Flat tire away from home - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

#1 03-01-2011, 06:42 PM

Well, I had my first flat tire on a mercedes away from home today! I went through the trunk to find the spare, jack, & hopefully tire wrenches. Got it all out & proceeded to change the tire. I must say they have it together on the jack & tools. It was a total breeze to change & be up and going again. The jack is so very easy to operate no muscle or brain power is required. Used foot assist on lug wrench to loosen lugs, but no big deal there even. The spare was never out of the trunk!! Oh!, That. "It even had air in it to boot."

Ferdman · #2 03-02-2011, 06:16 AM

Rebe, be cautious driving on a 20-year old tire. It's not worth risking an accident. Rule of thumb is to replace tires every 7 years regardless of tread depth or appearance.

#3 03-02-2011, 06:34 PM

Well, Ferdman you were correct about the old spare. I barely made it home, and it is flat in the garage. Yucks! I glad I didn't have to go far with it, and no high speeds. Probably something that should be checked when replacing tires.

Ivanerrol · #4 03-02-2011, 08:47 PM

A lesson to us all.
Be careful when buying tyres off the great auction site - "New Old Stock" - in some cases very old stock.
Tyres have date indicators in the side.

Kestas · #5 03-03-2011, 11:41 AM

I went to look at snow tires from Craigslist for my winter car. They were advertised as "used only one season" and had a lot of tread on them. Yes, they were used one season.... 11 years ago! I had to pass.

When I bought my E320 (used), one of the first things I did was go through the motions of changing a flat. This was to make sure I had all the tools and knew how to use them in the unlikely event I need to change a tire on the road.

My dad always taught me to check the spare for proper inflation. There's no sense lugging it around if it's useless.

JohnM. · #6 03-06-2011, 09:27 PM

I remember when the local news did a big expose a few years back on Sears and some local tire places. That's where I learned about date codes, etc. But I thought that this warning only applied to NEW tires that have never been mounted, not tires that have been mounted and holding air continuously? I still have the original conti spare in my car and have used it 3-4 times over the years. It's never lost air and has no dry rotting or checkering on the sidewalls or tread. Was I playing russian roulette with my life previously?

I also have a 66 VW Bug with its original conti "bias-ply" spare tire, I never plan on using it, its just there "because". That would be quite unsafe.

JohnM. · #7 03-08-2011, 04:56 PM

Anyone? On the tire thing?

EricSilver · #8 03-16-2011, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnM.

I still have the original conti spare in my car and have used it 3-4 times over the years. It's never lost air and has no dry rotting or checkering on the sidewalls or tread. Was I playing russian roulette with my life previously?

)

I have an original (c1995) ContiTouringContact up front now -- where it has been for more than a year after replacing a failed ContiProContact.

I am still alive.

It, however, is near the end of its life and will be replaced in a couple of weeks.

My newer tires are the ones that have disappointed. The aforesaid ContiPro had a belt failure and a brand new Pirelli P4 blew after rolling over some road debris.