I ran over a stupid pothole on the highway last night and blew my front passenger side tire (on the grand central in queens for those in ny). Well I pulled over on the shoulder, two of my friends were with me so I thought alright no problem just put the spare on and get it fixed tomorrow. I've never used the little spare tire before and this was my first time. So we took the tire off and the spare wouldn't go in! It was like the holes on it were a little smaller than the real rim's and it wouldn't fit in all 5 nuts. We tried for really long and no success, and it's not like we can't change a tire, especially one of my friends who was with me has a lot of experience changing tires since hes blown his low profiles on his bimmer more than a few times. So sadly I had to put the blown tire back on and drive like 7 mph on my rim basically since that seemed like the only choice. So now there's basically no tire left and the rim has a little bit of damage (nothing big). Ok so my questions are:

Why didn't the spare fit? was I given the wrong one? I bought my car used a while ago but I don't know why they would have the wrong spare in it? It looks right, did I do something wrong?

I just put in my AGX shocks a couple of days ago, is it possible that the strut was effected at all by being driven on a blown tire for so long?

Is it possible that the rim might've went out of round after being driven on like that?

And last but not least, is there anything else that can possibly be effected by driving on a completely blown tire.

Sorry for the questions but I'm just kinda worried.

Driving on the blown tire was not a good idea. You would have been better off calling a tow truck. I don't think it will damage the strut, but you wheel may be shot.

The spare not fitting...Do you have aftermarket wheels? Who put your wheels on last? Could it be the they were overtightened and bent the lugs?

i remember once i got a nail in my 18inch tire, had to call a towtruck cause the lugs on the 18's were too skinney to hold the donut one, and a donut with 18's is wayyy off, had to call a tow truck its the only way.

A good idea is to always keep five stock lugs in trunk with the spare. I have different lugs for my aftermarket rims too and they do not work with the donut spare. I also keep a can of fixaflat in the trunk. If I get a flat like on the freeway or something, I can use that, and drive to somewhere safe to change to the donut spare. Then I'll let the tireshop worry about cleaning the goop off the inside of the flat tire rim.

You better watch out, if it gets too hot in your trunk that can, can explode.

It won't be as bad as having a NOS tank blow up in your trunk, while the car was parked in the garage. Poor Maxima guy ... I remember that a long time ago.

Does that stuff really work? I've never tried, or known anyone who's tried it.

Why not? The principle is sound, and I figure if I got a flat I'd try it. If it doesn't work I'll just change to the spare anyway.

I don't doubt it...just never heard anyone say that it works...I was just wondering.

I used it on a flat and it worked for about a week, then it went flat againg so I paid to get the tire fixed.

Errr... that's because you're supposed to get it fixed! The "spare tire in a can" is just that - temporary. It even tells you to get the tire repaired ASAP.

So do you guys think it damaged my agx strut or no? I feel a little difference in driving but that's probably because 1 tire is different (and more newer) than the other 3. But when that tire goes over bumps etc it's harsher than before...but a lot of that is probably due to the tire being out of balance and probably alignment. So I'll try to get alignment and tire balancing done, but other than that can my strut be effected? I don't wanna find out the hard way when taking a corner at high speeds or something.

Sounds like the hub-centric centering ring from your regular wheel stayed on the hub and prevented the spare from going on (it doesn't need the ring) - I'm betting you have aftermarket wheels.

I carry a full size spare in my trunk

Goto those fix-a-flat store, get a used 3rd gen 15" alloy wheel and tire. $20 or so. Keep that as your spare.

When I had my donut I thought about the possibility of having to use that when on a long trip with my 17s. No way. A 3rd gen wheel tire combo matches up a whole lot better. And you can leave it on for the duration of the trip without worries. None of that limited service spare, max 50 mph nonsense.

DW

Yes, it really does work. My mom has used it twice on her minivan and I helped a friend of mine put some in one of his tires when it went down. Just dont get it on your hands!!!

Just to add to this...

I blew my passenger rear tire on my way into work this morning. Took off the stock one and the Spare fit like a glove.

fix a flat stuff does work. ive used it many times and I swear by it

no clue what happened, I just blew a tire a few weeks ago, I actually ran over a fork in the road, yes a physical 3-pronged fork! in the road.. ironic eh?

pain in the patootey to find a replacement from a place that didn't try to jack me! turned out the dealer was the cheapest!

Fix a flat does work, I've used it, but, once you've used it, you will have excess fix a flat liquid running around in your tire. That will ruin your wheel balance. So, you have to un-mount the tire, get rid of all the gunk (have you seen the inside of a fix a flat tire Lots of foam and liquid) scrub away all the excess stuff, re-mount and balance.

DW