My '91 Mi16 had (up til this morning) the original Michelin V-rated spare
tire sitting under the trunk. The car started its American life in San
Diego, and ended up in New York. Thus, for eight years, it has hung in
there through heat and ice.
Finding, suddenly, that one of my rear tires was not exactly safe to
drive on anymore, I went over to my long-time favorite tire place and
asked them to put the spare where the bad one was - meaning to just
unbolt it, and bolt on the spare. Unfortunately for them, they proceeded
to unmount the bad tire from the nice aluminum wheel, then unmount the
spare from its steel wheel. In the process of unmounting the spare, the
guy managed to poke a hole in the sidewall. I didn't see how he did it,
just the "U" shaped scar.
Since I'm sure this guy has unmounted hundreds of tires in his
professional career, I wonder if the sidewall was particularly brittle or
something. Thus, would it have been a safe tire to drive on?
Any opinions?
(I got a free tire out of the deal - hope it didn'tcome out of the guy's
paycheck.)
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