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How long can you drive with a screw in your tire?

Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 5:20 am
by Sputnik
So the plan was to get rid of the continental tires this year when we put on the snow tires - which I had planned to do Nov 13th - my day off work. Tonight we're going to our car after work and I saw a screw embedded in the right rear tire. Its in there flush against the tire. We drove home with it like that. So will I wake up tomorrow and find my tire is flat completely? The plan now is to take the car in tomorrow for the tire change as we really have no choice...

Re: How long can you drive with a screw in your tire? (Sputnik)

Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 5:50 am
by VforVIBE
Just went through that with one of my wheels, only it was a 4 inch nail. I ended up buying a mini air compressor so I could go to school until I could get the nail out. Yeah, it'll be completely flat by morning.

Re: How long can you drive with a screw in your tire? (VforVIBE)

Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 5:52 am
by Sputnik
Well that just sucks. I was hoping it would stay inflated enough to get it to the tire place.

Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 6:04 am
by ragingfish
It can honestly depend on a lot of factors.I drove with a screw in my tire for 3 weeks once...and lost very little air. Just topped it off with the compressor every few days. In another instance, I had a flat tire within an hour.Monitor your pressure. Check it now, and then again in the morning. If you don't lose more then a pound or two, you might be ok.

Re: (ragingfish)

Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 6:14 am
by Sputnik
I've been going out and looking at it... the thing is we don't know how long its even been there. I only saw it today because it was facing me as I walked to the car. So if its been there a long time then I'm good to last until morning. I don't have a tire pressure guage (yeah bad me I know!). It only feels mildly softer than any of the other tires. I am crossing my fingers. I wanted to take it to the tire place tonight and leave it there so they have it first thing, and I don't have to worry about it being flat before I get there, but they won't take cars overnight.

Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 6:28 am
by jpalmer
if it's just a single screw and it's straight in the tire....that's a repair that you can easily do at home yourselfjust go to any AutoZone type store and get tire repair kit....it'll come with the thick rubber plugs and a device to score the hole of the tire to make a good seal.used to do that all the time with my dad

Re: (jpalmer)

Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 6:33 am
by Sputnik
Well the tires are the original continental tires from 2002 and they're already at the wear bar, so its time for them to go anyway and 'tis the season for winter tires!

Re: (Sputnik)

Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 12:04 am
by redlava
Depends on how fast or slow the leak is. When I was driving my first car, I would routinely get nails and other things stuck in the tires. They were mostly slow leaks and every week or so I would have to put in 10 pounds of air. When I finally had to change my tires the fix it guy counted 18 separate hole patches in 1 tire alone! If you think you have to replace the entire because of a screw, you don't just $20 and a few minutes of your time. If it is flat, just pump some air into it and you should be good to drive on it to the shop. Just don't take the screw out, it's what is keeping the air in.

Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 12:16 am
by Mase
Get a can of Fix-a-Flat, purge the air out of your tire then fill it up with the Fix-a-Flat. Be sure to tell the tire place about the FaF when you get it repaired.

Re: (Mase)

Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 3:25 am
by Altus
I had a nail or screw or some other sort of metal object in one of my tires for a good 3 weeks before the thing actually went flat overnight. My only warning before I noticed the metal was the weekend before the tire was low, so I pumped it up and it held. Took a week, but came out one morning next weekend, and it was dead flat.So bottom line is - don't know. I'd say keep driving on it until it does... Or if you simply can't take the not knowing, a plug & patch repair at a Wal-Mart garage is ~$20 (Canadian).

Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 4:04 am
by Atomb
i had a screw in my tire once...i think i drove for about a week. I heard the tapping sound and thought it was just a rock in the tread. then one day (about a week later) it bothered me that it was making the tapping sound. so i set out to remove the 'rock' and saw that it was a screw!No pressure loss during this time.got it fixed for 10 or 15 dollars. they just put a plug in it. i would do that and pay the 20 bucks than risk having the tire do something stupid while on the highway at 100km/h.it would be horrible to be sitting on the side of the road with the vibe in a ditch wishing you had just spent the 20bucks to hold things together until the 13th!PS: you're at 2999 posts Sputnik!!

Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 5:18 am
by zionzr2
On my previous S-10 I found a screw in the tread after a tapping noise then switched to the full sized spare and took the tire to the dealer and they checked it out removed the screw and the tire was fine. it did not even penetrate all the way and they sent me on my way.

Re: (Atomb)

Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 6:10 am
by Sputnik
Quote, originally posted by Atomb »PS: you're at 2999 posts Sputnik!!I guess this is 3000 then! So the tire is gone. The tire didn't lose any pressure overnight so we were able to get it to the tire place. They put on my snows and disposed of the crapinental... I mean continental tires. I'll get new ones in the spring!

Re: (Sputnik)

Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 6:42 am
by Mrizzle05
HAHA!!! looks like you modded!gotta change your sig now... you got....... SNOW tires!

Re: (Mrizzle05)

Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 6:58 am
by Sputnik
Quote, originally posted by Mrizzle05 »HAHA!!! looks like you modded!gotta change your sig now... you got....... SNOW tires! LOL!I have snow tires every year except the first year I had the Vibe.