September 24th, 2007 9:18 am

As I had mentioned last week I had a friend coming into visit this weekend. We just sort of hung out, ate a lot of food and overall had an uneventful weekend.

However, I did have to attend a family event on Saturday afternoon which was eventful to the tune of $670.75.

I’m driving along the Dan Ryan Expressway maintaining decent speed (70 m.p.h.) and not switching lanes (i.e. not driving like a jackass), when all of a sudden we hear a “FLAP FLAP FLAP” coming from the back of the car. We figured we had ran over something and were just dragging it along. 

We pulled off on the side of the highway and I took a peek under the car while traffic is whizzing by at over 70 m.p.h. (not a comforting feeling) and see nothing wrong. I figured whatever it was came unwedged when I slowed down and pulled over.

I started to accelerate and we can still hear the flapping noise. It’s not as pronounced as it was before, but it was still there. Again, we pulled over. I’m checking under the car again while Katie checks out the tires.

She ran her hand along the back of the left rear tire and could feel the tire literally coming apart. All the other tires were okay so we knew the problem was just with that one tire.

After taking about 10 minutes to take my frustration out on everyone from Jesus to Mazda, I start to try and change the tire. No good. I couldn’t get the lugnuts off.

We were only about  a half-mile away from the next exit so we decided to try and find a gas station where we could call a tow truck and determine our next move. At this time we’re already well late for the family event.

I throw on the hazards and stay on the shoulder staying at a low speed in case the tire blows. We managed to make it to the exit without a problem. I noticed a BP on the left side of the road we exited, but couldn’t make it over in time. As we passed it and I started to move over so I could turn around, we noticed a Car X right in front of us.

We had to wait out 30 minutes to finally get some help, but when they threw the car up on the platform this is what we saw:

The tire had been stripped so bad that it started to wrap around the axle of the car! The thread was literally just hanging from the axle, wheel well and tire.

The right rear tire was also pretty bad. It wasn’t shredding, but it was definately worn. The two front tires were okay, but we decided not to screw around. We just had all four replaced. And since they’re special performance tires they cost around $145 each. The total was $670.75. The car is still in the suburbs because they had to special order the tires.

As pissed off as I am that this has set us back $670 two months before we go to Vegas we are actually very lucky. Here’s why:

1. During the summer we always visit a lake house Katie’s parents own in Indiana. It’s in the middle of nowhere. We’re lucky this didn’t happen just a month ago while we were making the trip there.
2. By finding a service station so close to our accident I ended up not having to call a tow truck, which would have been just added to the overall cost of the problem.
3. The spare tire was actually flat. So, even if I had put the spare on, I couldn’t have driven the car. This would have required us literally being towed into a station (i.e. $$$$$$$).
4. We’re lucky the tire didn’t blow and cause us to wreck. The world would be a boring place without the two of us in it.
5. Katie’s sister and husband had passed on the highway (going to the same family event) so they stopped to help us and give us a ride to said event. We still made it there (although late).
6. We’ll have four new tires just in time for winter.

So, yeah. That was our weekend.

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