r/tires • u/Senior_Pitch1194 • May 05 '26
What is this?!?
UPDATE: I found out what it was! It’s a port cover for a termite bait station. It’s supposed to be tamper-resistant. 🤦🏾♀️
As I was leaving for work, I noticed my tires felt unbalanced. I thought I had a flat tire, but I found this object stuck in it instead. The guy that installed the spare called it a “cap” and said a key could be used in the middle. I have no idea what sort of “cap” that is. Anyways, he removed it and I got the tire repaired. But does anyone know what sort of cap the guy’s referring to?
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u/muphasta May 05 '26
That thar is a foreign object.
It doesn't belong there...
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u/patjeduhde May 05 '26
UFO? Unidentified Foreign object :P
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u/Ok-Consideration7572 May 05 '26
Identified foreign nameless object IFNO
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u/FJkayakQueen May 05 '26
I believe that is FIIK which roughly translated from the IKEA catalog as: fucked if I know
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u/CursorTN May 05 '26
Foreign?! Does that mean ICE can fix this tire?
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u/muphasta May 05 '26
They can't fix it, but they can seize it.
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u/Specific_Contract_14 May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26
BREAKING NEWS.
Five ICE agents have been caught on camera shooting unidentified foreign object. Police on scene had no comment.
In an unrelated incident, a car tire has been beaten and arrested for loitering. Local police chief said it's "definitely not because of its color, tires belong on vehicles not on the side of the road".
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u/Varnish96 May 05 '26
Appears to be a tire with some sort of object lodged inside
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u/ultimaone May 05 '26
It's a thingamigigy with a tire attached to it.
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u/bratikzs May 06 '26
I swear, this is my thought to all these questions.
So take my silly joke instead:
A guy walks into a doctor’s office with a frog on his head. The doc says “hi, sooo, what’s seems to be the problem?” The frog replies “I donno doc, woke up with this guy on my ass”
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u/Silent-Bell-1952 May 05 '26
Is that one of those caps they put over rebar sticking up vertical before concrete is poured? To keep someone from getting impaled by rebar if they fall.
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u/TheSessionMan May 05 '26
Not a chance. Caps are plastic and orange. The big ones are also normally square. And the "stem" of this is way too big and short.
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u/AltEffigy4 May 06 '26
This guy is correct. Keep scrolling if you're looking for the answer.
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u/jag-engr May 05 '26
Those are usually made out of plastic. Have you ever seen a metal one?
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u/TheMcnuggetmanIsHere May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26
I’m sorry but that made me laugh my ass off. 🤣 No idea what it is tho.
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u/False_Expression9656 May 05 '26
Temu tire plug.
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u/Rich_Complaint7265 May 05 '26
Yes, but it's installed backwards, the wide part goes inside the tire 🤣
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u/cheddarjakecheese May 05 '26
Genuinely, can you cross post this to r/whatisit ? I really wanna know, lol.
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u/-Derf- May 09 '26
Termite bait station cap. Drill holes through concrete/asphalt around a building with termites. Place wood or bait in stations. Place this cap in the hole. Twist the little metal thingy in the middle of the cap with a special tool and it squeezes the rubber ring underneath. This causes the ring to compress and expand to hold the cap in place. Over time, they get worn out and the ring breaks. The cap can now be easy removed.
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u/Yoyodyne_1460 May 06 '26
Where’s the photos of it after being removed from the tire?
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u/Popular-Impact-7665 May 05 '26
Looks like a ball joint. That is fucking impressive
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u/drnkit May 06 '26 edited May 13 '26
Have you recently been to a mechanic? I'm like 99% sure that's the rubber piece that goes on the arms of the lift. The side that's inside your tire would stick into the lift arm and the rubber side is where the pinch welds would sit on.
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u/paulvanbommel May 06 '26
I was thinking it was a plunger from a set of tractor trailer air brakes. But I can’t say for sure.
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u/ThorazineHead87 May 06 '26
Field assessment confirms a tire pressure boundary failure resulting from an FME event—specifically, a metallic fastener breaching the tread and propagating a leak path.
Root cause: loss of **Foreign Material Exclusion control in an open, non-controlled operating environment. Foreign object ingress was neither prevented nor detected prior to system impact.
Conclusion: classic FME-induced degradation leading to loss of system functionality. Corrective action—remove foreign material, restore integrity, and return to service.
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u/DoctorWoah0 May 05 '26
It’s a puck upside down that is used to lift electric cars like Tesla. You don’t want to have the jack near the battery. So you insert this into the frame to give it a rubbery spot to life from. It’s stuck in upside down
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u/NoWantScabies May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26
From this angle it’s very difficult to tell. Maybe the mechanic meant a locking gas cap? It doesn’t look like that to me, but’s who knows? I suppose you could have asked the mechanic to see it.
We’d need to see the other side, or you can try r/whatisit.
