Just drove 6 miles on a flat tyre

[DonkeyApple]

catfood12 said:

Did the same on the A40. Very luckily no rim damage. Just a long and expensive wait for a mobile tyre guy to turn up with a replacement tyre.

I once saw a chap at Fleet services putting gaffer tape over a split like that as I walked inside. When I came back out he had tire weld all over his hands and trousers.

[Davie]

Some Gump said:

For next time - driving with a flat.tyre can easily be 3 points. I think a copper would have to be an arse to do you for it if it just happened, but driving on for 6 miles? I think you'd struggle!

I suspect if you're heading off down the M1 at 60mph or tooling along at pace through the city centre then I suspect the Police may take interest, more so to find out if you aware and if you're not aware, is it because you've had 12 pints and two lines of coke at the Christmas party. 6 miles is nothing if it's 6 miles to the nearest town / lit / populated area or indeed home.

Limping along a back road, low speed, hazards on etc to reach a place of safety... I'd be amazed if any traffic officer opted to prosecute, especially if you've passed the attitude test at the roadside. My sister was lit up by an unmarked car a couple of years back, but she acknowledged and kept going for a mile or so to the next "safe" place - policeman had no issues at all.

[Evil.soup]

essayer said:

Assuming hitting the pothole didn’t damage suspension or misshape the wheel, It’ll be fine. The missus did this in our old car (drove for five miles after it went flat “it was making a thumping noise”)



fine after a new tyre

It is quite amazing how much strength the invisible stuff gives your rubber, a few miles without it and its toast!

[SkodaIan]

Davie said:

Some Gump said:

For next time - driving with a flat.tyre can easily be 3 points. I think a copper would have to be an arse to do you for it if it just happened, but driving on for 6 miles? I think you'd struggle!

I suspect if you're heading off down the M1 at 60mph or tooling along at pace through the city centre then I suspect the Police may take interest, more so to find out if you aware and if you're not aware, is it because you've had 12 pints and two lines of coke at the Christmas party. 6 miles is nothing if it's 6 miles to the nearest town / lit / populated area or indeed home.

Limping along a back road, low speed, hazards on etc to reach a place of safety... I'd be amazed if any traffic officer opted to prosecute, especially if you've passed the attitude test at the roadside. My sister was lit up by an unmarked car a couple of years back, but she acknowledged and kept going for a mile or so to the next "safe" place - policeman had no issues at all.

There's a big difference though between consciously driving with a flat tyre (slowly, hazards on etc) to a place of safety and continuing to drive normally, oblivious to a puncture having happened.

On a "smart" motorway, the highways agency guidance is to try to get the car to the next refuge if you can, which can be a few miles in some areas.

Equally on a typical B road, it's clearly safer to not stop just around a corner or past the brow of a hill. However I've never come across a B road anywhere where there is a run of 6 miles without either a minor road/entrance off the side or a run of 2-300 metres of decent visibility you can stop at the end of, at least for a few minutes to check what's happened.

[Davie]

Evil.soup said:

It is quite amazing how much strength the invisible stuff gives your rubber, a few miles without it and its toast!

Even having been run at low pressure, the inside of a tyre can rapidly start to disintegrate - the scary bit is how many out there simply reinflate and carry on regardless, running on a compromised tyre. I'll admit to that, wife returned home a couple of weeks back with a soft tyre - was down to 12PSi reinflated it and it stayed up. Week later I put four new ones on and was quite surprised at how much "dust" was inside the aforementioned tyre. Internal casing had quite obvious damage on the internal sidewalls even from a relatively short distance and not having been totally flat.

[Davie]

SkodaIan said:

There's a big difference though between consciously driving with a flat tyre (slowly, hazards on etc) to a place of safety and continuing to drive normally, oblivious to a puncture having happened.

On a "smart" motorway, the highways agency guidance is to try to get the car to the next refuge if you can, which can be a few miles in some areas.

Equally on a typical B road, it's clearly safer to not stop just around a corner or past the brow of a hill. However I've never come across a B road anywhere where there is a run of 6 miles without either a minor road/entrance off the side or a run of 2-300 metres of decent visibility you can stop at the end of, at least for a few minutes to check what's happened.

On the latter, I suspect "fight or flight" kicks in... it's why you see people driving with bits of car missing after an impact or people running away from a fight on a broken ankle. You take a hit, probably st yourself a bit, heart rate increases and mild panic kicks in more so if you feel venerable and the natural reaction is to just get to a place I feel safe.

I followed a lady who clipped a traffic island thing, visibly blew out her OSF tyre and yet she kept going... got a good mile or so up the road then stopped. I drew in behind her and went to check and she was sat, shaking and crying in a complete state.

