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Recently I had a flat and i had to buy a new tire, the reason they said was because there was a ring going around the fire, it looked like the letters had been rubbed off and you could not read the "good year" around the outside of the rim...

Tonight i pull away fromy my apartment and i notice my car dragging to the right.

I pull over and both tires on the right side of my car are flat and there are the same rings around them..

my question is

are they ruined???  

three flats....

i wonder what a ring around a tire is...   could the tire guy have said.. tire belts???   steel belts...     did he mention something called  belt separation...

i have a question...    has anybody over inflated the tires????  even for a minute.... that is a sure way to tear the belts loose...

driving on tires that are under inflated can also cause belt separation..   the excess heat and flexing breaks the bond between the tire and the Ribbon of steel belt that is wrapped around the outside of the tire.. but under the thread..

depending on the speed rating and design of your tires...  the ends of the steel belts can be just overlapped..   or they could be  a complete ring of steel cables woven into a unbroken ring  that is still flexible..  

overloading the tires will cause failure..

under or over inflating the tires can cause failure...

wheel alignment being out  can cause the tires to wear only on the inner or outer edge...    this reduces the thickness of rubber over the steel belts..    the extra heat buildup will cause failure..

usually when the cars have belt separation.. at low speeds.. the car will feel like it is doing a Hawaiian Hula dance...  you know the one.. with the grass skirts.. and the swinging hips..

without a professional tire inspection ...  and truthful answers from the salesman...   if he explains what the problem is... you should be able to understand it..   if you don't understand what he is talking about..    ask him to explain it and point it out on your tire...    if he does not..   you might not want to by tires there...

if he is selling you up... or straight out lying to you...  you can usually tell...  you can feel it...   you wallet will start twitching..

i would also ... really want to examine your tires for tampering.. when you have one go bad..    then two... i would look carefully that nobody has stabbed them...

perhaps an angry person who lives near by..

i live in los angeles..  i went out to find 2 tires on each of my cars flat... and looked down the block.. somebody had walked down the street and stabbed 2 tires on each for for blocks and blocks...    i counted over 100 cars...