[Stdyhand]

First off I don't know for sure if my rim is bent. I went to take my Mustang to work after lunch last night and even though I had just checked my tires the day before, one of the rear tires was suddenly flat over night. I did not know this of course.

I started driving and made it about 3 blocks when I got onto the highway and started hearing a thumping sound from the rear passenger side. It seemed kind of loud so I pulled over at a gas station which I just happened to be passing. It looked as if the tire was about an inch from the outside edige of the rim.

The far outside edge of the rim, at the lip of the rim, is deffinately bent. But how can I tell if it is bent just inside of the lip where the tire will seal against the rim??

I took the tire off and put some air in it and the tire popped back out to the outside edge of the rim. I didn't hear or feel any air coming out. I drove the car home and I could hear the tire still thumping.

I have to check for a knot in the tire or maybe it is out of balance?

It has been 4 hours since it happened and the tire still has exactly 35 psi which the tire requires. It hasn't lost any air. I will try to post a picture shortly, if my crappy camera will work.

[Stdyhand]

What do you think? Ignore the rusty drum and yellowish discoloration. I learned the hard way not to use that cheap armor all tire polish

[jonrhy05]

to see if its leaking, over the wheel with some soapy water. if you see bubbles poppin up, then you have air comin out. it could be out of balance, do you know how it could have went flat? if you had hit a pot hole, that could have put a small hole in your tire, but could have also knocked the wheel loose and hurt a stud, had that happen to me with a front tire. if you take the tire off yourself, then check for leaks with the soapy water, you can take to be balanced, i think walmart does it for less than $10. if the lip is bent, or missing even the smallest chunk, it can easily throw it off balance.

[Stdyhand]

Originally Posted by jonrhy05 to see if its leaking, over the wheel with some soapy water. if you see bubbles poppin up, then you have air comin out. it could be out of balance, do you know how it could have went flat? if you had hit a pot hole, that could have put a small hole in your tire, but could have also knocked the wheel loose and hurt a stud, had that happen to me with a front tire. if you take the tire off yourself, then check for leaks with the soapy water, you can take to be balanced, i think walmart does it for less than $10. if the lip is bent, or missing even the smallest chunk, it can easily throw it off balance.

I don't see any visual damage to the tire. It happened over night. As for how it happened, I have to wonder if it was deliberate. Since I don't see any damage it's possible someone just let the air out. I live next to a Camaro owner that seems to have a bit of an attitude Though this would be kind of low of him, I wouldn't put it past him. We had a slight problem in the past where he threw in a vodka bottle in my yard while he was drunk and it didn't sit well with me.

I did notice a slight thumping the day before when I checked the tires but they both seemed to be in good shape and I also have a bearing going bad on the same side so I thought maybe that was starting to cause the thumping noise. Now I'm starting to wonder if the tire was already out of balance.

I will probably take it today to get it balanced. I just hope they don't say it can't be balanced because the rim is bent.

[fogged306]

I've got rims that look worse than that and they hold air just fine. If it holds pressure for 4 hrs then it's either not leaking, or it's nothing a can of fix a flat wont cure. I'm wondering if you maybe jumped a belt though if you have thumping all of a sudden. In my experience losing a wheel weight will cause the car to shimmy while moving but thumping has always been a sign of a tire failure.

[ddarkslayer]

go to a tire shop like americas tire company. I work there and we have tools that bend the rim back. It won't be perfect but enough to seat the bead. If not we would use bead sealer