Well I posted on the forum yesterday that I had a flat tire. I went to see if the tire could be saved today and they pulled this out from inside the tire. WTF?!?! Anybody have any idea what it is? Did this fall off from under my car? Ideas? Anyone? Please help?

 

Post a bigger picture if you got one, It'll probably make it easier to identify

 

Looks like part of a jack - I am going to read your first report for more clues -

If you had a flat and it was inside your tire you had to hit it pretty hard and keep hitting it- that suggests it wasn't a dropped from your car - its own momentum would have probably helped carry it away rather than into your tire, but it might have been dropped by something in front of you - but more like a object sitting at just the proper angle to get caught by the tread, and then pounded in by the following rotations, each driving it deeper. It is too rounded for it to have been pounded in by a kid unless it is sharper than it appears in the picture - so how fast were you going when you hit it and was there anything else in the road, did you hear anything that would make you worry that your car was falling apart? Any letters or numbers on the item?

 

with bad eyesight and a small pic, I'm going to guess......Brake Caliper Bolt!?

 

I think the garage is messing with you

 

It does kind of look like a break caliper rod - can anyone post what an 8s would look like?
But, there is an odd black area - is that tire residue or a burned area - like it was exposed to heat?

 

It looks like the pin that holds a trailer hitch in the receiver. Maybe class 3 size.

1.3L

 

Jack stand pin?

 

It looks like something too large to puncture a tire

 

I've had bolts larger in diameter that gave me a flat.

And that was in my motorcycle rear tire!

 

I got the flat traveling around 50-55mph on the highway. When I got it, there was a very loud pop, sounded like I hit something in the road. I looked in the rearview and there was nothing in sight. If the pin was on the road, it was definately to small and unable to be noticed traveling at 55mph. If it fell from the car, than that is what concerns me. What bothers me is that there had to be something in the road that I hit because there are a couple of small paint chips on my rear bumper, close to the inner wells where the tire would be. Something had to have gotten hit. I have driven the car all day on the donut and my brakes seem to be working fine so im not sure if its from the calipur. This is definately what caused the flat, im just trying to figure whether or not I drove over it because it was in the road or because it fell off my car and I plowed over it. My face dropped when the mechanic pulled it from inside the tire. The wierd thing is that the tire didnt explode or anything. This thing left a hell of a puncture in the tire and it is not saveable, but I would have thought this would have caused more damage. The dark spots are from the tire dirt I think. They can be wiped away. Here is another pic. Best I could do, its from my cell phone.

 

has your car been abducted by other life forms? i have seen movies where hey in plant a object like the one you are holding :P . but yah wow that thing is huge glad you found it.

 

Just take it to the dealer, and ask them, they should definitely know what it is..... also if nothing bad besides the flat has happened to your car since, then you should be fine...

 

You actually watched them pull that beast out of your tire!!?? That's really f8cked up. Had a screw pulled out of my tire Saturday; very normal occurence. How that thing didn't cause a serious blow out, or mess you up more is beyond me. Seeing that is enough to convince me to get the roadhazard insurance on new tires. Glad you didn't end up w/ worse than a flat RR36.

 

This is a trophy it ought to be mounted and awarded to someone at an auto club function...

I am willing to bet if something this big (or bigger) fell off your car it would not work as well!

I think you ran over something - as you yourself noticed the chips- are there any on the front - you have that nice low skirt and it should have chased something - but it is possible that it was just small enough to pass under the front, then it turned over when you hit it and bumped the back - but at 55, in heavy traffic even a whole tire could be unseen until you were right on top of it.

 

The bolt is definately being saved as a souvenir. Thanks for all the input guys. I dont think it was something from my car either since something definately popped up and left some chips near the back bumper. The only thing that really bothers me is that I need to ride around on this donut for a while until my new tires come in the mail. I ordered 4 new ones (falken azeni rt 615's). Im trying not to drive unless I have to so I even skipped a meet tonight I have a job interview tomorrow so I kinda have to drive it then.

 

If that got driven up and into the tire causing the flat, then I hope that they checked your rim out. I would think that it probably hit the inside of the rim as it went in the tire. I think that these rims can crack easily.

 

good point. I actually looked over the rim quickly after this thing was pulled out and didnt notice any cracking. Ill check for certain before I put my falkens on.

 

Good luck with the interview - life has a diabolic way of throwing trash in your road of progress! Hope you used up all your bad luck!