This weather we've had lately, right? With bitter cold days followed by milder conditions, it is wreaking havoc where the rubber meets the road: tires.
There's nothing worse than driving down the road, when you hear that horrible sound of flat tire.
Thomas Westbrook says the trouble is with the tire seals. When it's warm, it contracts. Then the opposite happens when it is cold. All that back-and-forth? It causes corrosion and air leaks out.
"With the weather too, salt, sand, eat away at these aluminum rims and the valve stem," says Westbrook who manages D & D Auto Works in St. Louis Park.
He says if they can, they will repair it. But if not, you may need not just one, but four tires if you have an all-wheel drive.
"As far as the cost, as cheap as $80 to as expensive as $300," says Westbrook. "It all depends on what size that tire is."
That is making Twin City mechanics busier than usual this year, with the extremes taking a toll on those tires.
"What we're finding is that around the tire to the rim, the bead is not sealed anymore due to corrosion from the aluminum rims," he adds. "It gets this white, flaky kind of crust around it and simply it lets air through the tire because the warm and the cold weather makes the tire expand and contract."
More bad news. If you're hoping for a quick fix, you might be out of luck. Most tire shops and mechanics are extremely backed up with a constant stream of flat tires.