bikingles

I'm driving an 06 convertible with no spare tire. Doing a road trip in a few weeks and looking for some advice on what to do in case of a flat. I have hankook EVO2 245/40/18 tires on the front. I ordered a slime safety spair kit from amazon and wondering if this will do. Any advice will be appreciated.

Tombovette

Do you have AAA ? , if not, Get the best they offer. I'm sure others will chime in. Have a great trip.

hrt vlv

Plug kit and air compressor for sure, If it is a slow leak,nail or something small just maintain air pressure until you are in a safe location to do a repair or have a tire shop repair leak with a patch/plug.Slime, that sure makes a mess inside tire and can cause a unbalance. You can also get glove box size jump starters for not a lot of money. Have a fun safe trip Bill

duckvett

Mini-compressors and AAA card are your best friends on a road trip. Buy a compressor that fits in one of the cubbies in back. Only use the Slime as a last resort.

MH663

Mini compressor...plug kit and forget the Slime. AAA is a great option as well. Enjoy your trip and don't worry about the tires. You will be fine with the simple items listed.

HOXXOH

Carry cash, credit cards, cell phone, and a sidearm. One or more of those items will resolve most any non-health related problem.

About half of my 143K miles have been outside of AZ. An alternator problem interrupted one trip for 2 days and a tire problem slowed another trip by about 3 hours. IF stuff happens, deal with it then. You can't cover for everything.

Scan the gauges/DIC occasionally and enjoy the trip.

LowRyter

1. Run Flat tires.
2. Bring a "Stop and Go" tire plug kit.
3. Bring a cigarette lighter air compressor.

even if you don't have run flats, you can have some peace of mind with the last two. Not only don't you have a spare, you don't a have a jack or jack pucks. I travel with all three.

bonnell

When I had my '02 vert I had non-EMT tires and no spare. I carried the Conti Comfort Kit.

https://www.tirerack.com/accessories...nce+and+Safety

ben z

None of my cars has a spare tire, and I have no spare time to waste a day or days dealing with car trouble when I'm on a trip. So I always rent something if I'm going more than 100 miles from home. If something happens, the rental agency will supply me with a replacement car wherever I am and I'll be back on the road in a few hours. One time I had a flat and Budget sent a replacement car on a flatbed and hauled away the one with the flat. I take plenty of trips within the 100-mile radius to satisfy my need to drive my own cars.

Also, from first hand experience I believe 12V mini-compressors and plug kits are a false sense of security. Plugs do not work for sidewall punctures, and finding a tread puncture is easier said than done when the tire is flat and the car is sitting on the shoulder of a busy highway, unless the nail is still in it.

And one time I had a valve stem blow while turning at a light, and by the time I concluded the turn and pulled right over, the tire was totally deflated. I put in a new valve but the 12V compressor would not inflate the tire, as the bead had slightly come loose from the wheel rim and the compressor didn't have enough power to pop it back. Had the car flatbedded to my shop, one second later with the shop's compressor all was fine. I no longer delude myself into thinking I'm prepared for a roadside flat other than to call a tow.

airmed2

I've never had any trouble changing a flat on the side of the road. Yeah, maybe not on a Vette, but I don't quite understand the aversion 'ben z', or what the big deal is.

On my Vette, I don't have RFs and don't want them. I'm prepared for everything other than sidewall damage. If I scuff my knuckles and soil my pants, big whoop. The last resort...call a tow. But that is the last resort.

jbc1995fb

Get the Air Dragon, as seen on TV. lol

ben z

I probably misunderstood, being a new Vette owner. I've owned a spare-less Porsche for 8 years, and those come with a little compressor and a can of slime, but no jack. Their idea is you fix the flat without removing the wheel from the car. Finding and fixing a tread puncture like that is not so easy, especially on the rear where you can't turn the wheel out for better access to use the plug tool.

So is what people here are doing is assembling a kit that includes a jack, pucks, lug wrench and a wheel chock? In that case it's less of a hassle. Assuming of course the shoulder is solid enough so the jack is steady.

Honestly though, the few times I've picked up a nail in a tire I was able to catch it before the tire completely deflated, when those little compressors work ok. And with TPMS (which my Vette has, P-car doesn't) it's even easier to catch it in time. However the time a valve stem blew (which is kind of a freak thing, they ususally just slow leak), the tire went instantly flat as I was making a left in a busy intersection, and as quick as I could pull off, the tire already jumped the bead

1bdvet

Get AAA Premire which gives you 200 miles free towing.

jrose7004

Non of the 3 cars that I own come with a spare, one has run flats and the others have a AAA card.

HOXXOH

The whole flat tire thing on road trips is so overrated. It's far more likely to pick up a nail or whatever in town than on the hwy. Tires and cars are much better now than they were 50 years ago. There are hundreds of things on a car that can go bad and you can't be prepared for them all. Ask yourself how many less than 10 year old cars do you see stranded on the highways anymore.

Our Vettes warn you if the pressure drops below 25 psi. You can then monitor that tire to see the rate of pressure loss. If it drops below 20 in less than a minute, no plug or slime will help, because the hole's too big. If you go 5 minutes and only lose 1 psi, you can easily drive another 30 minutes before it becomes a significant problem.

The bottom line is to not let fear control your enjoyment of life.

Midnight08

Just FWIW - not all little compressors are created equal. There is a lot of junk out there. After trips to Africa (to photograph wildlife) where flats are not uncommon due to the long acacia thorns, I saw what they use to pump up massive tires quickly. Same brand is on Amazon and have a couple of them. My 4x4 truck does have a spare and I have needed to deal with it, from flat - the compressor more than handled the job - we now have a model in each car, as it's a great help, along with AAA+.

Here are two of the models I have invested in and had great results with. (I never trust a built in gauge, but in fact keep a trusted gauge with each car, though in the C6 have found the TPMS to be accurate to my racing tire gauge, while others are off, but consistently so, and noted on each).

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Vet Interested

I want one!!!

bikingles

Thanks to everyone will upgrade to AAA+ get a small compressor and repair kit

m.whitmell

I had a flat experience a few years ago in Carlisle for the Corvette show. I picked up a 3/8 bolt in my Michelin PSS 345..... I had all the flat stuff..plugs, jack etc...tire was not repairable..Fortunately I had CAA/AAA and got towed to a GM dealer in Harrisburg after going first to a close large tire shop. This was a saturday and had to wait until Mon for the dealership to open...bad news..closest tire is in New Jersey! Now I'm screwed. Someone posted on the Forum that he needed a local spot to replace his corvette water pump...I replied that I was stranded too and needed a Michelin PSS 345....A forum member called me and said he had a set of tires at a Carlisle tire shop which he didn't need for a few weeks and I could have one if I ordered a replacement.....Thanks to this forum and this member I got away on the Tuesday.....Not easy to get a tire if you need one....I'm planning a Toronto to Chicago and doing Route 66 next year and the no spare concerns me....but I'm going to go anyway and see where the chips fall..lol

dr_gallup

I've had the top link for several years after the POS I bought from Harbor Freight locked up after one use. I keep it in my truck and use it to top off all my vehicle tires including trailer tires that take 60 PSI. Fills them very quickly. I keep a good quality analog pressure gauge with bleeder valve too. I don't think that one will fit in the C6 cubby but it might, I have an older smaller unit in there for emergencies.