Edgy01

Once again, it was time for me to pick something up in the tread of the right rear tire!

On my way to a PCA breakfast in Camarillo I was proceeding conservatively at 70 mph in the right lane on 101 South out of Santa Barbara when my TPMS reported "FLAT TYRE" (sic). I clicked on that alert and beneath it was the readout on the TPs,--left rear 40, and the right rear now at 30! Well, something was clearly amiss. I didn't feel a thing from the car itself. Only the TPMS clued me in to the problem. I quickly exited in Montecito knowing of a service station within a mile of 101. I pulled into the station and inquiried if they had a lift available. The service station man replied that he had a floor jack! I said that I needed to plug a tire. His reply,--"We don't plug tires!" I replied to him,--"That's okay, I do!"

I pulled up, put the brake on and he rolled over a floor jack. I started a handy stop watch that I happened to have sitting on the passenger seat. Jacked up the right rear, released the emergency brake, and then proceeded to rotate the tire looking for the problem. Quickly we spotted the culprit. Would you believe, the front half of a GM trunk key, with a lot of the blade missing. I popped the trunk, reached in for my trusty kit (see photo) and then proceeded to remove the object. We blocked the tire from rotating an positioned it so that the hole was easily reached from the aft area of the body. (I was lucky that problem was on the outer third of the tread and not somewhere where I would have to remove the tire.) With the awl and the nasty looking tire tool I augered out the hole a bit more to get the radial tire repair plug and tool into the hole. It is difficult to say the least,--these modern high performance radials are tough. There're a lot of plys in there! By the second plug we got it in enough to work, quickly sprayed the area with a soapy indicator solution and determined that it would hold. Rather than using the compressor in the trunk I was lucky to use their's. Refilled (now at 11 psi) to 44 psi and then released the floor jack after putting the emergency brake back on.

The car was good to go! The stopwatch now read 20 minutes. Back on the road again! No need to call 1 800 Porsche and wait and wait.

After getting back home later this morning I called my usual tire shop and put them on notice,--I was going to need another 305/30-19 NO Bridgestone! (The rears were replaced together 3000 miles earlier). Fortunately, with full tire and wheel replacement through 100,000 miles I won't have to pay for this. The P-car is now on a jack stand in the home garage, and the wheel is at the shop, awaiting a tire.

The photo shows you what I feel is the minimum essential road-side "SELF-ASSISTANCE KIT." You can either sit back and call Porsche (and be flat-bedded somewhere) or be proactive. My option took 20 minutes.

Inside the kit is the following:

•Kit bag (was an Army surplus electricians/linesman bag)
•rubber gloves
•the radial tire plugs (the red ones are the best--keep the kit sealed up so that it won't dry out between uses)
•Flashlight
•Screwdriver (multi-headed,--flat blade and Phillips)
•Tire tools (auger, awl, homemade plugger, commercial plugger (inferior))
•razor blades (to trim off the excess plug material even with the tread if you chose)
•Duck nose pliers to remove the violator!
•Touch-up paint
•Lint roller for those lucky cabriolet owners!

Additional things to carry are rags, Windex, and a hockey puck or two to protect the underside of the car when using a jack. A can of brake cleaner is also handy to clean some of that messy sticky radial tire plug mess off the tools.

Obviously, the regular tool kit needs to be fully loaded and available e.g., have the unique wheel security key and a couple of wheel hangers to aid installing the tire if you have to pull the wheel off the car to do this job).

Talk about getting keyed!!

points

Nice kit Edgy. Ive got basically the same,not as many tools, in my car. Plugs will work and work well in a pinch. I also put 2 cans of fix o flat in my car. Knock on wood......Ive been nailess lately.

JFScheck

Great Kit! Thanks for the pictures and list of components....

This was my only fear when driving the 911 X-Cntry from DC to San Diego - the dreaded "Flat with no spare"....

abe

Never had a car without a spare. I'll bet the GM keys came from a jelous corvette owner.

printemps2001

You noted that you have full tire and wheel replacement. Who did you buy that through? What was the cost. Does it cover normal wear or only road hazzard, etc? Thanks.

PAULSPEED

Hi,
Great pictures. Looks like your an old pro. Glad
it was not in the sidewall.
Paul

synergy

Now that is one hulluva kit!!

Coochas

Nice write up Dan.
I like the useless 800-number 'plug' (sorry for the pun).

Edgy01

Tire and wheel insurance was available at the time of final purchase. I drive my Porsches a lot (currently at over 20,000 in 13 months of hands on time) so I elected the 100,000 miles of coverage and 10 years. Cost is, like the car, negotiable.

E55AMG

Good post. I'm also afraid of getting stuck somewhere. I bought a kit from tirerack that is supposed to be a bit better than the can of goop that comes with the car.

Pardon my ignorance but why the plug route if the kit (I believe made by Continental tire) I got from TR will also get you back on your way?

I may have to go buy some of the items you listed and practive on a few old tires I still have laying around LOL.

wetstuff

Edgy: " A man who provides for himself." Good show! ..and Abe added good humor. He-he-he. (..'wonder if they got a spare?!)

Edgy01

The game here is to be prepared. Had I neglected to have the kit in the car the other day I would have missed my meetings, had the car (still) stuck at the dealership and I would not know that the fix was in the works. The average Porsche buyer of today is envisaged by Porsche AG as not to be the type who will want to get their hands dirty so they don't work at providing a full kit of things. I wind up in many out of the way places and would rather keep going than be stuck in some remote out of the motel awaiting FedEx with a replacement tire and some Bubba putting the thing on when he's probably never even seen a 19 inch rim before.

If you expect to drive a foreign sports car anywhere you need to be able to help yourself. Practice on some other tires and imagine a worse case scenario,--pouring rain, night, and a nail on the INSIDE part of the tire. (I failed to mention that I also keep a ground cloth beneath the passenger seat so that I can get under the car if needed).

AP997S

Dan: You must have been an Boy Scout many moons ago considering your 'Be Prepared' behavior.

I'm going to pick up a tire 'plug kit' today based on your experience.

I was thinking about buying one of the 996 'donut' tires/wheels to keep in the trunk for longer excursions. Then I got to thinking where would I put the full size tire/wheel if and when I ever had to change it. I'm pretty certain the regular tire/wheel would not fit in the trunk. Especially if a few small bags are in there. I wouldn't want it in the cabin (even for a little while).

Thanks for the nice write up.

WAC

Dan,

Great write up. Do you have flares or reflectors somewhere in your kit?

I've got a spare but no good solution for carrying it in the trunk so it mostly stays in the garage where it is, of course, useless.

I'm headed to the store to buy the plugs and plugger now...

Edgy01

My car came with the European warning triangle. Flares are a nice touch as well (but I use them mostly for gophers!)