I have four enemies in this world. They are my car’s four tires. It all started about two years ago…

I was driving north from Laguna Beach, CA to a hotel in Fullerton I was staying in while I completed training for a new job. It was night, about 10:30pm, and I was coasting up the 5 freeway at about 75 mph. Then my car started shaking.

At first I thought maybe I had just hit a bumpy patch of road, but when the shaking worsened, I knew I was in trouble. I slowed down and put on my flashers. Cars passed me. I started veering uncontrollably to the right. I couldn’t make it to the shoulder of the road, as another lane was merging with the freeway. Instead, I pulled into the triangular wedge between the merging lanes and stopped. No sooner had I turned off the car than I see something roll away from my car and continue down the side of the road. It was my tire, still a perfect circle, but no longer attached to my wheel. Yikes.

With cars passing me on both sides, I anxiously called AAA. I spoke to a woman and told her what happened.

“Yeah, I’m on the 5 near Fullerton, and my tire just came off,” I said.
“Your tire came off!?,” the woman said incredulously.
“Yep,” I said.

After confirming that I had a spare in the trunk, she sent a tow truck my way and said it would be there shortly. At this point, I opened the passenger door and looked at my wheels. The back tire was still there, but the front tire was completely shredded off, my bare rim sitting on the freeway.

I called my friend in Laguna Beach and told him what happened.

“Where’s the tire now?” he asked.
“I don’t know, dude,” I said, “it rolled down the freeway, I guess.”

Then, suddenly, one of the merging cars hit my errant tire, which was in fact on the side of the freeway. The tire, almost magically it seemed, up righted itself and rolled across four or five lanes of traffic before spinning and falling down in the middle of the left lane.

Fortunately, this is were the excitement ended. AAA came, put on my spare, and sent me on my way, albeit at 50 mph so the doughnut spare didn’t fall off, too. Unfortunately, my tire woes did not end on this night…

Related posts:

1. My Troubles with Tires (Part II)
2. My Troubles with Tires (Part III)
3. Unbelievable
4. Candid Camera
5. “Tail” of Woe