Got a flat on the way to work yesterday. I pulled up to an intersection and as far as I know it was fine. Pulled away and I heard the rubbing. There was a gas station a couple hundred yards ahead, so I drove it up and pulled off. It had a fairly large bolt smack dab in the center of the tread, leaving a fairly large hole. The tires were bought and installed in July '02, and only have about 10,000 miles on them. The dealer where I bought the tires said they won't honor the roadhazard warrenty because they said I drove on the sidewalls, and tried to sell me a new set of tires for $300. I'm not very happy about that, and am going to take it up with them again. But I have a couple of questions.
The tires were rated for 40,000 miles, but they said they were dry rotted and ought to be replaced anyway. How long should a tire last, disregarding miles?
How much play do I have in the diameter of each tire before it becomes to much for the diffs? Even if they would replace the tire, would I then have to replace all of them anyway?
How much damage might I have done by driving, say, 15 miles on a 9 year old, pristine (never seen the light of day) space saver spare? I did pump it up to the requested 60 lbs, but it would be full diameter, right?
Tonyrama '95 Outback