TPMS saved the tire today

[ceric]

I was driving on highway heading home within 1 mile neat my exit, the TPMS beeped and lighted up in dash.
My wife and I were both surprised. I looked at the dash and saw the icon lighted. I knew one tire was deflated.
Pulled over right away to a big empty spot within 20m.
Swapped the left-rear one with the donut. On my way home in 10 mins.

Due to low PSI on the donut, the rear end has very mild shaking above 30mph. I kept it below 30mph since we were 1 mile from home already. Hope the differential was not damaged by the short drive.

The deflated tire looks OK with a hole in center channel. I think it can be patched up.

Lesson learned:
The donut only had about 20 psi left (should be 60psi). Check the PSI of your spare tires often. I didn't for 5 yrs. It loses about 8psi per year. (rolleyes)

 

[kornholio]

Regardless of vehicle you should always check the tire pressure in your spare at least once a month.

 

[ceric]

Good advice.
The placement of it makes me lazy to do that...

 

[J&J's Dad]

I'm so glad my wife has TPMS on the CX-9. She drove on a flat in her 2004 Ody long enough to destroy the sidewall of the tire because she wasn't aware of the flat. Presumably, with TPMS she'll be aware next time, and know to stop. At least I hope so. FWIW, I bought a battery powered air pump to leave in the car for adjusting the air pressure during the temporature changes here in the Chicago area. It works well and wasn't that expensive from Amazon.

 

[RoadKing01]

Another bit of advice that saved my butt twice In the last week. Pick up a cheap tire plug kit at advance auto or such ($15 or less) and get a cheap air compressor that plugs into your cigarette lighter.

I carry those with a set of needle nose pliers In each of my vehicles and they have saved my butt several times.

Twice in the last week I caught a screw in a tire on my hhr and was able to plug it and fill it back up without swapping the spare in less than 10 minutes Both times.

I still check my spare at least once a year to be safe but if you have a compressor in the car you can top it off if it is a little low.

 

[ceric]

A word of caution, though.
If you plug it and the plug fails (says, the hole is too big), tire places such as WheelWorks will not touch it once you plug it.

At WheelWorks today to have it patched up, a tow truck carried a BMW 3 in on a flat bed.
The rear-left flat tire was totally destroyed by the wheel. I doubt that the alloy wheel is still OK based on the damage to the tire I saw.

 

[table5511]

I wish the spare tire valve stem faced toward the ground..... You have to actually lower the spare to inflate it. Stupid.
I take it off completely every few months and clean it and fill it to 60.

 

[carz0159]

im glad that theres tpms on this car, thankfully, didnt have to use it yet!