Pre-Pre-Last Call: Feeling Deflated?

RoadworkUK

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Puncture1

We all know that dull feeling in the pit of our stomach when we know that one of our tyres has taken a hit. Whether it’s a sudden violent shaking and having to fight to bring the car to a safe halt that tells you, or a polite warning light on the dash letting you know about “air pressure low”, it’s never a particularly enjoyable experience.

This one guy, though, came into where I work for a day job complaining about a “tinkling, metallic” noise from his offside rear. The image above is what we found. Yes, that unidentified bent metal prong had penetrated his tyre and alloy AMG wheel rim, and the noise he heard was it tapping against the brake caliper as the wheel turned.

Amazingly; the tyre was still holding pressure perfectly.

About

RoadworkUK

RoadworkUK

RoadworkUK is the online persona of Gianni Hirsch, a tall, awkward gentleman with a home office full of gently decomposing paper and a garage full of worthless scrap metal. He lives in the village of Moistly, which is a safe distance from London and is surrounded by enough water and scenery to be interesting. In another life, he has designed, sold, worked on and written about cars in exchange for small quantities of money.

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20 responses to “Pre-Pre-Last Call: Feeling Deflated?”

  1. dukeisduke Avatar
    dukeisduke

    Wow, WTH is that thing? It's gotta be hardened.

    Reply
    1. Batshitbox Avatar
      Batshitbox

      Funnily enough it looks like a tire spoon.

      Reply
  2. Number_Six Avatar
    Number_Six

    Is this something that happens a lot to AMG rims? I ask because I was in an AMG Mercedes last year when a noise erupted like a Spitfire had shot off the hindquarters. Turned out a bolt had gotten sucked up off the roadway and into the rim, then completely demolished the rim and come out through the tire.

    Reply
    1. lilwillie Avatar
      lilwillie

      Not so much a AMG thing but a low profile tire thing. Very common for a rim to be ruined when a very low profile tire strikes something and has a puncture. It doesn't help the rims are very light and thin to begin with.

      Reply
    2. Rust-MyEnemy Avatar
      Rust-MyEnemy

      They're not significantly softer than any other rims. There's no truth at all that they're Actually Molded Gelatine.

      Reply
      1. Mister X Avatar
        Mister X

        They could be made from a hard cheddar.

        Reply
  3. Van_Sarockin Avatar
    Van_Sarockin

    This is why we need stronger regulation of crossbows.

    Reply
    1. mdharrell Avatar
      mdharrell

      <rimshot>

      Reply
      1. jjd241 Avatar
        jjd241

        [youtube E0PIdWdw15U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0PIdWdw15U youtube]

        Reply
  4. Alff Avatar
    Alff

    When an AMG owner claims that his car handles as if it were nailed to the road, that isn't a metaphor.

    Reply
  5. BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ Avatar
    BЯдΖǐL-ЯЄРΘЯΤЄЯ

    "Amazingly; the tyre was still holding pressure perfectly" but than again, is there any air to hold in these low profile tires?

    Reply
    1. krazykarguy Avatar
      krazykarguy

      I figured that it was probably a RFT tire… No pressure needed (for 50 miles or so).

      Reply
  6. Scandinavian Flick ★ Avatar
    Scandinavian Flick ★

    So what's the weirdest thing you've gotten jammed into a tire?
    For me, it was half a circular saw blade.
    My dad once got a bicycle handlebar through the tire on his Explorer.

    Reply
    1. Vavon Avatar
      Vavon

      Me, myself and I…
      <img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_gTvuTXdszC4/SdRXQIL7NsI/AAAAAAAAFAc/Kt1jHm5KeZY/s400/tire_swing.jpg"&gt;

      Reply
      1. jjd241 Avatar
        jjd241

        My wife wiped out a sidewall on a soupbone once!

        Reply
    2. mdharrell Avatar
      mdharrell

      A uniformly distributed layer of powdered silicon carbide.
      <img src="http://image.automobilemag.com/f/features/by_design/0911_1980_kv_mini_1_design_analysis/26538079+w968/0911_02_z+1980_kV_mini_1+wheel.jpg&quot; width="350">

      Reply
      1. Peter Tanshanomi Avatar
        Peter Tanshanomi

        Everytime I see the KV's spinny and hold-together parts, I am astounded anew at how really awful a car that is.

        Reply
        1. mdharrell Avatar
          mdharrell

          Yeah, well, at least TAGEX still makes a drive belt for the Hungarian agricultural market that fits it.
          http://webshop.keletagro.hu/claas-ekszij-tagex-77…

          Reply
    3. scponder Avatar
      scponder

      I once picked up a spark plug in an intersection while borrowing my brother in laws jeep cherokee. It made a tremendous racket and was still sticking out of the tire when I pulled over to look at it. Cost me 100 bucks for a tire that wasn't mine, even though it was my responsibility. Of course, when I went to pull the jack out from under the back seat I found coolant back there so I also had to tell him his heater core had headed south.

      Reply
  7. Old Guy Avatar
    Old Guy

    A buddy of mine was deer hunting in the wilds here in Colorado a few years back. He had a new set of Armstrong Norseman installed on his Bronco before the trip. He came back a few days later with his whitetail and a flat Norseman tire. While tracking his antlered prey off-road up a coulee he noticed the steering was pulling badly. Says he stopped to check for damage and found a stainless steel strip from a wiper blade insert sticking in the sidewall of the l/f tire inducing a loss of air pressure. Glad I wasn't there to hear him change the flat. He took the offending Norseman back to the dealer which replaced it for a nominal fee. The s/s insert strip was mounted on a pegboard with other articles the techs had removed from tires including railroad spikes, a 16p nail, assorted sharp objects, a pair of needle nose pliers, and a small crowbar !

    Reply