2006 Corolla - 2 flat tires in 2 weeks

[duder172]

2 weeks ago, one of my back tires suddenly went flat or popped and got torn up on the highway. I started to notice a louder than usual constant noise a few days before the first flat tire. After I replaced the tire, the noise continued when going 60mph+ and the car shook a lot at high speeds. Then today, the other back side tire went flat/popped as well. I got home with a spare.

Both were bought used, with probably 60-70% treads on still. Is it just crappy tires? Or is something wrong? Someone mentioned possibly bad wheel bearings?
This is my 3rd set of tires throughout the car's life, 3 of the current tires are the same brand, the one that just popped was different (a firestone), the one that popped 2 weeks ago was the same brand as the other 3. I forgot what the brand was but it wasn't something I've seen before.

It's a 2006 Toyota Corolla LE. All air in tire was at 31 PSI, as the sticker inside the door says. Mileage is 86,000...

It's front wheel drive. And the car doesn't make any *unusual* constant noises and does not shake at lower speeds, usually starts to shakes a bit around 57+ and a lot around 65+. If that helps.

Some people mention wheel bearings, some say alignment? Some say bad tires. What could be the cause?

[TrailDust]

What was the nature of the damage that caused them to go flat? Do you have any pics of the tire damage?

[duder172]

I was on the highway going around 68-69mph...
The constant loud noise got quieter and the shaking kind of got slightly less, making it a bit more smooth. It was noticeable so I slowed down a bit and sped back up to see what the deal was.

When it happened, I just heard a slight bang or pop...
It sounded like how it sounds when a piece of ice or hard snow hit's the car.

The nature of the damage, I'm not really sure how to describe it, I went about another half mile before I pulled over to check. By that time, it was pretty beaten up. Some of the metal-like wires were out on the edges of the tire. I can probably get some pictures tomorrow morning if that will help determine it.

[PhantomS]

Hard to say without seeing the tires and driving your car...sounds like you may need an alignment or wheel balancing, but I'd imagine either of those would have to be horribly off to cause anything other than excessive/unusual wear......which, perhaps, could cause tire failure if you don't ever inspect your tires and let them get that bad. Could be the off brand (I'm assuming since you don't know the name) tires, maybe the steel belts seperated/shifted, could be just plain dumb luck. I've had multiple flats in short spans of time, usually nails or screws, in my case. I've got 92000 on my '05, and am only on my second set of tires (have one relatively new one as it had to replace one that a nail went through it too close to the sidewall to be repairable, unfortunately. If I were you, I'd go buy 4 new tires of a reputable brand and get the alignment checked. Tires are your only contact with the road and nothing to skimp on.... I try to avoid buying anything used, if possible, unless I know the person I'm buying from and the history of whatever it is I'm buying....and the idea of buying a used tire is kinda scary, other than if it was an absolute emergency. I wish you well