Well, there's your problem...

My daughter called me the other night to say that she had a flat tire. While she's perfectly capable of changing it herself, I didn't want her changing a tire in a dark parking lot in the middle of winter. I threw my air tank into the truck, drove out to where she was, filled the tire, swapped vehicles and drove it home.

Back in November, I had pulled a nail from the same tire and plugged it, so I assumed that the plug was losing air. When I removed the tire from the car, I saw what I thought was a nail or box staple sticking out. It was hard to pull out.

I'm not even sure what the hell this thing is, maybe some type of reciprocating saw blade or part of a broken knife, but it's curved and was clearly serrated at some point. The new plug is holding for now. New tires are on order.

You sure it was serrated and not part of a natural shear pattern? Looks to me like it could be a shard from the lip of a wheel that someone broke off on a curb.

Sometimes rims that rub on curbs get a pattern that could look like serration as well.

I recently had a carriage bolt (about 1/4" diameter) in a tire. Too big a hole to plug, ended up getting a complete set of tires with the wear on the other tires. Knew I about due for tires anyway but was trying to put it off a month to complete other things. Oh well, let me upgrade from Evo V12 to RS3.

A friend found a piece of a spike strip once. That was interesting...

N Sperlo wrote: A friend found a piece of a spike strip once. That was interesting...

When a spike strip is run over some of the "needles" can break off but not get stuck in the tire. These can then sit on the road and some innocent driver who runs over them just right can get a nasty flat.

GameboyRMH wrote: You sure it was serrated and not part of a natural shear pattern? Looks to me like it could be a shard from the lip of a wheel that someone broke off on a curb. Sometimes rims that rub on curbs get a pattern that could look like serration as well.

No, the thickness was pretty uniform and the taper looks factory.

I pulled an 8" gutter nail out of a tire once. From the head I thought it was just a normal nail, then when I was pulling it out it seemed like some weird magician's handkerchief trick.

I was driving with the windows open one day and heard "POP! Fssst...fssst...fssst...".

I pulled over immediately and the tire was already completely flat. I had run over the outer portion of a large pop rivet. It punctured the tire and opened up a nice channel for the air to exit out through.

I've pulled large nails/bolts out of wheels before. (Not just tires)

My favorite was the slip-joint pliers that found their way into the tire.

Woody wrote: I was driving with the windows open one day and heard "POP! Fssst...fssst...fssst...". I pulled over immediately and the tire was already completely flat. I had run over the outer portion of a large pop rivet. It punctured the tire and opened up a nice channel for the air to exit out through.

I had that happen before, but I had run over part of someone's exhaust that was buried in the snow......killed a brand new triple tread on the s10 I had.

On one of the Targa Newfoundland events, a Kia blew its engine. The car following got a piece of piston stuck in the tire and flatted

I had a rifle brass go through the tire on my car a couple weeks ago. Must be a hazard of living in North Georgia. At least it was a spent round, or at least I think it was.

I've got a flathead screwdriver in my toolbox that I made from a piece of dowel and a 6" handle-less blade I pulled out of one of my rear tires.

16vCorey wrote: I pulled an 8" gutter nail out of a tire once. From the head I thought it was just a normal nail, then when I was pulling it out it seemed like some weird magician's handkerchief trick.

If this doesn't end up in "SAY WHAT???" ....

I took a 3" long eye bolt with a nut on it out of the tire on my wifes' car about a year ago. The shaft and nut was in the tire with just the flattened eye sticking out. The tire never lost air - I only saw it because my wife said "The car is making a clicking noise".

The plug was still holding when new rubber went on three weeks ago.

EDIT: That shard looks like a broken piston ring.

I remember having an expansion joint on a bridge slice the rear tire on my sportbike at 70mph..................it was an interesting off ramp to say the least.

But I didn't lay it down thankfully.

Wedge from a wood handle hammer?

prison shank!

Where you following a newer subaru?

Had a 1/2" x 4" bolt flatten a tire on I 95 once. How can that happen?

81cpcamaro wrote: I had a rifle brass go through the tire on my car a couple weeks ago. Must be a hazard of living in North Georgia. At least it was a spent round, or at least I think it was.

Was there an exit wound to plug?

A buddy had a blowout one night. When the tire was taken off the rim, they found a Chevy V8 pushrod in it.

My all time favorite was a SCDNR 4x4 truck with a flat, there was a dry twig stuck neatly through the sidewall. It snapped easily while pulling it out, it was one of those deals where it hit at just the right angle to be able to punch through the sidewall.

Duke wrote:

81cpcamaro wrote: I had a rifle brass go through the tire on my car a couple weeks ago. Must be a hazard of living in North Georgia. At least it was a spent round, or at least I think it was.

Was there an exit wound to plug?

Luckily no exit wound to the wheel/tire.

Working for NTB, Firestone, Pep Boys, etc. has netted me many "I found this in a tire" stories. Here's the top ones...

• Deer antler
• Railroad spike
• Entire set of allen wrenches, seriously, the whole set
• Chunk of metal from a traffic light
• My personal favorite, A Friggin' CO2 Cartridge from a pellet gun

Have also found coins, nails and bolts and screws of all sizes, tree branches, porcupine quills, bones, knife/razor blades, chunks of metal from God only knows what, a damn pushrod from an engine, a connecting rod from a motorcycle or lawnmower. Always fun to see what is in there.

I bought a set of used Miata wheels with tires. The tires were junk and when I removed one, I found a medium size screwdriver inside.