LMB-Z

I don't drive much, but when I do, I carry a compressor. Stay aired up, my friends.

michaelinmech

Can't - Federal Govt Witness Protection Program. And I'm sharing that info with you confidentially of course, so please respect the same

village idiot

Same thing I'd be doing if I had runflats, presumably. Leaving the car at the service station and bumming a ride home.

The only difference between runflats and regular tires is how you get to the service station- tow or on a flat-runflat.

phileaglesfan

Flats rarely happen, usually they are slow leakers where you can maintain it with a good air compressor (recommended even if you have run flats). If it is a fast leaker than it is usually repairable with a can of slime. Can of slime is ok with the TPMS. Camaros have a can of slime. Not being good on a sensor is an old false statement. Besides a TPMS sensor is not that much. In the end you will still be hundreds of dollars ahead.

If you have a blowout or damage then you are screwed but you are screwed with a run flat anyway. Some run flats are not even repairable if you drive with less than 15psi. It is a big hazard driving at 50mph on the interstate also. Just try it without a flat.

One problem with run flats is that they are a pain to replace/remove/install. You don't want any shop to work on them and out west you would be lucky if you are within 50 miles of any tire repair shop. Regardless you'll be waiting for a new tire to come in.

But runflat owners have their reasons so whatever fits best for you. I never heard of someone on this forum that went from non RFs to RFs though.

michaelinmech

Respecting everything else you said, I think the primary and overwhelming reason you do not see the non-run flat to run flat conversion, is price. Charge the same for both and I think you would see a lot more ZP tire purchases.

Gearhead Jim

Here's the story of my flat tire just two months ago.
If you are wondering how it would have turned out with non-runflats, skip to post #15 in the thread:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...flat-tire.html

Note that people have driven over 700 miles on a flat runflat (see the link about that in my thread), so I think you can probably get home from almost anywhere in the U.S. if you are willing to willing to drive slowly along the way and replace the tire when you get home.

Scotten

Absolutely! I've seen tow monkeys try to get my Z (totally stock, now lowered) onto a flatbed and it wasn't pretty.

TerryL

At the first hint of possible damage I'd stop the tow operator and insist on him using ramps or whatever it takes to get on the lift deck w/o any harm coming to my car. Telling them before they arrive might solve that dilemma. There is no way I'd stand by and watch or listen to any scraping as the car was being pulled onto the deck.

SpryGeezer

.
We took a short ride on I-25, ABQ - Colorado Springs last week. Cell phone coverage for most of the trip was at best sparse.

phileaglesfan

If the PS2 ZP and the Super Sport were the same price I would still go with the Super Sports which are better in every category even according to Michelin.

Run flat technology has been around for decades yet they are only available on a couple cars. Instead manufacturers are going to non spare technology. If runflats were so great they would be a key safety feature like ABS and air bags are today.

Adam_W

My friend's experience with flatbed trucks sent by AAA has been without any problems, which is why I always thought that if I got a flat tire, why risk any complications of driving on a run-flat (possible damage to tire,wheel etc) when you can have AAA bring it to the place of your choosing within 100 miles. Sounds like many of you would much rather drive your runflat to the shop rather than risk damage from having a flatbed take it there.

richietables

My job doesn't really permit me being late for work... I'm going to be running zp's for the duration. In addition, I threw a $20 Slime kit with the compressor in one of the compartments in the trunk floor. Made me feel like I was spending money wisely... I have AAA (gold or premium, whatever they call it) and they have always sent a flatbed out for my '65 Malibu...

bladex10

I've only ever gotten 1 flat tire and it was when my tire literally exploded of the rim. If i get a nail in my tire, Itll slowly leak over the course of 2-3 days, By the time i notice it getting low, I just take it off, plug it and carry on. Its not a big deal.

CaryBob

I had three flats in the first 12 months I owned my Vette. Replaced three rear tires under the tire warranty.

JerriVette

My c5 z06 came from the factory without run flats. I never used the very expensive to replace factory kit. I just epwent to k mart and bought a 20 dollar cigarette lighter plug in air compressor and a two dollar plug kit.

Never did it before and over the time I owned that car with over 60k miles...it took me two minutes to fix a flat.

I prefer the lighter driving feel of the c6 without run flats so that's what I use in my Hankook evo equipped c6 z51...

The performance improvement along with ride improvement make these $700 dollar for a set of four non run flat tires are my choice.

After the cars ready to go in minutes I just drive to a tire store for a high speed inside patch...not a problem for me...it's actually quite easy.

FortMorganAl

I was about to say the same thing until I remembered I had 2 flats in the past month. (Same tire - first was a nail and second was they didn't tighten the Schrader valve after removing it to deflate the tire to fix the nail issue. Now I know another Goodyear shop to avoid in the future.) Prior to that it has been about 10 years. Hurricanes tend to fill the road with demolition trucks dropping nails.

Bottom line, run flats aren't that bad especially if you have qualms about DIY plugging a high performance tire on the side of the highway.

Turbo6TA

I still have not sold the original tires and wheels that were on my 2011 GS.

So, if I get a flat now on my Nittos, I can just use my wife's SUV to bring a wheel and tire along with my jack from home and change the tire/wheel wherever the flat occurred.

That works for around town here .... If I get a flat outside of town, I guess I'm sorta screwed!

Nice having an extra set of these (with only 1,500 miles on them) in my garage:

Bill Dearborn

If you had run flats why would you leave the car at the shop? Drive it home instead and wait for the tire to come in.

I do get a kick out of the use of the term "Service Station". I haven't seen one of those in years. You have Tire Dealers (that usually do light repairs) and dedicated car repair shops (that might install tires) but very few Service Stations.

Bill

Bill Dearborn

You can have a repair kit but they may not always solve the problem.

I never used the kit in my 03Z. Then the guy I sold the car to drove it to visit a relative in a small town about a 2 hour drive away. He was crossing a railroad track when he felt something weird and thought the tire was going down. He drove 600 ft to a parking lot and stopped to find the right rear tire completely flat. He used the tire inflation kit to inflate the tire but it still didn't feel right when driving the car so he left the car in the parking lot and found a local shop that could order a Firestone Wide Oval non runflat in the proper size. Two days later they had the tire and he slowly drove the Vette over to the shop. When they removed the old tire they found the sidewalls had been ruined by that short 600 ft drive and it was lucky he got the car to the shop.

Bill

Lateforwork

I had a flat in my c5, non runflats. It turned out to be a cracked wheel, not much you can do in that situation.