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Use a plug, as long as the puncture is not on or close to the side wall. When I had a flat tire (completely flat), I used a Slime brand tire plug kit. Then pumped the flat tire with the factory air pump from the frunk.
I purchased a spare tire kit that originally ordered by another owner who had just sold his Cayman. I found my spare kit on eBay for $400. The spare kit for 981 is available on https://www.suncoastparts.com/product/PK981SPARE.html (no affiliation)
I will be driving from Boulder, CO to Rennsport in Monterey, CA later this month across I-70 and US 50. (i.e. the loneliest road in America -- it's a great road across Nevada with very few people on it, and lets me avoid Salt Lake City and the other I-80 traffic.) If I were to experience a flat, it would cost me at least a day (or two!) before I was back on the road again. To me, it's just a relatively cheap peace-of-mind that fits in the rear trunk.
I purchased a spare tire kit that originally ordered by another owner who had just sold his Cayman. I found my spare kit on eBay for $400. The spare kit for 981 is available on https://www.suncoastparts.com/product/PK981SPARE.html (no affiliation)
I will be driving from Boulder, CO to Rennsport in Monterey, CA later this month across I-70 and US 50. (i.e. the loneliest road in America -- it's a great road across Nevada with very few people on it, and lets me avoid Salt Lake City and the other I-80 traffic.) If I were to experience a flat, it would cost me at least a day (or two!) before I was back on the road again. To me, it's just a relatively cheap peace-of-mind that fits in the rear trunk.
For $400 I would also get the spare tire for longer road trips but the only ones I’ve located so far have been ~ $1200.
One issue with the spare tire kit is the spare is only suitable for as a replacement for a front tire. If you get a rear flat you need to take one of your front tires and put it on the rear of the car and then use the spare as your front - not a huge deal but i don’t think a rear tire and rim would fit in the trunk or the frunk.
Thats the the one thing that worries me about most modern cars -a simple thing like a flat tire can turn out to be a bit of a problem.
I guess I’ll have to keep looking on eBay and other venues to find a spare tire at a reasonable price.
If you get a rear flat you need to take one of your front tires and put it on the rear of the car and then use the spare as your front - not a huge deal but i don’t think a rear tire and rim would fit in the trunk or the frunk.
Great point, but I knew that when I bought the spare. If I'm 50 miles (or more) from the nearest town when I got a flat -- most of which may only have one or two gas stations -- at least I would be able to proceed on in a sedate fashion until I found a solution. Otherwise, it might be the better part of a day until a tow showed up -- if I even had cell service. (And the nearest cities with the tires I need might be Reno if not Fallon.)
Great point, but I knew that when I bought the spare. If I'm 50 miles (or more) from the nearest town when I got a flat -- most of which may only have one or two gas stations -- at least I would be able to proceed on in a sedate fashion until I found a solution. Otherwise, it might be the better part of a day until a tow showed up -- if I even had cell service. (And the nearest cities with the tires I need might be Reno if not Fallon.)
I completely understand on a trip similar to yours I’d want a spare as well.
You guys are making this waayyyy too hard. You get a flat, pull out the slime kit, follow the instructions in the owners' manual, get back on the road. No jacking up the car, no calling AAA, no issues with tire balance. And unless your tire is slashed, it'll hold for as long as it takes you to get it replaced. Weeks if necessary.
Not sure why anyone would call a tow truck, wait an hour, pay a fee, and risk damage during the tow process, when you can fix the tire yourself inside of 20 minutes. It's ridiculously easy.
You guys are making this waayyyy too hard. You get a flat, pull out the slime kit, follow the instructions in the owners' manual, get back on the road. No jacking up the car, no calling AAA, no issues with tire balance. And unless your tire is slashed, it'll hold for as long as it takes you to get it replaced. Weeks if necessary.
Not sure why anyone would call a tow truck, wait an hour, pay a fee, and risk damage during the tow process, when you can fix the tire yourself inside of 20 minutes. It's ridiculously easy.
Totally agree with using my plug kit if it is simply a nail or screw in the bottom of the tire. The point about having a tire's sidewall slashed is something I've had happen due to a pothole -- and also to a friend's front tire while we were riding our motorcycles. A catastrophic flat would probably leave me stranded for at least two days, and the fact that the spare was "only" $400 and not $1200 made it an easier decision. $1200 would have been a non-starter. Hwy 50 across Nevada is an epic road where you can make very good time and have a lot of fun -- but it can be a very lonely place to break down.
Picked this up on my way home one day and didn't realize it. Walked into the garage the next morning and the tire was completely flat. My car has X73 and 20" wheels, my jack normally barely fits under the rocker. I wound up jacking it from the rear, was no big deal.
Use a plug, as long as the puncture is not on or close to the side wall. When I had a flat tire (completely flat), I used a Slime brand tire plug kit. Then pumped the flat tire with the factory air pump from the frunk.
