Monkey D. Luffy

The weather forecast looked perfect so me and the wife decided to spend the weekend in Brunswick, GA. So we packed our overnight bag, threw it in the back of the Z06 and headed out from Atlanta south to Brunswick. So we are 3 hours into our journey cruising down Hwy 16 listening to Casey Kasem's Top 40 (2nd week of June 1980 btw) on I Heart Radio when the Warning pops up on the screen for "low tire pressure." The left rear tire was down to 25 psi... 24 ... 23 .... 22.... 21.... you can see where this is going! Lucky for us, we were about a quarter mile from the next Exit. We pull into a BP station with 10psi left in the tire. I pull up to the air pressure pump, pump in 30 psi and start looking for the hole. The wife is slowly pulling the car forward as I am on the ground looking for the hole in the tire and she is calling out to me 25... 24... 23... 22.... you can see where this is going!

So the wife, being the more intelligent of the two, hits the OnStar button and calls for Roadside Assistance. Long story short, OnStar hooks us up with the right guy with the flat bed that can actually get the Z06 onto it without scraping and they tell us it'll be 20 minutes before he can get there.

We are 40 miles from Savannah and about 15 miles from Statesboro, GA. While we are waiting for the tow truck, the wife gets on the iPad and starts looking up and calling every tire place within 50 miles looking for a 335/25/20. She gets the first guy & she asks if they have a Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tire in this size and the guy on the other end goes, "What the hell is a Pilot Sport Cup 2 and what's that size again???" My wife quickly deduces that she is not dealing with a rocket scientist on the other end of the phone and says, "Do you have ANY tire in a 335/25/20?" At this point, all I wanted was the right size tire to get me home! The intellectual giant on the other end of the phone said that he didn't have anything in that size so my wife thanked him and called the next one. She called no less than 10 tire places and every one of them said the same thing, that they did not have any tires in that size. We then found the Chevy dealership in Statesboro, GA and decided to have the car towed there thinking that this would be the best bet to get the right size tire.

We arrived at the dealership and I was helping the tow driver get the car off the flatbed when my wife comes running out of the Service Department of the Dealership yelling that it will be a WEEK before they can get the right size tire! At first, I thought she was just kidding so I asked her, "You gotta be kidding me, right?" But no! Alas, my wife was telling the truth! A CHEVY Dealership was telling me it would take a WEEK to get the correct tire SIZE - I hadn't even asked specifically for the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 - I just wanted a 335/25/20 to get me home.

Not wanting to leave my Z06 in Podunk, GA (no offense to anyone who lives in Podunk, GA - it's a lovely place to visit, I just wouldn't want to live there - or have my Z06 serviced there!) I asked the wrecker driver how much to tow it home. He pulls out his pen and writes on a board that's in the back of the tow truck to do the math and says, "$1250." While I am doing this, the wife is again on with OnStar figuring out how much Chevy Roadside Assistance will cover and they state that because I got the Extended Warranty that they would cover up to the first 100 miles. Again, not wanting to leave my car where it will take them a WEEK to get a tire the right size, I decided to bite the bullet, pay the difference and have her towed home!

So the moral of the story is, don't get a flat tire in the middle of nowhere or be prepared to wait a WEEK to get a 335/25/20 tire! (And the wife says to keep your OnStar active! They were excellent in getting us the right tow truck and telling the tow truck driver exactly where we were. I have the Stage 3 aero package and got her on and off the slide back with zero scraping.)

Moral #2: Marrying the right woman - smartest thing I ever did!

P.S. Butler Tire in Austell, GA will have the tire to me by Monday afternoon!

OnPoint

So the tire couldn't be plugged/patched?

Monkey D. Luffy

hole was too big to plugged

xxaarraa

That, and aren't the stock tires "ZP" ? As in, run flats? I do understand you cannot drive long distances with them being flat, but should be able to limp to a garage where someone can patch the hole?

nhz51

I don't get why they could not put a plug in tire. If you were dropping a pound at a time, the hole wasn't that big where a couple plugs wouldn't work.

Monkey D. Luffy

50 mile range on run flat ( but I wouldn't try driving that far on a flat tire), Dealership wouldn't patch the tire stating "liability reasons" on a high performance tire. Personally I think they just didn't want to bother. May have been able to tow it to a different place but seeing as it was now late afternoon on a Saturday, all the tire places were closed or closing. I could have been driving all over Savannah for a place that was still open and would patch the tire, and would still have had to tow it home ... adding to the miles

OnPoint

Well, the good news is at least you had a tow driver that knew how to load/unload the car without damage.

Monkey D. Luffy

AMEN BROTHER !!!! He has a contact to tow all the cars for the dealership

Monkey D. Luffy

The tire may have been able to be plugged or patched however the dealership stated they would not patch a high performance tire citing liability reasons. By the time the tow truck got to me, it was after 4pm and most of the tire places were closed or would be closed by the time I would be able to get there to possibly get it plugged or patched there. Had I had the flat any other time other than a weekend day after 4pm, I would have had many more options to choose from.

JoeCT

I wonder if a Slime kit with pump would have let you carry on with your trip? I've got one in the back for just such an occasion. I hope I never need it.

Blue Demon

Sorry about your nightmare, it had to be terrible going thru all that. But, I have to ask why you didn't check for a tire in Savannah since it was only 40 miles away.

Twice on road trips I have used my plug kit and portable air compressor to fix leaking tires on my Corvette, fortunately they were just the nail/screw type punctures.

Internetguru

This brings up a great point. Buy a plug kit. My son has plugged tires on Corvettes that no tire place would patch or plug because of legal liability.

He has plugged massive bolt holes to my amazement! I would have told you impossible. Sometimes youth and ignorance has its advantage as he never seems to think anything is impossible! Old people like me have the wisdom and knowledge to know its too big a hole and can't be plugged.

While probably not safe to drive 100+ MPH on you can certainly drive your baby home and deal with the tire issue on your turf.

rothchilds

Did you consider having a tire overnighted from tire rack or such and grabbing a hotel?

terrywerst

Had the same thing happen to me. The tire and wheel protection I purchased paid for it. Just had to wait a few days for the correct tire size.

Stan0324

Carry an air compressor. Runflats are good for 50 miles flat. Run 40 or 45 miles, re-inflate the tire and go another 40 or 45 and re-inflate again. Would have probably ruined the tire but I think you could have gotten home.

ratman6161

I actually did that once in my old C5. I was about 100 miles from home and stopped twice to put more air in, though gas stations were frequent enough where I didn't have to actually use the 12 volt inflator I carry with me. I was about due for a new set of tires anyway so I just ordered them from Tirerack when I got home. then just put some more air in before making the 20 mile drive to the installer when they came in.

I also carry a truck tire sized can of fix-a-flat which I didn't actually use cause the leak was slow enough.

Monkey D. Luffy

we checked Savannah, no one had the size tire. There was a large bolt in the tire too big to plug the hole

wonka12_98

This is why I purchased the AAA 200 mile towing/roadside assistance card. I'm taking a trip to the southern part of the state in 2 weeks, although I just have the MPSS tires that are stock on my Z06.

carpe dm

If the hole is bigger than a 1/4", it will not be patched by most places. I know, because I had the same type of "flat" two years ago..... a very long, middle-of-the-night, in the middle of no-where story!

Monkey D. Luffy

Hindsight being 20/20 this would have probably been the much cheaper way to go, however, the wife and I both have jobs to be at Monday morning. We have pets that were being cared for for one night and could have made further arrangements for their care! All things considered, it was just better to get the car home and deal with it on my time