soulsea

So as some may have read my driver's side rear tire went flat in the middle of an HPDE yesterday. There's a thread on it here: https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-thunk-it.html but basically I limped her on the run flat 120 miles to the house where miraculously my new set of aftermarket rims from weaponx arrived on the same day.

The weaponx rim/tire setup is for the street, so the oem rims and tires are now reserved only for track use.

Now I've got to figure out what to do with the SC2s. These tires only have 8.5 track sessions (less than 2 HPDE days) and 1700 miles overall. By the last session I could already feel them starting to go away a tiny bit, but I'm guessing they still have two, maximum three track days in them, which would take me till the end of the track season 2015.

So do I:

1. Go to the dealer or specialty tire shop and have them patch the flat tire and run them on track until they lose their efficacy?

2. Go to the dealer and have replace just the one tire? Run with three used and one new tire for a few more events and swap all of them out for the 2016 track season?

3. Bite the bullet and have the dealer swap them all out and start fresh? Then store my used ones in case I get another flat.

The cheapest is obviously option 1 ... and it would keep all the tire wear even. But is it safe to track a patched tire given the weight of the car and associated g-force, especially one that has 120 miles running only on its sidewall? I'm guessing no, but I wanted to know for sure. I mean I could always have the patched tire on the side that has the less load depending on the direction of the track, but still.

Option 2 is also more economical than 3 but is slightly neither here or there. In the end it will be more expensive because when the other three tires go away I will end up having to purchase a whole new set of four anyway. So cheaper short term but actually more expensive long term. And I'm not sure how three half used and one new tire will behave on track.

Option 3 is the logical one but it hurts my wallet.

I appreciate any advice, opinion, and input.

dvandentop

option 1 should be fine imho

mdiiulio

Old thread on this from 2010

Tire Rack's Official Page

Seems like the tire companies highly discourage tracking a patched tire, but user experience on the forum is mixed (as it always is).

thebishman

If it was just a plug/patch in the middle of a rear tyre I would have no problem running it on track with an active TPMS system in place. I am more concerned with the number of miles driven on it with no air pressure though, in that I do wonder about the integrity of the steel in the sidewalls. Personally I wouldn't track that tyre for that reason alone, and I would just purchase one to replace it now, and get a full set later. Btw did you mention what punctured the tyre?
Bish

nhpln

If the tire was patched immediately after the incident and not driven on (especially for 120 miles), it would still be usable. Just be glad it got you home. Scrap it and get a new one.

VinnieA

I'd go option 3. I just did my 4th track day on SC2's and they are shot. They were ok first two sessions of 4th day then fell off. While it looked like some tread depth left they were heat cycled out. Just my .02

soulsea

I decided to go with option 3, kind of ... I found a decent deal on a set of takeoffs with 500 highway miles on them. So I'm going to swap all four to the oem wheels and keep them for track use only. I'm going to keep the 3 half used ones as spares in case this happens again. I was thinking of getting the flat one patched up once it's off the rim but I think I'll just toss it ... it got me 120 miles home on those sidewalls, if I tried to track it I'd just be pushing my luck as who knows what damage that did to the sidewall.

Thanks for the help.

soulsea

Okay so here's a heads up if anyone is considering patching up and reusing run flats after they've ran them for 120 miles ... don't do it. The pictures below don't really capture what they looked like in real life but basically they would be unsafe on public roads, and downright dangerous if used on track. The inside of the sidewall is basically toast.







So I had all four changed and saved the three used good ones as spares.

dvandentop

only supposed to run them like 30 or 50 miles at 50mph right?

soulsea

Iirc its 50 miles @ 50mph.

zo6 08

Glad you got home in one piece! I think you made right decision!!!
Pics of the new rims please!!
A

soulsea

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...e-of-soul.html