Tacoma Flat Tire Question.

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Hemobreak

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While 2 miles out from White Mountain Peak trailhead (first time driving off-road at 11,000') my stock 2021 Tacoma Pro with 30K miles got a right front completely deflated tire. I was not aired down. Discovered I did not have the wheel lock key and hitched a ride back to Big Pine. Returned with Perez Towing $$$ with a flat bed to recover truck. Perez removed wheel lock the next day and put on spare. I replaced the tires with Falken Wildpeak AT3/W same size as the stock tires. When they installed the new tires they checked the flat tire and did not find anything wrong with the tire. How can the tire go flat? Is it a high altitude issue? The trail was rocky but I did not hit anything big. Anything that I should be checking/watching for?flat.jpg
 
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Hemobreak

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Popping the bead seems like the only possible reason. I read that I should be careful if I air down, but didn't think it was possible with fully inflated tires. Especially since the road was just a rocky gravel fire road. Hopefully the new tires will flex less and not have this issue. Thx...
 
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smritte

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It's odd you rolled the bead off. When I inspect tires that went flat, I look inside. If you see powdered rubber, driving on the flat tore up the inside of the tire. You can't always see it from the outside. This is the main reason im against any "permanent" tire repair done from the outside. "If" they inspected it off the rim and "if" they knew what to look for, your most likely ok.

As for your wheel locks, If you saw just how fast I can get them off without the key, you wouldn't have them. Main reason being what happened to you. Too many times I've seen customer wheel lock keys on guys tool boxes. One tech I worked with was proud of his collection of keys. My comment to him was "how is someone going to change a flat if you have his key". The response was "that's what AAA is for".
 
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Hemobreak

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I asked America's Tire to check the flat and see what failed. They told me they aired it up and checked for leaks and found none. I replaced the wheel locks with regular lugs. So the next flat I will look more carefully at the tire for damage. Perez Tire told me that they use a socket and impact wrench to remove the lock. Nothing better than a real life experience. Thx...
 
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slomatt

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If the old tire was in decent shape perhaps the valve stem was leaking? If you were running street pressure at the time I'd be surprised if the bead was leaking, I've only had that happen at low pressures.
 

Hemobreak

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When they replaced the tire the flat was checked, so I assume the valve stem was ok. The new tire is using the same valve stem. The flat was not a slow leak. The TPMS went off at the same time as I felt the tire go flat. I was traveling at ~15MPH. The TPMS showed 32PSI on the 3 good tires. Thx....
 

Dilldog

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I have had street tires roll off of a bead while off road and fully aired up before, and that was on a 2600lbs Isuzu P/U so I bet your Tacoma could do it too. It is rare, but not unheard of. The fact that you had a steer tire roll off makes this more likely. A more rigid sidewall with a reinforced bead like what most off road tires have will stay seated MUCH better.
 

Hemobreak

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I have had street tires roll off of a bead while off road and fully aired up before, and that was on a 2600lbs Isuzu P/U so I bet your Tacoma could do it too. It is rare, but not unheard of. The fact that you had a steer tire roll off makes this more likely. A more rigid sidewall with a reinforced bead like what most off road tires have will stay seated MUCH better.
Thx. It's good to know that it has happened before.
 

MazeVX

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I guy I know had something similar happening on a regular passenger car, multiple times until he bought a set of new rims for the summer tires.

Long story short, another tire shop eventually found the problem, there was a dent on the inner hump of the rim and whenever a few things came together the tire popped of on this section...
 
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Hemobreak

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I guy I know had something similar happening on a regular passenger car, multiple times until he bought a set of new rims for the summer tires.

Long story short, another tire shop eventually found the problem, there was a dent on the inner hump of the rim and whenever a few things came together the tire popped of on this section...
Thx. Next flat I will be taking a lot more time to personally check the tire and rim to determine cause.
 
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