I was on a trip to Cedar Point yesterday (whooo!). When I got on the Ohio turnpike my TPMS light came on. I figured I would check it out at a gas station once I got off. Sadly I didn't make it much more down the road:

- driver side rear tire. It also pushed the side of the bumper off a bit

I only have 6000~ miles on the car (and stock tires) so this was a surprise to me. I've *never* had a tire do anything but just lose air. Luckily the car stayed in complete control even though I was going about 70mph.

So the complications set in...I was over 100 miles from home - and you really aren't supposed to drive that much on a spare (I couldn't find a distance listed on it, just a max speed...but most people have told me around 50 miles max). So I tried hitting up a bunch of local tire shops and the local dealer (dealer was closed) but no one had one that would fit the car (plus I had hoped for an exact match, since I assume it would be replaced under warranty).

What can you do in this situation? Get it towed 100 miles? Drop it at a local dealer and do a 200 mile round trip in a rental to pick it up again once the dealer opens? Would you just chance that the tire is way underrated on the distance?

 

Tow it!!!

 

tow it, but as long as you remain at a reasonable speed, the spare will indeed get you home if you explore that option. Being a new car, I'd let Ford's roadside assistance and warranty programs take it from there.


edit: spelling fail.

 

Unless the tire has delaminated, the chances are you've picked up a nail or somesuch. No way is that going to be covered under warranty.

As for driving on spacesavers....I'm not aware of a mileage limit, but certainly you wouldn't want to exceed 50mph. I'd just put on the space saver, drive home, then phone around somewhere that has the tire in stock locally, then drive to them.

Or get it towed. But don't expect that cost to be covered under warranty, either.

 

looks like a plug could fix it

 

This is the only thing that worries me with getting a Track Pack/Brembo car. Don't think a fix-a-flat kit is going to help much there..

 

That photos wasn't there earlier, right?

OK, I think you may well have a valid warranty claim of some sort!

 

I've had nails destroy the sidewalls and it always blows my mind . Hopefully you didn't ride on your rim.

 

You should and so should everyone who travels alot.. AAA, has saved me a few times..

 

According to the brochure, your car uses the same size tires front and rear. If that is the case, put the spare on the front and the front on the rear and drive it home.

 

Already got it home - took a bit longer than I would have preferred. And I called up AAA (forgot that I had roadside from ford with the car) when it happened. I asked the guy from AAA about that since I also thought you were supposed to swap a normal tire to the back but he insisted that it wasn't necessary

Here's another angle:


And it's kind of hard to tell, but it also pushed out the side of the bumper some. Does that just snap back into place?

 

Prob because most cars he deals with doesn't have track-lock. You're also supposed to turn traction control off so the ABS doesn't get conflicted if you have too great a difference in rear tire sizes.

 

When you remove the wheel, remove the two push pins on the back of the wheel well towards the bottom. The rear bumper/facia will pull out and you can realign it and push it back in. Re-insert the push pins and you should be good to go. Actually, I just looked, you may have three Phillips screws, but same principle.

 

Wow, that tire's pretty narfed up. A nail or simple puncture could cause that?

I've been very lucky, not ever been stranded with a flat. The one time I got one, I happened to stop for lunch early and heard the hissing - there was a Discount Tire right across the street.

I worry about the stupid can of fix-a-flat only on mine - and it says right in the manual that using it will ruin the TPMS sensor too.

I'd have limped home on the spare. If I couldn't make it, at least I'd be much closer, THEN have it towed if necessary.

I HATE AAA. Their auto insurance is criminal (that's another long story, but yes, I said criminal). And the one time I actually needed road service I paid for, my choice was sit there in my disabled car freezing for hours in the dead of winter, call another company, or walk it home. Money poorly spent. Did they care about that either? Nope, not a bit.

 

Glad there wasn't more damage to the rim or the bumper. Did you possibly curb that tire at some point and damage the sidewall?

Oh- I've seen people driving all over the place on those temp. spares. Not saying it's a good idea, but they will last more than 20 minutes. A lot of guys use them for front skinnies for drag racing too. I'm quite sure they're going over 50 mph, but for less than 30 sec.

 

Crazy serious failure!

 

Nope, it seemed fine earlier that day. I got a car wash two or three hours before and dried around the tire - nothing stood out (granted I wasn't looking for a problem). And the turnpike seemed clean, i don't recall traveling past any debris.

I'm going to the dealer in the morning...I'll report back their findings!

 

That's exactly what happens if you drive on the tire when flat or almost flat. As the OP said, he had the TPMS warning (most likely from nail or simple puncture) but decided to keep driving at highway speed before checking it.

 

I'm definitely pulling over if TPMS says low pressure.

The scuffing at the separation point - could the outer portion of the tire have caused that on the inner part, or is that possibly the result of low pressure and driving?

 

I don't know... I drove on flats and rode on rims a few times when I was a wee lad. The end result was a "pressed" tire with a sidewall stress mark line.

That tire looks like chewbacca ate it. I'd call it a blowout but the driver keep on trucking? I'm confused. That's a ton of damage for a nail.