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Flat spots on all four tires

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by omo, Feb 25, 2009.

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  1. Mike Dimmick

    Mike Dimmick Active Member

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    It only needs 12V to shift the parking pawl, though, not the HV battery; once you've got the car to IG-ON you can get it out of Park by holding the selector to Neutral, then you can take out the parking pawl actuator relay to keep it there. Could be done with a jump cable even if the aux battery is completely dead. Obviously this requires a towing company who know what they're doing (and the driver needs to have his keys...)

    The rear tyres are only blocked by the parking brake, which doesn't need any electricity to release. It should be possible to release the cable from outside.
     
    #21 Mike Dimmick, Feb 28, 2009
  2. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    It's not the bed, it's the 20 feet of asphalt or concrete to get it out of the parking garage before it gets to the bed.
     
    #22 richard schumacher, Feb 28, 2009
  3. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    That assumes that the tow truck could back right up to the car. Not necessarily the case.

    The same manufacturing defect on two full sets of tires purchased at different times seems highly unlikely.
     
    #23 richard schumacher, Feb 28, 2009
  4. omo

    omo New Member

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    I just got back from having a dealership look at the car (not the same dealership that did the pre-sale inspection). The mechanic's answer to my question as to what caused all four tires to have flat spots is that they are cheap, no-name tires. I pressed him on the issue, asking him why they would all wear in one spot and not all around. His answer was, "They are cheap tires." No matter what I told him (the tires only have 500 miles on them, the car has not been sitting in one spot for a long period of time, etc) his response was always the same (cheap tires). He says he could find nothing wrong with the car.

    They are no-name tires. He is right about that.

    To answer jayman's question, it is a Package #4, which I believe does include VSC.

    Maybe what I'll do is change out one tire and see what happens to it.
     
    #24 omo, Feb 28, 2009
  5. Patrick Wong

    Patrick Wong DIY Enthusiast

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    I'd suggest that you replace both tires on the rear axle with a decent brand/model, and see if you note an improvement. The 185/65R15 size has many choices available, hence is not particularly expensive.
     
    #25 Patrick Wong, Feb 28, 2009
  6. CharlesJ

    CharlesJ Member

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    Perhaps that is all he could come up with;):D Limited capacity to guess as it would appear he just doesn't know enough?
     
    #26 CharlesJ, Feb 28, 2009
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