Apparently, Porsche recommends that if a tire is to be repaired, patching is the preferred method, rather than plugging, as plugs can separate the tread over time. By the time I took mine in for replacement, the plug had separated the tread to such an extent that patching was no longer an option, so I needed to purchase a new tire.
In our car control clinics we discuss flat tires, and that you can safely drive on a punctured flat for quite a distance.
If you have a flat from a puncture - you can drive on the tire for quite some distance without issue or damaging your rim. I experienced this in my Cayman R with OEM 19” wheels and low profile MPSS tires. I knew what to do from teaching this at the track.
After inspecting your flat and confirming it’s a puncture (not a shredded tire that has “blown-out”) you can start to drive slowly, accelerating until you reach somewhere around 20-25 mph. At first it will feel like you are rolling over a very lumpy flat tire, but as you gain speed - centrifugal force keeps the rubber on the outside of the wheel.
I got a flat in the Cayman on my way home one night from a friend’s house. Looked up because I saw deer and ran over something that cut the tire (didn’t see whatever it was in the road). Drove another 2.5 miles to a safe place where I could call a flatbed (sidewall was cut). I didn’t stop the car until I got to a safe place.
My wheel was not damaged.
We tell everything this technique because we often see people in very dangerous places on the side of the road fixing a flat, when they are close to an exit, or wider pull-off area and could easily have gotten to a safer place.
If you can safely drive at low speed (flashers on - emergency lane or whatever you must do) you can drive on a flat tire for further than you’d think. And if it’s a pickup truck, multi-ply tire you could go a lot further.
Our chief instructor flatted two tires on his GT3 coming home on a dark rainy night and running through a pot hole he couldn’t see. He continued driving home at a reduced speed that felt smooth (25 mph) and didn’t even feel the thump thump of the flat until he turned into his driveway.
In our car control clinics we discuss flat tires, and that you can safely drive on a punctured flat for quite a distance.
If you have a flat from a puncture - you can drive on the tire for quite some distance without issue or damaging your rim. I experienced this in my Cayman R with OEM 19” wheels and low profile MPSS tires. I knew what to do from teaching this at the track.
After inspecting your flat and confirming it’s a puncture (not a shredded tire that has “blown-out”) you can start to drive slowly, accelerating until you reach somewhere around 20-25 mph. At first it will feel like you are rolling over a very lumpy flat tire, but as you gain speed - centrifugal force keeps the rubber on the outside of the wheel.
I got a flat in the Cayman on my way home one night from a friend’s house. Looked up because I saw deer and ran over something that cut the tire (didn’t see whatever it was in the road). Drove another 2.5 miles to a safe place where I could call a flatbed (sidewall was cut). I didn’t stop the car until I got to a safe place.
My wheel was not damaged.
We tell everything this technique because we often see people in very dangerous places on the side of the road fixing a flat, when they are close to an exit, or wider pull-off area and could easily have gotten to a safer place.
If you can safely drive at low speed (flashers on - emergency lane or whatever you must do) you can drive on a flat tire for further than you’d think. And if it’s a pickup truck, multi-ply tire you could go a lot further.
Our chief instructor flatted two tires on his GT3 coming home on a dark rainy night and running through a pot hole he couldn’t see. He continued driving home at a reduced speed that felt smooth (25 mph) and didn’t even feel the thump thump of the flat until he turned into his driveway.
Thank you for an informative post.
I was was not aware that one could drive that far with low profile tires with out damaging their rim. Also, as you mentioned I see way too many people pulling over to change a flat tire In a dangerous place, personally I’d rather ruin a tire and a rim than endanger my life or other lives.
In a previous car of mine MB E350, I managed to hit a massive pothole on the way to work. The tire ended up with a massive gash in the side. Good thing in that car it had a spare, I had to drive about 1/2 a mile roughly to get to a safe spot to change it. Later on, in the same car I ran over 1/2 a CV joint that sheered off someone's car and ended up on the road. This time it was a slow leak, I managed to turn around and drive the 2 miles back home and dealt with it in the garage.
Generally, past experiences of mine, patching Z rated and higher tires is a crap shoot as eventually, the patch will give way. YMMV.
I also have a plug kit similar to the one you have but those “ string “ type plugs are a stick mess and a pain to get in the tool to insert them. I tried it with surgical gloves on and the plug sticks to the gloves - it was a mess and that’s why i went with the mushroom plug type kit.
Not sure if I posted the link for the jack but here it is again. When I got mine it was ~ $66 - occasionally they go on sale. The jack itself was small, light weight, well constructed and works as designed.
They are sticky because they are non-vulcanized rubber. When you plug the tire and get it hot the plug vulcanizes and bonds itself to the existing rubber. Don't put anything on them. Not even the rubber cement. It is unnecessary.
09-03-2018, 10:13 PM
