C4 Steck

I installed Nitto NT555 G2 tires on my car when I bought it last year. It had the old version 555’s on it but they were like 8 years old and some dry rot between the tread blocks on the fronts even though there was 90% or better tread left. I drove the car prior to replacing the tires and never had the slightest vibration. After I put the new G2 version on, I noticed I had some vibration in the steering wheel at speeds 55+ after the car would sit for a while. I read on some other tire threads on CF about others encountering flat spots with their Nitto tires after sitting for a month or more. I just drove the car today after it sat for about 3 months (yeah I know, drive your car bro). As I hit about 57 MPH my daughter and I about lost our molars. It immediately began smoothing out as we drove, but man. On the drive home, I got up over 60 and felt nearly nothing. I’m just wondering if other tire brands get flat spots from sitting. Is it the soft compound getting compressed? It works itself out in quick order, but I’m not impressed with this issue. Other than that, I love the tires. They grip really well for street tires and make absolutely no road noise. Just wondering what you guys think.

THE 383 admiral

I originally had 555r very soft. Fantastic traction
Next like yourself 555G2 not even close to the r series.
A good rule never leave any tire sit for long periods.
Especially hot to cold climents.
Remove or jack/ block the car.

ZumpC4

...

ghlkal

OP, what pressure are you running?

I raised mine to 38psi and haven't experience flat-spotting (I did when I had them at 35 psi)

C4 Steck

I have mine at 34. Maybe bumping them up, at least wile it’s sitting, will help. Putting it on jacks and/or pulling the wheels will ensure that I drive the car even less than I have time for now. Bumping the pressure up is a viable option I’m willing to try. I’ll give it a shot. In the late fall and winter, I can pull the wheels. It’s about to sit until April. NJ winters suck.

C4 Steck

Ok. Definitely going to try this. I hate it, but I just can’t get the car out as much as I’d like to in order to keep it from happening. I’m also thinking I can at least take the time to move the car a foot or so once a week. Thank you all very much for the replies.

drcook

I had those POS tires. They were warrantied out for me, replaced with the Cooper Zeons. Mine would flat spot in 3 days. Flat spot so bad, that I had to drive 15 to 20 minutes before getting on the highway. Cooler days were the worst. They might be good for southern states, not places like Ohio. We were going to head for Corvettes at Carlisle and had some cold nights. 53 degrees, unusual for that time of year. This is when we experienced the problem the first time. Pulled out, and hit the highway in a little over a mile. As soon as we hit 55 it was like driving on square wheels.

The "customer service rep" from that company told me to put the car on jack stands when I wasn't driving it.

3 Days.

Never again will I own a tire from that company.

There are wheel cradles. Maybe those would help.

C4 Steck

Drcook, Who did you go through for warranty? Nitto or the vendor you bought them from? Just curious in case I have to go that route. I got mine from Jegs, the only vendor that could even get them in the staggered sizes during the tire “shortage.”

FAUEE

Nittos are known for flat spotting. It goes away pretty quick. Hankook will as well, but less quickly in my experience. Michelin and the like will also do it, but a stiffer sidewall tends to help mitigate it .

69autoXr

My Conti ECS will flat spot a bit as well. I think it may be an unfortunate fact of life for summer compound tires that aren't driven daily.

drcook

NTB warrantied them out.

The set I had needed 10 to 15 miles of driving before they could be driven at 55 mph without shaking the car like it was driving on square tires. It was ridiculous. We live 3 houses away from the state highway. So to get to the ramps it is 30 seconds west to stop sign, maybe another minute south to the next stop sign, then another 30 to 40 seconds back east (3 sides of a square, the highway does slightly bear away). In order to be able to drive the highway, we had to do loops around to warm those effing tires up to the point that they wouldn't cause damage to the car from shaking it so bad.

Cars aren't designed to be shaken as bad as those tires did after 3 days of sitting.

VikingTrad3r

same tire and same experience

B17Crew

Will never buy Nittos again. Flat spot after only 3 days of sitting.

C4 Steck

I saw that race ramps makes “flat stopper” storage ramps that have a round contour where the tire rests and they’re made of coated closed cell foam. $325 for a set of four. I wonder if there’s a cheaper version out there, but it seems like a convenient option to prevent this from occurring. Though I’ve wanted one since childhood this is my first vette and I had no idea that this was fairly common place with summer compound tires. I’ve only ever owned trucks and a race car that constantly had the wheels pulled when not in use. The price of the Nittos was certainly attractive and I’m not so sure I can really blame them as other brands seem to do the same to a degree. Anybody have a knock off version of the race ramps tire cradles that works well?

jay23ls

Im with you on this one. Sometimes we don't have the much time to enjoy the Vette even though we really enjoy the Vette. It drives my kind of nuts! What I do is a roll the car back or forward to get it off the spot it was in. Its just a few inches but might not work in a garage. And then you don't have to worry about turning it on and then right back off.

I can now make more time for the Vette and will start filming some of my drives. Gonna be Cruis'n USA a lot more

MRPVette

Wow I am having the same problem I bought brand new 555s in 2012 when I first got the car put 17k on them still had lots of tread but replaced them with the new 555s because they were 10 years old I have had vibration issue's since I got them in June been back to discount tire 4 times to have them rebalanced..

vader86

Hated my Nittos so bad I just replaced them with Contis.

Nittos flat spot almost immediately, It would go away within a few miles but jitters you around good until then. I just never felt confident in the tire either in spirited driving.

Whrabbit

I had them on the car for two months. the car sat last winner. in the first months of driving the car last spring the steering wheel vibrated a lot. I saw others had problems with them. I went back into the tire store and bought continentals. I had them throw those tires in the garbage. Don’t ever buy that brand they are truly junk. I didn’t even want any money it wasn’t worth the fight that was going to ensue about those pieces of garbage.

C4 Steck

Dang. Come to think of it, I think the vibration might be what caused my dads RF LTPWS sensor to come apart. The tires were swapped at my family’s shop so I know it didn’t get damaged there. Plus the sensors were not even on those wheels when the tires were broken down. They were sitting in his stock wheels. When he put the new tires on, he had them out the sensors in because he hated looking at the light on the dash. After I bought mine, knowing my dads ‘96 needed tires, I said yeah buy the nittos- great value etc. That was before my car had time to sit and I noticed the issue. Starting to think we might need to make a change.

MatthewMiller

I don't know why anybody buys Nittos. The thing is, they aren't a great value. You can get actual good tires for not a lot more, or you can Riken Raptors for a lot less (and they are still probably higher quality).