Adam_W

Tire = stock Goodyear Runflats that come with C6 Z06. Only about 2K miles on them, i.e. fairly new.

What happened = from DIC notice "Low Tire pressure" to the pressure dropping from 28 to 15, it took about 5 minutes. As I stepped out of the car to look, I heard a hissing sound and saw this thin metal shard - razor blade looking thing - sticking out of my tire. The length of the "cut" at the tire surface is 3/4 of an inch, i.e. 2cm. The tire is now completely flat and the car is sitting in my driveway.

My questions:

1. Are you able to tell from these pictures if this tire is repairable? If so, what's the verdict? Or can this only be answered by someone who has taken the tire off the wheel or somehow inspects it?

2. Whether repaired or changed out, how to I get it to the shop that is about 18 miles away / 25 minutes? Since it's a run flat, is it okay if I drive slowly there? Or should I just take advantage of my AAA membership and have a flat bed take it there?

Bill Dearborn

Can't tell from the picture. It is in a place where a normal puncture would be considered repairable but the shape/size of the hole may make it non repairable.


You can drive GY EMTs up to 50 miles at speeds up to 55 mph and still repair the tire. You shouldn't have any problems getting to a shop that can properly repair EMTs. Just make sure you are going to the correct shop. Where I used to live the closest GY store didn't sell or repair EMTs. They didn't have the correct tire machine and they weren't trained to change or repair a run flat. Had to go to the dealer or a GY store about 20 miles away.


Bill

VET4LES

It's up the tire store but looks like it shouldn't be a problem.

AORoads

I agree. But bill's thoughts may prevail. It all depends on where inside the tire it actually cut through, and how much damage. Otherwise, it may be repairable.

VET4LES

pmt67usa

I had nearly the same type of shard in my rear Goodyear. It made about a 1/2 inch cut in the tire. Sears wouldn't repair it but they suggested Discount Tire who did fix it. I've been driving on it for about 1000 mile since the repair. Nice job. I think the issue will be how large the actual puncture is. Good luck..

Cherokee Nation

Strange" I picked up a piece of metal that looks just like the one you have in your tire.This happened about 3 yrs ago when i still had the GY's.It was in my right rear,i was about 3 miles from home & the low tire lite came on,anyway i made it home with 21 psi in the tire.The next morning i went out and looked at the tire & my luck it was at the top of my tire,so i pulled it out & put 2 pieces of good ole Duct Tape over the leak,then pumped the tire up to 34psi then hit the freeway to the tire shop that i use,about 13 miles to the shop.When i got there the tire lost no air at all.They took the tire off the rim & patched it from th inside & never had a problem..Botttom line is you are good to go with a patch...Use the duct tape....

Gearhead Jim

Over the years of C6 production, there have been reductions in the "how far can you drive without hurting a flat runflat?" section of the Owner Manual.

I would do the phone/internet research on who you want to fix it, pump it up to 40 psi, and try to get there before it goes flat. If you have a compressor in the trunk (everyone should!), you might even stop along the way and air it up when it gets below 15 psi.

It would be a bummer to ruin a tire that otherwise could have been repaired.

Good luck!

Adam_W

Thanks Jim -

I have AAA so I could have them take it to the preferred place using a flatbed.

LFZ

Now is a good time to get rid of those junk GY tires and put some Michelins on there.

Gearhead Jim

A nice easy solution, just be sure the driver brings some boards and knows how to get it onto the truck without damage.

Watch him like a hawk. Some of those guys are real wizards, and others couldn't find their own *** using both hands and a flashlight.

phileaglesfan

About $1400 for a set of Super Sports.

As far as the repair, it depends on a lot of things. It is up to the repair shop if they want to repair it. Some shops won't attempt to repair a tire with less than 15PSI (Especially FS shop with their tires).

Depends on the damage. I had an old wheel weight puncture my wife's Yukon's tire on a trip. It was repaired. Biggest problem was not having a tire shop for about 150 miles

recentlydivorced

my understanding is due to how they are manufactured that run flats can not be repaired at all.

I picked up a screw in one of mine a couple months ago and none of the 3 places I took it to would repair it and was told by all 3 places that runflats can't be repaired they had to be replaced.

Adam_W

UPGRADING TO BETTER TIRES AT THIS TIME: I'm glad you guys brought this up, as I was pondering this.

My Goodyears have only been used for 2000 miles and look good.

I guess it's just a matter of whether I want to spend the extra money now to upgrade the rear tires to Michelin runflats (daily driver, physician, can't afford to be stuck at side of the road), instead of replacing the single Goodyear F1 tire and upgrading to better tires in a few years.

I can't afford to replace all 4 tires when they have so much tread left, if I replaced it with a different tire then I'd keep the fronts and just switch out the rears.

Something to think about.

Red08

You should be able to find a tire shop that will patch it if it is not worse than it looks.

Cherokee Nation

Hey Adam,put some duct tape on the leak & put air in it.It will hold until you get to a repair shop..

Gearhead Jim

With the possible exception of Firestone/Bridgestone (they say contradictory things), AFAIK the other runflat makers allow patching under the same restrictions as they would for a normal tire. Size/shape/location of the hole, primarily. Some will cancel the speed rating after one patch, others say you're good until the second patch.

Gearhead Jim

Generally, it's considered poor practice to run different brands or styles of tires on the same car.

Some people have done it and had no problems, others have said the car became very unstable even during normal driving.

If you do decide to mix brands, I'd find a big parking lot and experiment with handling at the limit; before trusting them much on the street.

As much as I prefer the Michelins, I'd rather have 4 Goodyears than a mix of brands.

AORoads

I would take note of both of the posts just above by Jim.

I'd also especially note his last sentence : "As much as I prefer the Michelins, I'd rather have 4 Goodyears than a mix of brands. " I agree with this.

Adam_W

Thanks, everyone.

Just to update / follow up with what happened.

This morning, AAA sent a flat-bed and the guy knew what he was doing. The car was loaded up and transported 13 miles, no damage or scratch to the car.

The guy who repaired the flat - and yes, he was able to tell me with confidence it could repaired just by looking at the pictures I emailed him - he came highly recommended, and as they work on some high end cars and with car enthusiasts. He met expectations. Not a scratch on my OEM spider wheels with semi-gloss aftermarket finish. Best of all, the guy said "it's on the house" and refused to accept any money from me. I guess I'm going back there when I upgrade to Michelin PS2 ZPs in a few years The place is JFC XPress in Laguna Niguel, the guy's name is Kevin. If anything, I'm glad this process allowed me to find an honest tire guy I can trust my corvette with.