DubsAndSubs

Dont use slime unless you want to buy a new TPMS sensor. Get a plug kit and compressor, or go back to runflats.

iclick

I have a portable compressor, plug kit, flashlight, mover's blanket to lie on, and have towing coverage with my insurance company just in case the tire isn't repairable. The stock GY RFs are still on the car and since the car is quite new they'll be running on this car for some time. When I need new tires I'll opt for RFs again, probably FS or Michelin. I feel secure enough with this contingency plan.

woodranch

By the way how do the run flats exactly work? If you get a flat, does the tire pressure light come on that you have low pressure but you can keep on driving for a 100 miles or so until you can repair it?

TerryL

Carry a Genuine Innovations tire repair kit and have RVRoadhelp towing service. Their promise is that they will tow ANYTHING you're driving or riding to wherever you have to go to get repaired. Have used them twice and both times they sent a flatbed. Waaay better than AAA+.

http://rvservices.koa.com/rvresources/rvroadhelp/

white90conv

1. The low pressure light will come on but you can continue to drive.

2. The bottle of slime says that it will not ruin the sensors

3. If you have a cut in a non runflat tire, you cannot make use of a compressor, the car will have to be towed. My most recent experience (a month ago) with a flat involved a 2" x 2" cut from hitting debris.

4. I use runflats and don't buy the arguments that they have significant disadvantages. I had a set of non runflats on my 2000 and they seemed about the same in ride and handling as the runflats they replaced and were about the same as the subsequent runflats I had installed.

I think that runflats are good insurance and worth the modestly higher price for premium tires.

bdanyluk

I just change it with my spare tire that I have in the trunk.

Lookup my previous post about 2 years ago....I built my own spare tire mount in the back of my C6.

Good times! No worries at all.

Adam_W

Haven't had a flat yet, but here's what I heard from a friend who's owned several corvettes:

1. If where you live or where you drive has areas without cell phone reception or in the middle of nowhere, then run-flats are good "insurance policy" to have.

2. BUT if you spend your entire existence in the city and suburbia where there's always cell phone reception (like me), then just get AAA membership for the towing benefit, and using non-run flats for slightly better performance is fine because: EVEN IF YOU HAD run-flat tire and got a flat tire, chances are you would STILL stop your car and call AAA to send a flat-bed, rather than driving around town on the flat "non-flat". As for your concern of tow truck screwing up your car, don't worry, just don't let a regular tow-truck touch your car (and they should already know better). Tell the AAA people that your car is low to the ground and REQUIRES a flat bed, they will send it, no extra charge.

I have factory goodyears run flats, but when they are ready to be switched, I'll probably get some non-run-flats that will give me better ride. This is my daily driver and even a little more ride comfort or less noise is a good investment.

michaelinmech

"EVEN IF YOU HAD run-flat tire and got a flat tire, chances are you would STILL stop your car and call AAA to send a flat-bed, rather than driving around town on the flat "non-flat".


^ Say WHAT ???? Why wouldn't one do as intended and drive it to a tire shop, the dealer or home ??!! If you ran out of gas would you call AAA to send a flat bed rather than a can of gas ??

TerryL

Sheesh, does everyone only drive within 100 miles of home or a tire shop? AAA+ is only good for 100 miles w/o more $$$. RVRoadhelp doesn't cost extra for 'extra' miles.

Adam_W

Well, perhaps I have some misconceptions you can clear up, and I don't claim to know much about this:

* Doesn't driving on a flat run-flat - say for 25 miles to your preferred shop - run the risk of making a repairable tire unrepairable?

* Although run-flats can be repairable, won't many places refuse to repair a run-flat when doing things "by the book" (because that's the official rule with some run-flats) when they would repair the same damage on a regular tire?

* Is there not increased risk of wheel damage when driving on a flat run-flat - if you hit some bumps?

Here is my take: the above are all possibilities, however small, and the cost of tires and wheels are not cheap for our cars. If I have already paid for AAA membership and it costs me *nothing* to have it towed to my preferred shop on a flat bed, why take a chance on the above happening? AAA towing service is quick in many areas like mine, and you'd have trouble finding a place for your car to break down in Orange County that is not within a stone's throw of an espresso bar or at least Starbucks

So anyway, I figure that if I'm going to call AAA for a flat tire regardless, there's no point in runflats for me so I'll just get a non-run-flat tire that offers better ride / sound.

Adam_W

I know some people drive far from home every day. Me: I work less than 4 miles from my home, and I often go a week or two without leaving an 8 or 10 mile radius.

HOXXOH

Carry cash, credit cards, cell phone, and a side arm. No problem too great that you can't fix.

109K visiting 47 states in my '08 and had 2 flats with runflats and 1 blowout with non-RF. Used the first three items, as the fourth wasn't necessary.

michaelinmech

AAA is good for 100 miles no matter where you are. 100 miles from your breakdown point to a shop repairing or replacing the tire should be doable in most any case.

michaelinmech

Ever see them drag a Corvette with a flat tire onto a roll back - and it gets worse if the roll back can't get close to the car and consequently the car has to be driven or dragged even further.


Sitting stranded in your car on a dark rainy night, barely off the shoulder of the highway, with cars whizzing by at 70mph, for whatever short or long period of time AAA takes to get there, is less than appealing to me. I'd rather continue driving to safety and repairs, when there is a tire which permits the same. But to each their own . . .

TerryL

Doesn't sound like you get out of PA very often. What if a driver was in the middle of Montana or Wyoming? Why pay more than you have to?

Adam_W

I appreciate the info: so you're saying that the process of loading a Corvette with a flat tire onto a flat bed truck could damage your car in some way?

If that's the case - and it exceeds the likelihood of damaging your wheels or worsening any runflat tire damage beyond the point of repair - then yeah, I would also prefer run-flats.

I'm just trying to minimize the chance of further cost/damage to my tires or car, because in my situation, I'm okay with calling AAA and waiting at the roadside for a tow truck to come, that's not a deal breaker for me, whereas having to buy a new wheel or tire - that could have been avoided by towing - would be significant for me.

village idiot

Same **** I do when I get a flat with runflats:
Go to tire shop and get a new tire. Only difference is, I call a tow truck to do it (AAA). Doesn't really matter. My day is shot whether it's a town truck taking me there or my runflats taking me there.

village idiot

I didn't think there were many places left in this country where you couldn't get a tire with a 100 mile radius. That's driving 200 miles without a place to get a tire (ie: gas station).

Johnathon59

Depends on where you drive, a few years ago we bought a house in a brand new development many houses under construction for the next 18 months either myself or my wife would have a flat once a month !! drywall screws, nails, metal sheathing, large staples, Thank God for discount tire, finally when construction was over so where the flat tires.

BigJoe

Not very many gas stations will have Corvette tires in stock. So you get towed in and they have to order some tires from the warehouse. What will you be doing for 2-3 days in the middle of nowhere while waiting for your tires? Even if you lucky enough to find a tire dealer with your brand chances are, if you drive a GS or Z06/ZL1, they will have to order the tires as well.

I bought my 2012 GS last April and since then have had three flats. The first two were slow leakers so I could pump them up as many times as needed to get to the tire store. The last I had to drive about 20 miles with zero air. A lot better than sitting in rush hour traffic waiting for a flat bed...