RE/MAX 1

So it happened, just admiring my stunning machine in the garage and see what looks to be a stone, in the rear driver tire. Upon closer look, it's a dreaded nail. It's currently not losing air. I started to pull it out, but it looks like it's in deep. If I pull it out, will this Z06 really drive with no air in the tire? Dealer is about 10 miles away. Car is still under warranty, it's a 2016. Should I leave nail in and drive it to dealer? Nail is closer to outside wall, but I think it can be plugged. It's in line with beginning of initial rib. Has anyone driven with a flat that can provide experience? Suggestions? I don't want to ruin the rim. Thanks for feedback.

Zymurgy

Yes, run flats really will run when flat. Recommendation is no more than 50 miles at speeds of 50 MPH or less. Still, I'd leave the nail in until you reach your tire repair place.

A pic would help, but based on your description, it may be too close to the sidewall to be repaired.

c54u

I would leave the nail in and drive it to the dealer.

Yes, if you remove the nail, you can drive on the tire with zero air pressure, but limited to 50 mph for about 50 or so miles. Doing this will start to ruin the tire. If you don't drive far, tire should be ok to patch if it is in a patchable area.

LT4CMG

I'm sorry to hear this, and subscribing to hear what others have to say. I made some discoveries recently about my z51 PSS run flats when I bought new wheels. One local dealer said "we send our run-flat vettes to Discount Tire", another said they'll do it, but when I asked to see their mounting machine, it pre-dated the Great Depression.

Went to Discount, was told that another location 20 miles away has the proper machine. Finally, angry and frustrated, I stopped by a Belle Tire, and the kid behind the counter made my day. $200 dollars to dismount, remount and rebalance all 4, but state of the art machines and the kid ran to another location to get black weights. Had to tip him a $20, took real good care, towels on everything and used detail spray to clean off all the gunk they use to mount the tire

Good luck

TEXHAWK0

Put a little extra air in the tire, and drive it with the nail in it.
Not only does it plug the hole, but it makes it easier to locate the hole inside the tire to do the repair.

Even at Discount Tire, you have to pay attention to who does the work.
I have taken my Corvette wheels there and the manager actually changed the tires himself.
However, when I took my Camaro there last time, one guy used a putty knife to remove the weights and scratched the bore all the way through the paint.
On my Corvette I usually remove the weights myself and clean the wheels before I take them in. Guess I will have to start doing that on the Camaro too.

F4 Phantom

I drove my C7 for almost 50 miles with 0 tire pressure twice. Run flats really work.

juanvaldez

Another vote for discount tire. They repaired mine twice for free, even rebalanced. Don't drive it flat unless you have to. Leave the nail in for sure.

MrCrowleyZ51

hey man have run flats on my z51 2016 and took it to my dealership my nail was in for a while cause I noticed like every 3 weeks I had to put just a lil air in that one tire so I jumped in one day and it was at 9 psi I inspected the tire and saw nail, took it to chevy dealer and they say with run flats it's not good to patch it cause it ruins the integrity of the tire and could blow up while you are on the road, they said you can maybe get away patching it up if you catch the nail really early but still you never know. So in the end I paid for a brand new tire and came back the next week and got the tire and rim warranty which I paid around 1200$ bucks for 5 years any nail in my run flat they give me a brand new tire which are around $300 a tire didn't wanna pay that every time I got a nail in it 👍🙏

RE/MAX 1

I posted a pic, thanks for the great feedback.

4thC4at60

Unbeknownst to me I had a flat run flat several years ago and drove home via the back roads - in the rain - at xxx mph (yes, that's three digits) - it was 62 miles home ..... when I discovered the flat the next morning - I was like, "Oh! $hit...!"

We examined the tire closely (40 years-experience tire guys).... determined that nothing was amiss. Repaired tire, put 20K+ miles more on the tire...

Yeah... yeah... I know...

Six Vettes - 700,000 miles.... I'm 76 looking forward to 77.

Got a nail in the left front on the Ferrari - Discount Tire tomorrow at 8.... Starbucks next door....

rmorin1249

I would NOT go to the dealer. Head to a tire store that has experience mounting and dismounting runflat tires. Hopefully yours can be plugged and patched. Good luck.

owc6

Most dealers are not where I would choose to have a RF serviced (or any tire, for that matter). Some are OK, but there are tire places that do this all day long, year in and out.

DO NOT pull the offending object out. Over fill, and take it to be serviced. If you have a portable compressor, take it along and keep an eye on the DIC. Fill as needed till you get there.

Steve_R

This is why you don't go to a car dealer for a tire issue. You got taken. I take everything to Discount Tire; never a dealer.

owc6

This is a load of BS your dealership gave you!

"catching the nail early"? What's that even mean? How early is early enough? I know the recent thought is no ZP driving or they can't guarantee structural integrity, but that is lawyer talk, as far as I'm concerned. Plenty of folks have driven their RFs at ZP and properly plug/patched afterwards for many thousands of miles. Myself included.

RFs can be repaired in exactly the same puncture place and manner as nonRFs.

They are not more likely to "blow up", in fact, I would say they are less likely to do so, because they are more sturdy. It takes an awful lot to blow a RF tire off a rim (unlike a nonRF). I have never even heard of such a thing happening on this forum.

LT4CMG

Same question. What does catching it early have to do with patching or not patching? It’s not cancer, it’s a nail. Over the last year of vette ownership, I’ve discovered that some people think we have “dumbass” tattooed on our foreheads, so be careful fellow vette owners. There are a lot of snake oil salesman out there. Apparently if it’s a vette, they assume you’re just going to fall for every extra crap they try to upsell you.

