Some of the roads surrounding Deep Creek in MD are simply spectacular. Whether you're carefully navigating Savage River road or heading south towards Seneca Rocks, there are superb twisties that excite the senses. Normally we go on our Goldwings, but this weekend the wives wanted to go to the wine and art fest so we had time to take our convertibles out and give them their propers.
I hit a pothole on an apex and heard the immediate >whoosh< signaling my day of fun was over. Once the donut was secured, we began the painful crawl back home. The next day, the wife and I drove home slow and steady, stretching what is normally a 2:45 ride to just over four hours. And the top had to stay up as the deformed tire took up the trunk space.

Turns out the tires were a tick under 6 years old, were beginning to exhibit some rot so their usefulness was nearing an end. For right at $1000 there are four new mounted and balanced Continental Extreme Contact Sport tires ready to be scrubbed in. Happily, my TPMS system reset itself after about 5 minutes of driving.

 

Bummer. But look at the sunny side - you only had one flat!

 

bummer! i too have worn the donut. at least it makes a bold and bright splash in whatever shade of orangey-red that is. the average car shamefully attempts to hide with solid black paint, and no one is fooled!

 

All is well - one good weekend shot in return for 4 new tires and no damaged rims.
You know I pressed the "Like" button because I like the posted details and the end result, but not what happened

 

I’m happy its all sorted for you, and without a catastrophic episode. Looking at the picture I can’t say I’ve ever had a blow out on the sidewall like that, on a passenger car, with a modern, high quality tire.

Yes, I’d be changing all 4 too.

 

Those spares are pretty resilient. I had mine on the front for a 2 hr ride home and had to swerve on the highway @ 60mph to avoid hitting a turkey. Yes, a turkey. The spare held up well.

 

Scott, I had the same thing happen but down the street and not on a long trip. I was coming in HOT to a right hand turn into the local fillin' station. Hit a massive pothole right as you turn with the cars weight loaded to the front, I was braking hard from the main road as it was traffic heavy and well, that is the way I drive. BAM, could hear the impact and feel it through my hands. Immediate and catastrophic rupture of the front right tire. People already at the pumps snapped their heads around thinking there was an accident.

Tires were fairly new, replaced the one, had the suspension and rim checked, all good ever since. I surely make the time to check my spare pressure periodically!!!

 

Every car should have a 12 volt tire inflator in the trunk. Make sure that it plugs into the cigarette lighter and is designed specifically for automotive use, with a long power cord that'll reach all four wheels.

If you have a flat, you have three choices: (1) put on the spare, if you have one, and get dirty; (2) wait for the tow truck to get there, and get frustrated; or (3) try to reinflate that tire and drive to a shop to get it fixed.

My choice is (3), if possible. Otherwise, depending on the weather and other circumstances, (2) and then (1). Of course, with a massive blowout like Scott had, that tire won't hold any air pressure. But most of the flats I've had are minor and the tire could be reinflated so I could drive to a tire shop while watching for a TPMS warning to inflate it again.

I still have and like this old tire pump. It's small but powerful (and LOUD!), and has a screw-on tire valve connector. I prefer that over the clip-on type, which can pop off. It's no longer available, and newer models have more features including automatic shutoff when the set pressure is reached. Search Amazon.