I found a screw in my tyre

I had a TPMS warning on starting up my 575 today. Checking the tyre in question, I found a screw in the top of the sidewall. It was above (closer to the tread than) the oval with the date stamp on it, where the sidewall starts to curve round to the tread. sticking out more or less perpendicular.

There are a lot of building works with messy builders in my area. So my first thought was, an irritating accident, I had driven over a loose screw. But looking at the angle - that started feeling very unlikely. That’s not a part of a tyre in contact with the road unless you are going sideways - and even then..

I had left the car parked in a nice area, near my mother’s house, a couple of days prior. Would someone really have dug a screw into a tyre, instead of another kind of vandalism? Ferrari envy can of course strike at any time.

I don’t know whether to believe the conspiracy theory or the coincidence theory. Both have flaws. The tyre itself doesn’t bother me so much as it was more than 5 years old and up for renewal (though in these times it’s not so easy to change tyres).

could a screw really make its way into a tyre at that angle by non-human intervention, though?

 

Yes. I had an auto repair shop for 10 years and saw it all the time. Things like that happen, at least it wasn't a new tire!

 

Happens routinely to my wife’s car. She drives through an industrial area every day and we have to have at least one of her tires plugged each year. All sorts of angles and crap. Screwed, nails, random metal “bits.” One plug per tire is my rule. Once it happens twice replace both tires on that axle.

 

Happens quite often here too. I got myself a Safety Seal kit, works very well. Almost always the rears… the fronts kick up the debris which then gets caught by the rears in unusual ways.

 

You're screwed.






Sorry

 

From my experience as a driver and especially as an avid bicyclist, the hazards are generally located at the edges of the road, in the gutter area. If you keep to the center of the pavement and away from the gutter, you reduce significantly the chance of picking up a screw, nail or anything else for that matter (aka FOD). The reason is simple. If the FOD is in the driving lane, it will either be picked up by someone else's tire, or more likely, thrown to the side of the road where the gutter catches it. Just like dust bunnies in the average house, they accumulate at the edges. That's why it's far more common to have the passenger side get a puncture than the driver's side.

So keep this in your head the next time you cut a corner. Instead, be sure to make a wide enough berth that you stay in the center of the pavement.

 

Pure coincidence.
I had three screws in three different cars (tires) in one year.
One in a Ferrari, right rear, and two in other cars.
One in a hotel car park in Italy (Cernobbio).
Plus then (in another year) one more in an AVIS rental car (SUV) in Palm Beach/FL.

Marcel Massini

 

Thank you, everyone. I am much relieved by your input. I would have hated the idea that some lunatic walking near my mother's house while I delivered her her essentials decided to sabotage a Ferrari.

Yes it was a rear passenger side tyre. Spot on. Thank you for the tip.

Now to get a safety seal kit.

I had already been wondering when to swap out the tyres, Michelin Pilot Super Sports with manufacture dates in late 2014 (front) and early 2015 (rear) with PS4Ss. I will probably now do them all at once, I guess it was a cost that was going to come sometime soon.

 

Darius,

Let me start by saying I’m sorry for your troubles.

It’s indeed very unusual for a screw to penetrate a tire in that angle and in the sidewall. I once went over a screw on the highway at moderate speed. It was a scare, but the screw got embedded in the tire thread, not the wall.

Anyway, I think it may not have been the work of a jealous individual, but a freak incident instead.

If someone were up to no good, they’d scratch the paint of your car with the screw instead, or do what someone did to my white 458: dropped a whole ice cream onto the side of it, making my car look like a Jackson Pollock painting.

Kind regards,

Nuno.

 

I echo others; I have had the exact scenario as well with screws in the side wall after a stint in a construction zone (twice in 20 years).

 

Picked this up a couple weeks ago on my Lexus LS. Just far enough off the tread that it couldn't be repaired. Fortunately Tire Rack's free road hazard coverage paid for a new tire.

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Thank you Nuno. Yes, you're right, there are many more destructive uses for a screw if you are intent on causing damage. And to get the screw in a tyre you would need to kneel or stand by the car, whereas who would see you take a swipe to scratch a wing with it in your hand.

Ice cream! That's a new one on me. At least, less harmful to paint than the liquid offering of a seagull.

 

Here's one I had on an F12.

Marcel Massini

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And here’s the offending item.


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That is strange indeed. Maybe a passing car threw it in the air, and given its speed, the screw hit the tyre with enough force to embed itself in that fashion?

Kind regards,

Nuno.

 

Yea, that really is odd. I don't think I've seen one that far on the side wall.

However, I do think it is possible. For one thing, if someone did it deliberately, they would almost certainly pound it straight into the side wall.

 

If you are running 18" rims, are the PS4S available in the right sizes front and rear? I looked to get the PS4S for my 550 and, at least here in the US, they didn't have the correct sizes for both front and rear. So I am limited to the PSS's, I am not going back to the Pirelli's that are on it now.

 

That could be a possibility. Also, in order to get to my garages, I have to mount a ramp at an angle, and I can see that happening there, there are some builders around that spot.

 

I think you're right...though that assumes someone wanting to do something like that thinks rationally!

 

That's a good question. That would be annoying. I have heard very good things about the new Goodyear F1s also, again I don't know about sizes for our cars though will have to research.

 

I found 5 options that will fit the 18" rims on my 550.
Pirelli P Zero Rosso
Michelin Pilot Super Sport
Continental ExtremeContact Sport
Yokohama Advan A052
Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06
If you find something different, please let me know.

 

I had a nickel go into my rear F355 tire, yes a nickel!

 

See? There is a lot more to Ferraris than just depreciation. Some can even make you money!

Kind regards,

Nuno.

 

Jesus Christ......a thread about a flat tire. Can this possibly be real. Fix the tire for Gods sake!!!! Or throw the ****ing thing away. You are a Ferrari owner after all.

 

Jim,

From experience (although not in the 550) and in my humble opinion, the P Zeros are the worst (comfort acoustics, grip, wear to performance ratio, feel in the rain just to name a few), and the Michelins by far the best in the fields listed above, perhaps the only critic I’d make is that they wear relatively quickly, but that’s heavily dependent on your right foot. Anyway, what’s softer and therefore grips well, is bound to wear quicker than most.

Kindest regards,

Nuno.