Chimmy3

So I'm trying to figure out what just happened to me...
So this is what happened:

I was making a left handed turn into the parking lot of a wendy's (I was almost at a complete stop) and then I felt the car go flat instantly. I had thought I saw something black in the road... (its night time so could be anything)
but I felt no bump or anything just a slight noise (I had the radio on) and suddenly my car was riding lower than it should be.

i completed the turn into the wendy's and checked out my tires. Sure enough, my rear driver's tire was flat. I tried to pump more air into it... nothing doing.

Then I decided to try the fix-a-flat can I had in the car. Long story short... after finally getting it to work... the fix-a-flat liquid started pouring out a long jagged Z-like tear in my sidewall. It was high up the sidewall too... by the letters.

I popped the spare on (I'm so glad I was too lazy to get rid of it like I planned) and went back to inspect the area where I felt the car go flat. the only thing there was a skully (you know, those things you wear on your head). So i'm pretty much wondering... what the heck killed my tire?

I've never had a blow-out, so I don't know what one looks like. If that's what happened I have to wonder why it happened when I was going so slowly?

Anyhow i'm glad it didn't happen on the highway... that would've been a major pain.
Can anyone with more experience try to help me figure out what happened? Its a pretty scary thought to think the tire failed on its own under such... unstressful conditions.

Oh yeah some advice for people:
If you plan to use fix-a-flat (or like product), and you keep it in the car... chances are if you need it in the winter, it'll be frozen. Suffice to say, the contents have to be completely (or nearly) all liquid to work properly. It take a LOT of heat to warm it up. what ever reaction is going on inside is endothemic. Be prepared to blast heat at it, and shake it till you can't tell there are ice chunks inside anymore. To get it to work... I actually went into the wendy's, clogged up their sink, and gave it a hot water bath (luckily their water was very very hot).

Wheellug

A tear in the sidewall? An object, be it a peice of scrap metal, jaged rock, or block of wood perhaps. You may not have seen it if it was tossed aside by the force of the tire.

freaky things happen on the road at times. My story (not involving my xb) was a flat piece of iron on the road. I ran over it and apparently it cause it to lift up enough to catch the frame of my car and almost flipped it over. Ended up with a nice gash from the body frame up into the door.

Kurenai

wow, sorry to hear that.

Somebody told me that fix-a-flat was actually bad for the tires.

TurboTighe

Not to mention that the tire repair guys HATE the stuff! Very messy!

mfbenson

^^^^

Speaking of that, any time you use fix-a-flat, you really ought to tell the tire guys that you used it, because the stuff and the vapors from it are flammable. If the tire guy happens to be smoking while he's changing your tire, BOOM!

Which would be enough to ruin his day and possibly yours too.

Chimmy3

is there any stuff they do like? I assume they'll hate that green slime stuff too

squirrel

Yup, if you use fix-a-flat, most tire shops won't patch the leak. And you may end up getting a new tire anyway.

oldmanatee

The liquid causes the rim to rust....Fix-A-Flat is the spawn of Satan....

Now, as for what happened, you could have run over something miles back, just when turned, it could have stressed the weak area enuff to let go.... Or, a midget ninja ran by and slashed your tire...

grizzly_choppers

That is my theory as well (the previous damage, not the midget, although I like the midget theory...).

Anyway, did you happen to hit a curb too a while back or anything? That can pinch the tire's sidewall between the curb and rim causing an INSIDE tear that could pop at any time.

Sidewall can't be reliably repaired anyway, so fix-a-flat won't matter much in this case aside from the explosion factor.

Good luck and enjoy your new tire!

-Alex

oldmanatee

Do you have road hazard protection for your tires? Sometimes that will cover sidewall damage as well....Or I'd stick with the midget theory and tell ins. to cover it....

Chimmy3

hmm its entirely possible I damaged it somehow previously and it eventually popped. However, the turn I was making when it was popped was at less that 20 mph... it was a slow turn (since I had to wait for on-coming traffic to pass), meanwhile on the HWY previously, I'm pretty sure I was putting much more stress on the wheel. (yes, i'm starting to lean towards the midget ninja theory as well)

AFAIK I didn't have road hazard protection (unless toyota/scion puts them on their OEM tires)

Anyhow I never knew fix-a-flat was that detrimental to the tire.... anyone have links or docs supporting this??? I'd love to see it. I always wondered how something like fix-a-flat could work and still be parts friendly...

moonray

Yep --
It's more often that the patch wont stick to the inner liner of the tire even after the
best guy in the shop takes his time to follow the proper steps in a repair, the
patch might work itself loose and start leaking all over again the next day or so
later. Rubber is a porous(spell check please) material and can soak up some of the
fix a flat stuff. Best recomendation is just to put your spare on. The tire guy will
thank you. I did it for 19 years so I know -- now I'm just a phone *****

dgHotLava

if you have ever backed into a curb and the tire got pinched or bumped back, that could cause an inside tear. (as stated above)

now, every time the tire rotates the sidewalls flex a little as it hits the ground. this flexing will cause the tear to work its way out (and bigger).

now add turning to the mix (adds lateral pressure to the sidewall). thats why it can happen.

now, you can not patch a sidewall problem. the flexing from rotation will cause the patch to loosen...

moonray

You are correct -- you shouldn't ever have sidewall damage repaired.
What you call " inside tear" is called an Impact Break where as the fabric or cord
material has been damaged and a noticeable bulge will appear. A good idea is
just to walk around your car and take a look at your tires before driving away.

Chimmy3

I've seen the stretching/bulging you are talking about before. A tire shop pointed it out to me once when my parents had driven on a tire that was somewhat flat.

This tear this time had none of those signs... though I guess it could still be an inside tear of some sort. I guess i can get a better look at the inside once i get the tire replaced.

anyhow thanks for all the info guys, I'm just going to chalk this up to some freak mishap...

oldmanatee

Try this.. it might answer some of the questions you had...
http://www.tiredefects.com/fix-a-flat/Default.htm

Chimmy3

yes but as has been noted in both the link and the some of the other lit I've read on it now, they changed the formula, so that it is not so easily flammable. According to one article I read, Pennzoil recalled all their fix-a-flat products several years ago due to this issue.

I presume the reason the warning still remains on the can is for liability purposes and to make sure precautions are taken.

The main issue i've read up till now mainly are... unbalancing of the tire due to uneven drying/hardening.
Difficulties removing the tire.

I got my tires replaced today. The mechs didn't seem too phased when I told them fix-a-flat had been used... but then again... apparently there was some sort of stink throughout the entire bay which the mech told me was the fix-a-flat smell.

the mech said, carry one can for emergencies, but to otherwise just try using an air can/compressor first...

I guess I can never get rid of the donut though... unless I had a tow service in play

Tool7f

Were your tires inflated to the proper pressure? Underinflation can cause pinchflats...Just a thought

Chimmy3

actually yes, they were all inflated to 32 psi about a few days (maybe 5-10 days) before the incident. At the time I had not checked tire pressure in a while (and I didn't fil for winter), but.. it was the two other tires (passenger rear and driver front) that were underinflated (~26-27 psi). That tire was still around 28-29 psi. I reinflated all tires to ~32 psi each.

Tool7f

maybe god just punished you then. you must have done some bad shiz man.