For the past month I have been so excited to put my trd 18" rims back on my box. I drove to the dealer right when it opened with my rims in the back and after 30 mins I walk outside, see my box, and smile. I love my rims.

A couple of hours later, I am driving on the highway with my mom, and as I switch lanes, I feel as if one of the wheels is falling off. Sure enough--for the FOURTH time, a tire is flat. The FOURTH time, in less than one year of driving with the tires on the car.

I love my rims, but HATE the fact that this keeps happening. Is it expected? Probably--living in Chicago with those kinds of tires.

But I just want to know--has anyone else experienced this? Make me feel a little better...

 

are you going with the OEM pirelli pzero nero m+s ? if so, are you going over potholes or whatever like it's no biggie? any tire bubbles? explain your driving habits and maybe it'll give a bit more insight into why you're on your 5th tire... ?

 

I do have the pirelli pzero m+s. I never go over potholes with these tires, and try to avoid all road blemishes that I can see. However, there are times when the road is uneven or there is a deep manhole cover that I do go over--but never at high speeds. And today, I know for fact that I did not go over any of these blemishes or any potholes. I don't understand...is this apparently extreme sensitivity normal?

 

not sure what's the situation if you're on your 5th tire ...
i run the same wheel/tire package (about 20K on this set of pirellis) .... not sure why yours are blowing out. you might want to check out the wheels for anything abnormal in them or your alignment for camber/caster anomalies ... or by some crazy chance you got a bad batch of pirellis . but i'd look into your actual wheels and alignment first ?

or, after you put your trd's back on, did you check the air pressure in the tires ? tires are due for leakage, esp if they're just sitting around doing nothing for the winter, one might not notice ...

 

My TRDs are fine in Chicago...

 

burst...I didn't realize that you have the TRD 18's. Have you ever had to replace tires and/or rims because of normal driving leading to flat tires/bent rims? How many miles do you have on your rims/tires?

I am puzzled...I only have about 6500 miles on mine. I think you may be right evosky, maybe my dealer is not putting the rims on right. They have messed things up in the past. AND, almost every time I bring in my car for rim/tire-related issues, they fix it and a day later (or less) I have to bring it back in because a tire is flat or air is rushing out of the tire. This is one of those times...

 

Is it the same wheel everytime? cuz my chrome rims on my Malibu have roadrash and some pitting from salt, they leak air because of a bad seal around the edge. Look inside and out around the edge for anything uneven or odd this may be ur problem. Even tho ur wheels are newer alluminum in general does not seal as well to tires as other metals do (chrome steel etc).

 

Yea, mine have about 15k on em. I had a slow leak in one of them that was due to a bad bead seal. I had that taken care of before I put them in for winter storage, it's still at the same pressure it was at when I put them away in October.

Also, buy a valve tool and make sure all of the valves are tight.

I've never had any bends or anything of that nature.

 

82,XXX mile plus on box....60,XXX on 18's 16 tires 3 sets and 4 to road hazard I mean I really need to go to 15's soon LOL

 

Same here...
Although I'm in the western Burbs, where the roads are a little better...

 

Chilbox:

Do you carry a tire gauge with you? If not, I suggest you should. I check my tire pressures every two weeks just to make sure that all my tires are properly inflated and that none are leaking air. You may want to also check that the dealer is not breaking the bead of the tires when they are replacing the ones that have been damaged. I know it is very east to break the bead on a Pirelli PZero M+S while mounting it.

 

Is there damage to the tire?
Has it been the same tire every time?

Check the valve stem, that may be leaking, or the rim may have some type of damage.

Thats about all i can think of.

 

Thanks everyone for your advice and insight. I am investigating my situation using all of your tips, and will update you on anything I find out.

To answer a couple of questions--

-The flat tire is not always the same rim or the same tire.
-I don't think there was damage to the tires, because the dealer always checked them out after being flat, or they replaced them.

 

you could have a tear in your valve stem. Put some soapy water on it and see if it bubbles up.

 

I cannot believe it! Another FLAT tire. This tire is on the same rim as my most recent flat tire. The tire is a new tire that the dealer just put on, and I do not know how this could happen so quickly. I have been EXTRA careful when driving on it, because of all the flat tires I have had in the past.

I think there might be some problem that the dealer is not catching. I just don't want this to turn out badly while I am driving in the future...

 

Wow, that sucks. Take it to Discount and have them waterbath the wheel. It should pinpoint the leak.

 

A few things you must remember when running these tires/wheels..
You must religiously keep your tire pressures at 35-36psi and check them weekly.
They are gonna ride much different than the 15"ers. The price you pay for the "LOOK"

Others have had problems with the Pirellis holding their pressures. The way to solve this is by removing each tire from the rim and having the beads cleaned from ALL debris down to the original paint. The people that have had that done now have their tires holding a more consistant tire pressures. I just check mine weekly and add some if need be. It helps having a compressor in my garage.

 

I also run nitrogen it seems to help with the pressure

 

THIS IS GETTING OLD. I drive my car about 6 blocks from my house to take some new pics. I find a great location, park my car and get out, and look down at my front left rim. FLAT TIRE. AGAIN. Before I lose my mind, I snap these pics:



I am really upset that I have repeated flat tires. I wish this were a happy ending. But it is a horror story that never ends.

 

Hmmm, sounds like someone is messing with your tires...