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Amazing Guide For Driving On A Flat Tire In Short Distance
If you own a car, it is evident that you will have a loss tire pressure at least one time or two. However, this incident might be still unknown to many new car owners. For safety reasons, understanding about flat tire is very necessary. So what is a flat tire and what damage of driving on a flat tire could bring to the vehicle? Let’s find out in this article below.
Obvious Consequence Of Driving On A Flat Tire
Flat tire is a tire which was deflated by impact from inside or outside, which will result in loss of control of the vehicle or irreparable damage to the tire wheel. You might be wondering: How can a small problem can result in so many terrible troubles? What will happen if you continue driving on a flat tire?
Harm Your Own Tire
Be honest, some of you might did this already: slowly drive their flat-tire car on the road instead of stopping and waiting for help. And this sometimes might not be the best response to your tire.
Since your tire loses a significant amount of air, continue driving can damage heavily. And the worse part is that you cannot fix it just by pumping the air back. Just like adding oil or coolant cannot fix the engine, car owners will not be able to repair tire damage by filling the air.
The main reason of flat tire is because it gets punctured by small object like nails, screws,… This also means that this little hole can be fixed easily. Keep driving on a flat tire, however, will bring more damage to the tire.
Damage Other Car Parts
You might understand the outcome of the flat tire to itself, but here is the serious part: If drivers keep driving on a flat tire, the flat tire will cause damage to several important vehicle parts and break them. These car parts includes: Brake system, wheels, fenders, rotors and even calipers.
In addition, a simple tire patch, which can be repaired at 20 or 30$, can end up costing a thousand dollars.
Bring Danger To Yourself
For car owner to keep driving a long period of time with a flat tire, this could create dangers to himself. If the braking system or any related car parts gets broken, it could result in losing control, crashing and even accident.
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But in some situations, and only emergency situations, the drivers must continue their driving.
Have you ever driven in a highway and your tires are losing air pressure, along with the fact that there are no place around to stop by? What will you do in that moment? One lucky thing that driver can continue driving a short distance before the car is unable to. Even though moving with a flat tire is not recommended since it could damage the tire, but sometimes, it cannot be avoided.
Guide To Driving On A Flat Tire
Many car owners ask: How far can you drive on a flat tire? The answer for that question is about 1.497 miles,which is the maximum distance until the rim starts to be damaged. But worry not, with this guideline below, you can bring your dear vehicle to at least somewhere safer while fixing or calling for help, also reduce the damage caused to your car.
Driving On A Flat Tire
Step 1: Drive Slowly
While driving with a flat tire, don’t you ever think about driving fast in this situation! Speed is the main factor of heavily damage to car wheel and makes drivers lost control. Car owners should maintain the speed at 24 to 32 km/h when the tires are flat until finding the suitable place for replacing them.
Driving at high speed will break the wheel core since it creates stronger force to the wheel, especially without the tire to protect.
Step 2: Drive On Flat Road
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When you are driving with a flat tire, it is suggested to stay away from potholes, hills and broken roads. Bad road can bend the sharp and destroy car rim. As the tire got flat, terrible condition of the road can lead drivers to the edge or even worse! Normal roadways or parking lots are the most suitable topographic.
Step 3: Drive Straight Forward
Don’t go on the road with too many turns. Instead, car owners should go slow, straight and turn very slightly. It is important for drivers to pick the straight road when having flat tires, since sharp and sudden turns will create pressure to car rim.
Car owners must keep the wheel running stable while driving straight to drive easier.
Step 4: Drive To Somewhere Safe
When you have a chance to pull in, take it now! In order to avoid risks while driving, especially with an unstable tire, stopping is not a bad choice. The perfect place should be away from the main road and have few transportation. Drivers must make the car stops moving completely, then pull the handbrake and turn on emergency signal to notice other vehicles.
It is better to not leave the car if you are unsure about the traffic situation outside.
Step 5: Do Not Drive Too Far
How far can you drive on a flat tire? The answer is not to drive so far. Trying to drive more than 100 km or more when driving with a flat tire is one of the most dangerous things drive must avoid! Even though you might need to go further than that distance to reach the garage, it is suggested to go slow and pull in as soon as possible. This is also to protect yourself from dangerous outside the road.
Do not forget that you can change your tire at almost everywhere, so your safety must be your priority.
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Take Care Of The Tire
Step 1: Find The Gas Station
In the situation that you can find a gas station and your tires haven’t broke, you are lucky! In every gas station, there will be some basic fixing tools like tire patch, extra tire,… and many more. Driver can carefully drive to it and ask for pumping the tire.
Gas station is one of the few place you can count on while having a flat tire. In some gas stations, the staffs are trained to replace tires for broken ones.
Step 2: Use The Extra Tire
Most modern cars nowadays are equipped an extra tire behind or inside. If your car also has one, it is the time to use it. All car owners need to do is to change the tire and drive to the garage for complete repairing.
Remember, the extra tire can only help drivers to drive their car at maximum 88 km/h and 80 kilometers.
Step 3: Call The Emergency Vehicle
If you cannot go to the garage or change the tire by yourself, emergency vehicle is your best option. The pulling service will come and pull your vehicle to the closest fixing company. In some companies, the staff will come to your place and help changing tires right away.
The estimated waiting time for the staff might be about 45 minutes to 1 hour, but if you do not know how to change tire, this amount of time is quite worthy. Also, remember to charge your phone on the way in case of emergency calls.
Step 4: Equip Run-Flat Tire
Run-Flat tire is a special tire which is designed to provide safety even when the tire is getting flat. The inside of Run-flat tire is like a pillow for the wheel, which helps reduce impact when finding the suitable place for changing. These tires allow car owners to drive up to 160 km/h with normal speed until it is flat completely.
Check out how a Run-Flat tire works when it goes flat
How To Avoid The Situation Of Driving On A Flat Tire
In order to avoid having a flat tire, the best way is to never let them flat in the first place. It is really hard to completely prevent any outside impact, but you can delay flats and extend tires life by these tips:
Buy Good Tires
Tire shopping is absolutely necessary for car owners. For a better driving experience, drivers should pick thick treads, since they are harder and more resistant to punctures and impacts. Even though they are usually more expensive, the benefits they bring are hard to ignore. Run-Flat tire is also a good option since drivers can continue to drive while having flat. And there are a certain of worst tire brands you should avoid purchasing to ensure your safety on the road.
Examine Your Tires Before Driving
An examination before starting is the key to a successful journey. Tires can be wore out from sudden braking, quick starts or driving under-inflated, and a wearing out tire is vulnerable with hard road objects.
Tire pressure is another important factor that you should pay attention on. You should also check the tire pressure daily using TPMS to prevent a flat or a blowout, and if there is any uneven wear tire, it is suggested to replace to a new one.
Avoid Rough Roads
You are thinking that this is a common sense, however, rough roads and streets usually contains potholes, hard objects like small pieces of woods and steels, screws and even glass. For that reason, taking another longer but smoother road is a much better choice.
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