Are those tires legal?
Q: This past weekend, I had a very frightening experience. A really modified pickup truck: loud muffler, high off the ground and very wide tires (at least 3 to 4 inches beyond the fender), passed me going very fast. I didn’t mind the speed; it was the piece of junk that his right rear tire picked up at its outer edge and threw back at me. It actually went over me and hit the car behind me, cracked his windshield and nearly caused a catastrophic accident. Aren’t tires supposed to be covered by extending the fender to prevent throw backs like this?
A.T., Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
A: In many states, but not all, tires that extend beyond the fenders are illegal. That is because incidents such as yours are a true safety hazard. In Pennsylvania, they are illegal, and the vehicle will not pass the annual safety inspection. If cited by a police officer, there is also a fine. Exceptions are occasionally made for add-on fender extensions or mud flaps.
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Q: I owned a 2008 Z4 and could not rotate the tires front to back because the back tires were wider than the front tires. I’d double check your advice about tire rotation on the 2003 Z4.
B.W., Chicago
A: My answer was for general tire rotations. There are exceptions, as you pointed out, but I try to aid the largest portion of my readership. Yes, different sized tires cannot be moved to another axle. Tires with a specified direction of rotation don’t follow the general rules, either. Yeah, I blew it by overlooking the reader’s mention that it was a BMW Z4. Thanks.
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Q: I have a 2012 Chrysler 200 and have a problem with the wipers turning on and going one swipe back and forth with the wiper switch off. On a rare occasion, they turn on when the wiper switch is off; I have to turn the switch on then off for them to stop. I took my car to the dealer and they couldn’t get it to do it, but they looked in Chrysler’s archives and found that a ground wire could be the problem. They cleaned all of the ground wires and when I got my car back, it was the same problem. Any suggestions?
G.D., Harleysville, Pennsylvania
A: There are not many ground wires in a car. In fact, almost the entire car is the ground circuit. If you look, you may see that the ground cable from the battery is connected to the engine as well as another point on the body, usually the firewall. Here’s the weird part: A poor ground on another component could be chasing for a ground somewhere else and that somewhere else may be your wiper switch.
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Q: At a recent inspection, it was discovered that I needed an axle boot replaced on my 2013 Chevy Malibu. Coincidently, I was going on a six-hour drive the following week. Was there a possibility of anything going bad for me if I was unaware of the boot issue?
J.A., Allentown, Pennsylvania
A: If the tear is recent, you should be fine. The boot covers the constant velocity (CV) joint on the axle and the grease does not usually spew out quickly. Replacement boots do not require removing the axle and just about any repair shop can easily handle the job. If you wait too long, dirt and grit can enter and damage the CV joint.
