I have been reading a few threads out there about the dreaded flatbed ride home and how to hook up and ramp clearances and all the other things you will never figure out until you have to.
Well today I finally got my education in the intricacies of towing a Cobra home with a ruined rear passenger side tire.
The number 1 most important thing above all else is getting a great tow truck driver. Danny really took the time and never got impatient about anything. Note to self: contact towing company tomorrow and let the owner know what a great guy he's got working for him.
We ended up using two 4 x 4 x 48 pieces of lumber he had on the truck to extend the bed on the Low Boy. He also let me drive the front of the roadster partway up the flatbed to get a good angle for hooking up his cable and not damage the body. Even still we barely made it on to the truck without dragging the rear quick jacks on the ground. I was able to pull up the rear of the car up just enough as he pulled it up on the bed. I just looked at the photo again - I will be cutting down the rear quick jack stand offs to tuck them in closer to the body. Might help.
My tire failure is a complete mystery to me. We were on the 405 freeway and had just transitioned onto the 101 freeway when my car started tracking funny. Brand new asphalt so I though for a second it was due to the new asphalt but it quickly got worse so we limped it to the first off ramp. No shoulder on this section of freeway. By the time we came to a stop the tire was ruined. Fortunately no visible wheel damage but what became instantly obvious was that my wheel stem is missing. I just finished cleaning everything and I checked the tire for any nails or screws and there is none. The only way the tire could have gone flat this quickly is from the missing valve stem. The tires are barely 2 year old Nitto NT555 with 1100 miles on the roadster.
Has anyone ever seen a wheel throw a valve stem? The tow driver says he has never seen this. Even on tires that come completely apart where it was driven on the rim he says the stem stays in place.