Blown Tire, Lack of a spare hurts

[spudman99]

Just wanted to add a recent story for those who may be reading this forum in the future.  No real answer I can offer.

 

Was riding the PA Turnpike 3 weeks ago when I look down at the radio, and then hear a loud thump.  Look in rear view mirror, and spot what I later learned was a 3' piece of metal the size of a 2x4.  Hit it going 70mph (legal limit btw).  Start to get over to right lane and about 45sec later I hear a lout hisssss out the passenger window.  I knew exactly what that was, and the low tire pressure immediately comes on.  Turns out the side wall had a 1" tear, most likely from where it compressed on the tire rim. 

 

Well the compressor and fix-a-flat wont help a sidewall issue, so it was AAA tow to the nearest tire dealer, and $460 and 14 hours later I had 2 new front tires.  Best part about this story is that the same piece of metal caused twelve (12) flat tires that afternoon.  Took nearly 1 hour to get a tow off the highway.

 

Of course there is no answer for this unless there was a spare in the car.  How reliable is the OEM supplied repair kit for ordinary flat tires?

 

Edited July 25, 2017 at 06:01 PM by spudman99

[openair]

Had the same thing happen to me last summer omw to pickup my brother for my wife and I's bachelor/bachelorette party. Inch+ tear in driver's front sidewall. So I'm out of town. I still have to pick up my brother. He was out of town with friends as well and I was his ride. And it's a weekend in Canada. I got a tow alright but I had to call about 15 rental companies to find one who was even open.

 

There was once a thread on here where someone said certain escape? spares would fit but I can't see carrying one often enough with our small trunk to make it worthwhile.

Edited July 26, 2017 at 02:43 AM by openair

[muzicman61]

I just use Road Side Assistance through my insurance company.  I will probably never use the tire kit.

[murphy]

Careful, the mini spare that was found for the hybrid will NOT work on an Energi.  The Energi has larger brake calipers, presumably due to the much heavier HVB, and the mini spare will not fit over them.  I know, I tried.

[JosephJonathanGould]

We have two sets of rims for our Fusion Energi: one set for winter driving, and one set for summer driving.  The OEM P225/50 R17 V93 tire will fit into the Fusion Energy Trunk IF TIRE Stem Valve is removed allowing it to deflate and conform to the space in the Fusion Energi trunk. We keep a deflated off season wheel in the trunk as a spare. In BOTH cases of our having a flat tire, the ""Fix a Flat Foolishness" was not an option. In one case we had to have our neighbor bring one of our off season tires to our location because no services were available in the middle of Minnesota's Dark prairie where cell phone reception was intermittent at best.  It took two days to order and replace the Fusion's P225/50R17 93V Michelin Energy Saver A/S summer tire.

 

These Pictures show placing the deflated Bridgestone Blizzak  WS90 winter tire into the Fusion Energi trunk. (MUST remove ther valve stem core so that the outside of the tire can compress and deform to fit the available trunk space and the back of the tire MUST be pulled against the top of the back side of the trunk).  I use a small spade to help deflate/deform the larger and heavier Bridgestone Blizzak  WS90 Winter tire so that it will slip into the trunk; the Fusion's OEM P225/50R17 93V Michelin Energy Saver A/S summer tire,slips in and out much easier. 

 

One can pick up a quality heavy vehicle sizer jack at most junk yards; get the large size as shown.  One will also need to set the park brakes and chock the three good tires from moving before attempting to change the tire. One will also need, knee pads or cardboard to kneel on, a lug nut socket set, a long breaker bar wrench handle, and a torque wrench or cell, to set all of the lug nuts to 100 foot pounds. one should leave the spare tire un-inflated untill after the lug nuts are back on and the valve stem core is screwed back into the valve stem, (this will require a valve cap with the valve core remover and replacer feature on the top).  The Fusion Energi comes with a tire compressor so use it to reinflate the tire to the recommended 35 PSI.  Lower the tire until it touches the ground and then tighten all of the lug nuts to 100 foot pounds one should tighten and re-tighten the lug nuts in a cross pattern a minimum of 3 times. All of the tire changing equipment will fit into the tire center cavity except the long breaker bar wrench.

 

The trunk lid closes with a little tire friction on it with the Bridgestone Blizzak  WS90 winter tire nut it closes fine; I have a picture but it shows the license number and my wife dosen't want me to use it without erasing the number so I won't upload it. Good Luck!