More travel troubles (unrelated to airports)
Tires are one of those things you can't really screw around with on a vehicle, especially if you have a family that rides in it frequently. I've been noticing for the last few months that my car was riding really bumpy as well as some recent slow leaks in the tires. I kept an eye on things until the annual car inspection, which I assumed would unearth any problems that needed serious attention. On Monday my vehicle passed inspection with flying colors (a little blue, some green, maybe a little brown) including the tires, which I asked them to look at closely. Feeling confident that everything was okay I drove my own vehicle to Winston 
Salem, NC on Tuesday for business but had to continue filling up the tires with air for some reason. I guess they didn't bother looking at the tires very closely during the inspection which is a bit disconcerting, but whatever. On Wednesday afternoon I decided to stop at a tire shop before leaving Winston Salem to see if they could determine what was wrong with my tires. I didn't feel like getting on I-40 and blowing a tire. The owner called me back to look at them after they'd jacked the car up and I couldn't help but laugh at what I saw. The two rear tires looked fine from the outside, but the inside of both tires was actually worn through the steel belts! The reason my tires were leaking is that there were actually holes in them. No nails or metal shrapnel that had punctured the tires. Just holes. $360 and three hours later I finally begin the trip home. The good side to the story is that I couldn't stop smiling all the way home to Raleigh because it felt like I was driving a Mercedes-Benz. Those tires made a huge difference. There were two take-home messages for me this week:
Salem, NC on Tuesday for business but had to continue filling up the tires with air for some reason. I guess they didn't bother looking at the tires very closely during the inspection which is a bit disconcerting, but whatever. On Wednesday afternoon I decided to stop at a tire shop before leaving Winston Salem to see if they could determine what was wrong with my tires. I didn't feel like getting on I-40 and blowing a tire. The owner called me back to look at them after they'd jacked the car up and I couldn't help but laugh at what I saw. The two rear tires looked fine from the outside, but the inside of both tires was actually worn through the steel belts! The reason my tires were leaking is that there were actually holes in them. No nails or metal shrapnel that had punctured the tires. Just holes. $360 and three hours later I finally begin the trip home. The good side to the story is that I couldn't stop smiling all the way home to Raleigh because it felt like I was driving a Mercedes-Benz. Those tires made a huge difference. There were two take-home messages for me this week:- I need to rotate my tires more frequently. My family rides in this car all of the time so I need to make sure they're safe. Also, I can only imagine how mad I would have been if I would have blown a tire or two (although actually blowing a tire would have made this post more interesting).
- Just because your vehicle passes inspection, it doesn't mean the individuals performing the inspection were competent and your vehicle is actually safe. Unfortunately, calling and complaining wouldn't solve or accomplish anything so I'll just have to keep referring to take-home message 1 and make sure I do what I can to keep up with regular maintenance.
Posted in: on Saturday, July 19, 2008 at at 11:37 AM
Ummm....what has been going on? I've read this tire story like 5x. Drop a line some time. tchauzao