How Flat Can A Tire Be?

It seems that for the past few years the colder months has brought with it a season of me never being able to keep air in my tires. One will go low, I'll fill it up, it will go low again, I'll fill it up, etc, etc, etc. Usually when it gets to a visit to the gas station once a day its a sign that I have to replace the tire.

Monday night was a bit different....but no less funny then the regular visits to the gas stations that offer free air hookups.....I probably know all of the stations in the downtown area that offer it for free actually. My car was having a hard time speeding up, and by the time I got to my driveway it was bouncing up and down so bad that you would have thought I had installed hydraulic shocks.

I parked. Went to look at the tires....which I hadn't been noticing a problem with air pressure-wise...and discovered that my front passenger side tire was flat. There was still some air left in the tire but it was definitely squishy to the touch.

So in a flash I jump back into my car and begin the drive to Big O tires on South Temple. Now while the drive was only a few short blocks, it was an eventful few blocks. So imagine me driving down a busy street in heavy rush hour traffic unable to go more than 20 miles an hour. The cars around me are honking trying to tell me that my tire is flat or honking and trying to swerve around me as I am causing a major disruption to traffic. It was the longest three minute drive ever. The car was shaking with each thwap thwap thwap as the flat tire rotated....just like in the cartoons. When I finally got to the tire store the tire was on the rim. I've seen flat tires before but the tire was so flat I was surprised the rubber was still on it. I also wouldn't have been surprised if there might have been a little sparking from the tire while I was driving.

Unfortunately they couldn't put a patch on the tire and I had to buy a new one. The rim wasn't damaged though, phew! They offered me a three-year protection plan on the tire which turned out to be half the cost of the tire. I passed....cause seriously....since I know that I will probably have to replace another tire next year I might as well save myself the cost now to apply to another tire later. Hopefully it will be only one tire this season. But if you see me riding down the street at a snail's pace with my car bouncing up and down, you'll know where I'm headed.