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Flat Spot???

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Old May 20, 2004 | 01:47 PM
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Question Flat Spot???

What is it anyway? My 240 is sitting in the garage all day from Monday to Friday. I only drive it on the weekend. Is it means it has the flat spot? How to avoid it? I am planning to get the 18” and it will be sitting in the garage from Monday to Friday, will it damages the new 18”?
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Old May 20, 2004 | 02:22 PM
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From: Bayarea, California
2003 C320 coupe/c450 in Feb 2016
it' just like a dog. u got to take it out once every few days..
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Old May 20, 2004 | 02:25 PM
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89 M3, 89 325ic 03 320-4matic
dude just over inflate your tires you dont have much to worry about.


A week is nothing just keep normal tire pressure, if you want to be **** just over inflate every time before you put the car back in the garage for the week.
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Old May 20, 2004 | 02:32 PM
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2003 C230K Sport Coupe, 1986 190E 2.3
The only way to stop it is to keep it off the ground. It is much easier to deal with it until the tires warm and the flat spots go away. Only should take about 5 minutes at highway speed.
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Old May 21, 2004 | 01:52 AM
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From: da rock
c240
put something under the tires like a rug or wood. the cement somehow manages to mess up tires. the coldness from the cement does something to the tire, not exactly sure wat it does but it does cause tires to go bad.
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Old May 21, 2004 | 08:37 AM
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CLK63 Black Series
Originally posted by BimmerAvi
dude just over inflate your tires you dont have much to worry about.
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Old May 21, 2004 | 08:50 AM
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From: York, PA
2003 C230K Sport Coupe, 1986 190E 2.3
Originally posted by elchinocache
put something under the tires like a rug or wood. the cement somehow manages to mess up tires. the coldness from the cement does something to the tire, not exactly sure wat it does but it does cause tires to go bad.
It is called physics. You have the full weight of the car sitting on the four contact patches of the tires. The contact patches are not that big so of course you have 3000+ pounds sitting on an small area. That causes flat spots. The softer the tire compound the quicker the flat spots will form. The harder the compound of course will delay flat spot forming. The downside to the harder compound is also that it takes longer for the tires to heat up and of course the flat spot to go away. My C Coupe on a cold night or afternoon will have minor flat spotting, that is gone within the first 3-4 minutes of driving and really hardly noticeable. The only way to eliminate the problem is to elevate the car off the ground and thus off the contact patches of the tires. This is why people storing there cars have them on cinder blocks, also keeps the suspension from getting sticky as well. As it is no longer compressed. So either jack it up and put it on stands, drive it more often, or get used to it. Those really are the only three options anyone has to fix this problem.
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Old May 21, 2004 | 09:53 AM
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From: Vancouver WA
'14 GLK250 Diesel
We use 4 cheap Wally-World [Wal-Mart] floor jacks with wood blocks attached to the saddles [to avoid damaging the jacking receivers] and simply jack up the car on all four corners after every use.

This takes a grand total of maybe 2-3 minutes at each end of the transaction. Been doing this for the past 13 years, ever since I retired and the car[s] stopped being used for commuting.

Otherwise, assume that flat-spotting will happen. Depending on too many variables to list here, this may be a minor problem that will go away each time you use it after a few miles, or cause permanent lumpiness that can't be made right. I've had different tires over the years that met both those extremes....so I no longer worry about it....just jack it up.
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Old May 21, 2004 | 10:05 AM
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My issues with flat spots have been well documented on this board. Some are worse than others, I think mine is pretty bad, or maybe I'm just more sensetive to it. I will say my pilot sport tires that came originally on my car had no flat spots at all...as soon I as I got my contiextreme's it was discovered two left one's were out of round....well I wished, and prayed it would go away, and it's still there...taking in the car back to the tire place and complain, they said they might give me replacements.......but nothing is more annoying to me than flat spots
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Old May 21, 2004 | 10:58 AM
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From: York, PA
2003 C230K Sport Coupe, 1986 190E 2.3
Originally posted by c230pete
My issues with flat spots have been well documented on this board. Some are worse than others, I think mine is pretty bad, or maybe I'm just more sensetive to it. I will say my pilot sport tires that came originally on my car had no flat spots at all...as soon I as I got my contiextreme's it was discovered two left one's were out of round....well I wished, and prayed it would go away, and it's still there...taking in the car back to the tire place and complain, they said they might give me replacements.......but nothing is more annoying to me than flat spots
And yes that one is a tire issue due to the compound used and manufacturing of the tire. My ContiExtreme's do the same thing, but not as bad as yours. It is what I get for buying a $100 tire compared to the $200+ that I was also looking at. The fact that I got a hrader coumpound as well since it is a High Perf All Season tire. It is a toss up really. It does not happen on the warm days, only cold, and that is under 50 degrees F I am speaking of. Does not happen in my garage where the tires are shielded from the elements. But goes away within about 1-2 minutes of driving. So it is a non issue for me. That is what I get for buying a car with 17 inch low profile tires. You should not notice this as much on a 16 inch tire that is a hair taller.
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