monica Jan 09 '18 at 07:12
  • @LateralTerminal: plugging will invalidate any tire warranty and almost surely make the tire unrepairable. Also, plugging it purely for the 8mi trip to the shop where it'll be replaced is likely a waste of time and money. Compare to the price of a tow. Anyway this is why you carry a spare tire and when you should use it. – smci Jan 11 '18 at 19:08
  • @smci what do you think they do when they "repair" a tire? My comment applies to those with no warranty. Those with warranty should know better. – LateralTerminal Jan 11 '18 at 19:09
  • @LateralTerminal: an unrepairable tire cannot be repaired - read the disclaimer on all tire plugs explicitly warning of that. Many shops will refuse to repair an already-plugged tire. – smci Jan 11 '18 at 19:11
  • @smci I'm aware of that. But they're just going to plug it at the shop anyway if it's repairable. Or convince you to replace the tire. – LateralTerminal Jan 11 '18 at 19:12
  • @smci anyway it's still an option that shouldn't be quickly dismissed just because it's not an option for everyone. If that was the case they wouldn't sell it to the general public. – LateralTerminal Jan 11 '18 at 19:16
  • No they wouldn't plug an already-plugged tire. That's what I said. I didn't dismiss it, I said temporarily swapping in the spare is much preferable. Why would you plug when you could swap in the spare and get to a repair shop in 15min and preserve the punctured tire as-is? Save time, money and don't incur further risk or damage. – smci Jan 11 '18 at 19:23

4 Answers4

56

Honestly, it would be best to put on a spare. Chances are you could make it to the shop with no problem, but there's an increased risk. The tire could rip and rapidly deflate, or it could leak fast at an moment and leave you with less control than normal. Usually you would just pull over with no danger, but now what? Change your tire in the middle of the road?

If you have no spare, drive on the least busy streets as possible, and go a reasonable speed and be ready to pull over any second. Keep your distance and plenty of braking room, etc.

If you have a spare, another bonus is that you don't have to wait at the shop to get your tire fixed. You can drop off the wheel and have them fix it while you shop nearby or something. I normally take a tire off to have it fixed even if its just a nuisance pinhole because it's easier for me to drop it off and pick it up hours later or even the next day.

JPhi1618
  • 13,211
  • 4
  • 39
  • 80
  • 3
    Good advice all round... – Solar Mike Jan 03 '18 at 22:23
  • 16
    I went ahead and just took the tire off and took it in, just to play it safe. Thanks for all of the advice! – Dev 404 Jan 04 '18 at 04:22
  • 3
    Another benefit of getting the spare fixed is that you can sometimes jump the queue. A little place I used to use preferred to put the car on a lift, but would use trolley jacks too in good weather for single tyres. Sorting out a dismounted wheel was easier and my cars at the time had full spares – Chris H Jan 04 '18 at 15:04
  • I stayed in the lane when my (rear) tire shredded itself. – Joshua Jan 06 '18 at 21:17
11

Yes, it is safe to drive the tire like this to the shop. You made it home after getting the bolt in there, the tire sat and held it's air, it will be fine for days, weeks even.

Just check your pressures before leaving, tires can still look like they're holding their air even when they're half empty. Low air pressure is what will cause a tire to rip itself apart, not the piece of metal itself.

But do get that tire repaired. Very soon.

tlhIngan
  • 12,190
  • 8
  • 35
  • 70
  • 15
    Sorry, don’t agree - the bolt is proud of the surface and will be moved in it’s hole every revolution causing more damage in that area - can’t tell if the bolt is a set screw or has a very coarse thread, but it should be dealt with sooner not later... – Solar Mike Jan 04 '18 at 08:49
  • 2
    The bolt may not have punctured all way through the tier. Would removing the bolt before driving (and waiting some time for deflation signs) be a good idea? – Pere Jan 04 '18 at 10:38
  • 11
    Most likely it will immediately begin leaking if you pull it out. – agentp Jan 04 '18 at 12:36
6

You have another option in many places: mobile tyre fitting. They can be competitive on price with driving somewhere and you don't need to move the car except to somewhere safe and accessible.

Chris H
  • 819
  • 3
  • 7
  • 14
5

Your safest option is to use your spare tyre. If you don't have one, get the wheel to the puncture-repairer by another means.

8 miles might be a bit far to walk, but you could use a more local puncture repairer, or ask if they do pickups, or get it there via another vehicle.

enter image description here

Criggie
  • 2,908
  • 2
  • 20
  • 36
  • 2
    The downside behind this is that if you don't have a spare wheel, your car will sit on a jack (or preferably a jackstand) while the puncture is being fixed. This is not ideal, and poses a danger depending on where it is. – Criggie Jan 04 '18 at 22:45
  • 4
    if you don't have a spare wheel then it's time to get one, I'd say. ;) – AnoE Jan 04 '18 at 23:19
  • 1
    @AnoE depends where in the world you are. Some regions mandate that cars have a fullsized spare, or a minimum of a spacesaver. Other locations don't care, and you can go without a spare saving yourself litres of boot space and 5-20 kilos of extra mass. Some smaller cars don't even have a wheel well, and rely on a can of compressed tyre inflater/snot to reinflate a flat. – Criggie Jan 05 '18 at 04:28
  • 3
    @AnoE and in reality, many western roads have improved to the point flat tyres are quite rare. My car has had one in 10 years, and for that we could have called the AA for assistance. Not hauling a tyre for 10x 10,000km would have saved the AA members fees in fuel alone. – Criggie Jan 05 '18 at 04:29
  • 1
    @Criggie my breakdown coverage (UK) excludes failing to carry something proper for flat tyres, so people wanting to save weight often carry one of those cans I (and by the sounds of it you) dislike. Call-out times for flats can also be quite long. Around town a mobile tyre-fitting service might be better than the breakdown people anyway – Chris H Jan 05 '18 at 09:50
  • 3
    @ChrisH Those emergency cans may make the tyre unrepairable and need to replace them for what would have been a simple puncture. Good call on the mobile van service - you should make that a separate answer. – Criggie Jan 05 '18 at 10:00
  • 1
    @Criggie so far I've always been able to insist on a proper full-size spare so it's not been an issue. And my car is a van so I don't lose any space to the spare. I will write that answer; I hadn't thought of it until you mentioned a call-out. – Chris H Jan 05 '18 at 10:02
  • 1
    @Criggie On the other hand, you can replace a wheel in 5 minutes (10 in bad weather) while waiting for AA is a heck of a lot more time intensive. – Mast Jan 05 '18 at 12:46
  • 1
    @Mast's estimate is perhaps a little optimistic if you're out of practice - my last flat (another blowout) on my Transit van took about 20-30 minutes after I'd been on hold to the breakdown service for half an hour already (on the hard shoulder of a motorway, luckily the side away from the traffic. I was still on hold when I finished. – Chris H Apr 27 '22 at 12:31