Zymurgy

Complete B.S. Michelin says you can do a combination patch/plug on their run flats provided it is in the "repairable area" (meaning it is not too close to the sidewall area). Who you gonna believe, the tire manufacturer or some clown at the dealership who wants to sell you a new tire?

Zymurgy

You're welcome. Based on what I can see from the picture (it is rather dark), it appears that the nail is outside the first tread groove. That would put it too close to the sidewall to be repaired.

owc6

I would say that you have nothing to lose by properly patch/plugging it. If you aren't tracking it, and the repair fails? Statistically, possible? yes, but again, can anyone point me to where this has happened with a properly done plug/patch?

If it does fail in the future, Ok, you are back to where you are now.

Unless this is a warranty item, and they will replace, I would go for it.

Among any numerous other flat tire stories I could tell you, I put 68,000 miles on a Michelin RF tire that had a puncture outside this area (right on the sidewall/tread verge). In fact I forgot it even had the puncture until I replaced the tires and saw the plug/patch.

Foosh

"Catching it early" means too much driving at ZP can compromise sidewall and/or structural integrity, so if you can, you're better off not driving at ZP if you can avoid it.

How much is too much? There is no clear answer to that question. Michelin does approve a runflat repair one time in the center tread section, but the fine print in their policy I believe also excludes one that has been driven extensively at ZP. Of course, you'll hear many stories from people who drove many miles at ZP and plugged from the outside, or repaired punctures at the tire edge and got away with it. It's a personal decision only you can make.

Here's what Tire Rack says in the full article with the chart Zymurgy posted above (full link posted at bottom):

Unfortunately, when it's time to consider repair, even a trained tire specialist may be unable to confirm internal structure damage resulting from a run-flat tire having been driven in a severely underinflated or zero pressure condition. Such damage may not be visible on the surfaces of the tire's exterior sidewalls or interior liner, making it impossible to determine tire suitability for repair or reuse. Because of this, Tire Rack and many tire manufacturers recommend replacement of run-flat tires driven in a severely underinflated or zero pressure condition.

Tire Rack will not repair any run-flat tires that have been driven in a severely underinflated or zero pressure condition because the service conditions they experienced and integrity of their internal structure cannot be confirmed.


https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret...jsp?techid=226

JerryU

Yep, I carry black wheel weights in my car. Can't expect tire dealer to have them.

EXPERIANCE: For the OP who asked about experiance with flat repair, have had nails in my C6 Z51 Goodyear, Firestone and in my 2014 Z51 Michelins. They are wide tires and "find nails!"

Goodyear allowed two flat repairs per tire but not close to the sidewall and Michelin (for those on a Vette) allows one per tire. I was only using one company in town to fix my tires, a 12 Service bay Firestone Dealer. With ~20 techs only 2 or 3 work on wide, low profile run flats even though they have a touchless mounting machine! The large Chevy, BMW, Mercedes dealer in town brings their wide run flats to them for repair! IMO even if a dealer has an expensive touchless tire machine, a typical C7 Certifed tech probably does not do enough repairs to gain the skill needed.

I have watched the tech fix and replace my Vette tires while standing outside the Service bay door. I let them know there will be a tip with a "please take care of my car" statement! It takes skill and patients! I'm sure there are some capable car dealer service techs, but in general would not trust a dealer! All good shops will use what is called a plug/patch-see pic below. Have had no problems with flat repairs in my Vettes and recently in the wife's BMW SUV that has run flats.

INSURANCE:Was concerned when I bought my Grand Sport about the possible cost of having a flat fixed in those wide run flats. The Firestone dealer "company rule" is a nail in the outer tread is considered side wall. The Grand Sport outer treads are 3 and 2 1/2 inches wide! Checked and the Firestone Dealer would provide tire insurance for $325 We also just got a Discount Tire in town so visited their facility. Talked with the manager and looked at their equipment. Unlike Firestone who does all types of service, their main business is tires. I asked about flat repair they will not repair in the side wall but don't have an arbitrary rule about it being the outer tread. Frankly with a 1/2 worn tire would prefer a proper repair to having one new and one half worn tire in the rear! Their techs appeared well trained and they had the required equipment to handle wide run flats. They were have a $40 special and I paid ~$250 for tire insurance on my new tires.

The insurance is only for tires, not wheels and had checked with the local Chevy dealer who wanted, as one poster noted, ~$1200 for tire/wheel insurance. I look at wheels as something I can control, but not nails! For that cost I not only get a flat repaired free but if the nail is near the sidewall, a new tire prorated on the amount of wear. After looking at the facility and many positive forum posts re Discount Tire (not all as in your case) I went with that offer.

CAR DEALER BS: The comment about needing to catch the nail early is dealer BS, IMO! First the tire pressure monitor will tell you when a tire is moderately low. Depending on where you are - get it fixed quickly! In my C6 came home from a trip and the tire was about 20 pounds in the airport parking lot. Traveled the 5 miles home, filled the tire with air and drove it to the Firestone dealer the next day. I also have a small portable compressor that fits in the rear Vette compartment. I keep it in the wife's SUV as it is what we use for long trips. However when I take the Vette any significant distance from home, I put it in the rear compartment. Just keep the tire above ~25 psi until you can get it repaired, and do that ASAP. If it leaks very quickly with the nail in place it may be more than a simple patch.

SUGGESTION: Below is a pic of a plug/patch. The OP should find a quality tire shop, ask if they use a plug/patch and have done wide run flats. A few phone calls will usually yield an answer. Then I would visit and talk with the shop manager and get his assurance your rims will not be dinged when the flat is fixed. Not perfect but worth the effort.



Plug Patch