Spare Tire on Highway?

[Drummadude]

Hello all,

I've been driving since 2008 and just had my first nail-in-tire! :thumbdwn:

It was really windy so I thought my car was merely getting blown by hard wind, after traveling 50 miles round trip on the interstate, I stopped at Target and noticed I had a flat with a nail in it!

I was freaked out but managed to get it all changed without the car falling off the jack.

Question is: With a full size spare tire, are "brute Polak tightened" lug nuts safe enough to drive on the interstate round-trip tomorrow? I plan to take it to my trusted tire shop tomorrow afternoon. I figure they use air wrenches in a shop and don't want a wheel to fall off while going 70 mph.

Thanks.

 

[briwayjones]

As long as you tightened them decently it will be fine. They don't have to be super tight. In fact a lot of times shops with the air guns get them way too tight.

 

[Drummadude]

Yes, I tightened them as tight as I could. Thanks for the info. I hope they can fix the nail hole without replacing the whole tire!

 

[briwayjones]

Is it in the tread or the sidewall?

 

[Drummadude]

It's in the tread. I read about sidewall repairs being risky.

 

[IZwack]

I figure they use air wrenches in a shop

If they do use an impact gun, ask them not to. It's fine for driving the lug nuts on but tightening should be done by hand - especially on aluminum wheels.

 

[swshawaii]

Most of these places have 100 ft/lb torque wrenches, ask for them to use it.

 

[gm558]

Most quality shops use torque sticks to set the tightness of the lugs to factory specs. If you drove on a flat for any length of time the tire is most likely ruined and will need replaced.

 

[IZwack]

Most of these places have 100 ft/lb torque wrenches, ask for them to use it.

You don't even have to go to that length. I mentioned that initially because impact guns (and the pressure that drives them) can very so much and to use a gun on X number of lug nuts and then send the vehicle out on the highway without checking the nuts at least by hand leaves plenty of room for error to occur.

 

[Artbaileyjr]

Yes, I tightened them as tight as I could. Thanks for the info. I hope they can fix the nail hole without replacing the whole tire!

Unfortunately; If you ran it any distance while it was deflated, the sidewalls will be damaged. It is visible from inside of the tire in the form of a "bulge". If there is any deterioration, ~most~ tire shops will NOT repair the tire as it is unsafe to run. Hopefully, you stopped soon enough, but if you didn't, expect to be buying a new tire sooner than you had hoped, even though the outside of the tire looks OK.

Been there; Done that....

Art

 

[Drummadude]

Well, today I got a free repair from a national chain tire shop while my trusted place wanted $25. They also warned me what a coworker also observed: The lug nut holes on the spare were terribly warped, they were oval. So they did get $87 out of me for a new wheel. I did survive the weekday commute (obviously) but it was scary to see how bad the spare was!

Too bad the cheap wheel looks nicer than the stock ones! It's supposed to be an ugly rusted mess!

P.S. They used an air wrench remove the lugs and winch the spare tire, but a manual torque wrench to tighten the nuts.