I recently came back from a wedding in SD and this was the vettes first good run. I had a few police turn and follow me but I guess they just clocked the car and assumed it was moving way in excess of the speed limit. One of them actually crossed the central reservation (totally uncalled for and dangerous). It was unmarked so I though someone had fallen asleep or was drunk. Not getting a kill he headed off and then apparently waited for me at an on ramp to no avail as again I wasn't speeding. Montana police look like they get most of there proceeds from speeders as this was the only section of the I90 in 1200 miles that had a lot of cops.

The only issue we had was a flat tire on the way home. Luckily for me the tire pressure warning tipped me off that the pressure was dropping rapidly. I pulled over and found a large piece of metal buried to the hilt in the rear right. I pulled it out and the tire went totally flat. The warning indication said it was safe to drive at 55mph but when I drove a little way down the parking area road this didn't feel at all good and travelling at 55mph on a 75mph road I didn't think was a good idea, not only from a humiliation stand point, but safety mainly.

Luckily before the trip I had just joined AAA and had the vette flat bedded to Missoula in MT. AAA suggseted Whalentires. These guys were excellent and were able to patch the tire for $20 (including balancing etc, in WA two wheel tire change cost me $90 without the patching).

Anyway my question, with long winded intro,is has anyone run the run flat tires at speeds of 55mph or over this and was there any noticeable handling effects or subsequent tire or wheel damage?I'm interested in case I ever get into a realbind. This was more of an inconvienience.

 

I don'tuse run flats sorry. I risk it and go with a better tire.

 

my wife was driving our '01 home from work one day, going 65 and called me and said the warnings were telling her she had a low tire, but that they didnt look or drive like they were low. i told her to slow down anyway, and when she got home i hopped in and drove it back to the nearest station (a few country miles) and it didnt feel any unusual at all. i only drove it about 40 mph though. when i got to the station i checked the pressure, which was at 7psi....i like the security, but for the same price you can get some really good "non run flats" (and get a portable cmpressor and a plug kit)...

 

Did you have anything in the tire and if you got this removed had running on the run flats with low pressure caused any issue? I got down to 0 psi and there was quite a bit of noise. We also had our car loaded with luggage and I suspect the 2 or 300lbs in the rear didn't help.

 

there was a screw the size of texas in the front tire, it was a big sheet metal screw. the car was not loaded down and the tire didn't look flat at all, i guess the sidewalls were thick enough that it didn't damage the tire at all, cause its still on there. there was not any un-typical noises either before or after i aired it back up. i simply plugged it. i would have had it patched from the inside but in a month i will get new tires anyway. having a little extra weight on the back probably didnt help im guessing, althought 100 to 150 pounds extra on a tire doesn't sound like much?

 

I run the regular tires and carry a small compressor and fix a flat as a spare. Never had to use it yet but everyone around here says that is the answer.

 

I think I will get some 'fix a flat'. I had a compressor but after pulling out the object from my tire there was no way it would hold any air. This may have sealed although I was dropping pressure quick so wonder if this would have helped. I am tempted to let the air out now and go for a drive - lol. Thanks for the feedback.