Easy to criticise a persons actions in hindsight.

[66HFM]

OP - have you managed to take a photo of the damaged tyre and possibly wheel for us all to look at?

Any progress? Did you get the wheel off and the spacesaver on?

[njw1]

I've done similar, I had an e46 with coilovers and rubber band tyres on 18" wheels so the ride was harsh at the best of times, I caught the n/s rear wheel on a pothole on a sharp bend whilst on a slow B road and it wasn't until a few miles down the road at the next roundabout that I noticed the back end felt loose. I stopped and looked and the inner side wall of the tyre was gone, luckily there was no damage to the wheel.
Then I found out my spare wheel didn't fit...

[Evil.soup]

Davie said:

Evil.soup said:

It is quite amazing how much strength the invisible stuff gives your rubber, a few miles without it and its toast!

Even having been run at low pressure, the inside of a tyre can rapidly start to disintegrate - the scary bit is how many out there simply reinflate and carry on regardless, running on a compromised tyre. I'll admit to that, wife returned home a couple of weeks back with a soft tyre - was down to 12PSi reinflated it and it stayed up. Week later I put four new ones on and was quite surprised at how much "dust" was inside the aforementioned tyre. Internal casing had quite obvious damage on the internal sidewalls even from a relatively short distance and not having been totally flat.

Yes I know what you mean, I had a slow puncture on the Impreza, the tyre was at maybe 50% what it should be and my inflator wouldn't work. It was at this point I realised my spare tyre didn't clear the Brembo callipers, so I had no choice but to drive it the quarter mile to the petrol station. I wasn't too concerned as I was due a new set of tyres, but when I did go get it changed a few days later, I was very surprised at the amount of internal damage just that short drive did.

[Rogerout]

Hi all , update . When at home , I knew I had a space saver but unfortunately the wheel removal kit isn’t complete , there’s a jack but no wheel brace. My aim was to put the save saver on and drive to local tyre centre.

This was a no go and I wasn’t going to drive the car anywhere, knowing the full extent of the damage.

I called mobile fitting centre , local company. Called at 8am , he was there by 9.30. Job complete after 25 mins.

I presume the guy balanced the wheel while he was in his van and replaced the tyre. He said the wheel seemed ok and couldn’t see any damage.

But for peace of mind I think I’ll take to his tyre centre and get pay for a wheel alignment service where it can go up on the ramps.

I drive 28 miles to work and didn’t notice any problems.

[DonkeyApple]

Rogerout said:

I drive 28 miles to work and didn’t notice any problems.

To be fair, you drove 6 miles with a flat tyre without noticing any problems so you might not want to place too much stock in that particular skillset.

[Evil.soup]

DonkeyApple said:

Rogerout said:

I drive 28 miles to work and didn’t notice any problems.

To be fair, you drove 6 miles with a flat tyre without noticing any problems so you might not want to place too much stock in that particular skillset.

That post did make me chuckle lol!

It is worth getting checked, I had an impact on mine a few months back and it was only ever so slightly out, almost unnoticeable, but enough to cause uneven tyre wear.

[Rogerout]

DonkeyApple said:

To be fair, you drove 6 miles with a flat tyre without noticing any problems so you might not want to place too much stock in that particular skillset.

Yes I was expecting a comment like that !

[E-bmw]

Baldchap said:

There's a lot of evidence that you shouldn't use anti seize compound on the hub and wheel mating faces as the friction between them is what actually helps secure the wheel, rather than that force all being on the wheelnuts.

A smear is absolutely fine, don't over think it into something it isn't.

[Oilchange]

fflump said:

Oilchange said:

I had a flat, pulled over after I noticed the left side dragging the steering, it was a left rear failure.
The tyre deflated and ran on the tyre rim, which was fairly stiff and held the wheel off the road without damage, or so I thought!

Initially I though it was ruts in the tarmac, the car does tramline on the track tyres although when the drag escalated quite markedly and a serious smell pervaded the cabin, maybe over a few hundred yards, I found a spot to pull in and check. I'd left a line of crumbled rubber about a hundred yards long behind me!

Anyway, after changing the wheel I got the knackered one to my mech who spotted it wasn't a puncture but was due to a hairline crack in the alloy causing the tyre to deflate, run without air on the rim, overheat and st itself. I'd no idea what caused the hairline crack by the way.

Part of that knackered tyre looks completely bald-or is it the lighting?

It isn't bald, even on the edge, maximise it and you'll see. Unless you count the bits in between the tread which is as flat as a pancake!

Edited by Oilchange on Wednesday 11th December 23:19