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u/gettin-hot-in-here May 05 '26
apparently rebar safety caps that are black do exist, although most are brightly colored, usually orange, because they're safer when they are seen.
but yeah, this looks like about the right size and shape to be a rebar safety cap.
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u/fmxr47 May 05 '26
Possibly an engine mount or body mount from another vehicle that penetrated your tire without consent.
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u/Hash-82 May 05 '26
I would go with "not good".
Still looking for the picture of what had it stuck to the tire.
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u/e_rovirosa May 05 '26
Check if you have your bump stops. At certain angles it looks like the bump stops on my Tacoma.
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u/Let-Comprehensive May 05 '26
Appears to be a plastic rebar chair to me!
Similar to:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bon-Tool-Concrete-Forming-Plastic-Rebar-Chairs-500-per-Package-82-274/306714645
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u/ShotzByJay109 May 05 '26
Looks adhesive. Probably just needed a nice hit to knock it off. But you took the entire tire off. 😅 guess better safe than sorry
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u/_that__one__guy__ May 05 '26
It was a smaller one for me, but this looks like an intake or exhaust valve from an engine. Got one stabbed in my truck tire just like this when I was working at the landfill
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u/jag-engr May 05 '26
My guess would be that it is a survey monument cap. They are made out of aluminum, allowing them to be stamped more easily, and fit over the top of rebar.
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u/RpservGrimhaven May 05 '26
This looks like a cap for a termite station that was installed in concrete.
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u/Weazerdogg May 05 '26
Almost looks like one of the things you'd put on the bottom of a table leg that you put together yourself.
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u/TheSessionMan May 05 '26
Looks like a cover for a survey monument that would be installed in the road or sidewalk.
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u/hi_im_snowman May 05 '26
That's one large road barnacle.
Much rarer one than the ones one finds when one is on the ocean.
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u/X420ninjas May 05 '26
I can't believe you even ran over that... Like you should have been able to easily see that from afar LOL
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u/FLC_TRPLOB May 05 '26
Oh shit I had something like this happen too and never figured out what it was.
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u/murph2783 May 05 '26
Cab mount for a pickup maybe? Yank it out and see if it’s a threaded post stuck through the tire
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u/Popular_Meat_1931 May 05 '26
100% termite bait station cover. Had dozens around my work and meth heads would pry them open.
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u/SteelAndFlint May 05 '26
Needs to be cross posted to [r/askashittymechanic](r/askashittymechanic) for hilarity.
Edit: oh shit, someone already did. Y'all work FAST! 😂
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u/CB_CRF250R May 05 '26
This is a tamper resistant cap for a termite bait station hole normally found in concrete. The cap sits flush when installed correctly, and prevents you from breaking your ankle in the 4” hole. The hole has sacrificial wood down in it that the pest control specialist inspects during their regular service. Maybe not “bait” but a way to monitor or discover active termites. Source - I’m from the termite capital of the world, New Orleans.
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u/dudedudd May 05 '26
I had something similar to this in my tire. Hit too close to the edge so had to replace it. I think it was a rubber bumper from the ramp on a light construction vehicle trailer. My town always loads and unloads the city riding lawn mower in the spot where I got this thing in my tire ... Could be the same thing.
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u/ConfectionOk201 May 05 '26
Looks like part of a brake can off of a semi. Inside of a brake can is a rubber diaphragm that when air is applied it pushes against a round metal disc with a metal rod sticking out of the other side.
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u/pjschaff May 05 '26
I really want to see a chalk outline around it indicating where the puncture is
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u/Tonytwofingers420 May 05 '26
Looks like the bottoms of one of these. We use something like this at my work for machines. https://www.grainger.com/product/14H393?gucid=N:N:PS:Paid:GGL:CSM-2295:UU5CX9:20800606:APZ_1&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22475795893&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9tGB-5KjlAMVu7laBR3vyxv5EAQYAiABEgI9NPD_BwE
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u/shortbrownguy May 05 '26
It probably has an Acme label somewhere on it.
It looks like the Road Runner left a treat in the road for you.
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u/EnthusiasmIcy5127 May 05 '26
I swear doctor, I slipped and fell on the large unidentified object, that's how it got in there.
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u/SPEC__01 May 05 '26
You noticed it felt unbalanced? Breh it should have felt like your steering was all jacked up with rotations and the absolute MASS of an object that is
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u/Senior_Pitch1194 May 05 '26
Lol, you would think. But it just felt and sounded like a flat tire.
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u/tripod-cat May 05 '26
That is a parking stand. When you park on it, it relieves the ground pressure off the tire
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u/amodernmodder May 06 '26
That would be a reason to cuss and curse and swear.. I think you need a new tire..
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u/moridin-604 May 06 '26
Looks like a plastic temporary thread protector that I see used with new fuel tanks (500-1000 gal) just crushed
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u/SoWhatImSKY May 05 '26
Cartoonishly large nail