So I had my first flat in my week old 911.

And of course it was a rear tire.

I toyed with the idea of using the sealant kit but ended up calling roadside assistance as I was about 10 miles from a dealer.

The roadside assistance worked well but I was met by one of the worst guys ever in the flat bed deployed to pick me up, Least to say after scrapping the exhaust, and tightening the straps over the front plastic fins (By wheel) and then finally almost driving off without lowering the flat bed to a "flat" position, I got to the dealer.

Dealership were very helpful ( Porsche North Houston), Thankyou guys.....and set me up with a used temp tire (305 vs 295) as they were out of stock of my size. At least getting me back on the road for the weekend.


My main question is now, where is the best place to get tires in Houston and what is the view of the forum on N rated tires (First I heard of it today)

Coming from the UK i remember a number of high performance tire / tyre stores who had a great reputation. Just wondering if the same is true in H town.


Thanks,

Mark

 

Sorry to hear about your tow truck experience. I hope your exhaust isn't significantly damaged!

In terms of Tires if your only replacing one you really should get the exact same tire as the other 3 otherwise you risk significantly affecting the cars handling.

 

There are many online distributors...Tire America, TireRack, etc. Then link up with a first rate tire mounting shop with the ability to do a Hunter Road Force balancing job for you.

Because I have PCCBs, I absolutely never simply drop off my car for tire mounting. I simply dismount the wheels and bring them in to the shop and later remount the wheels myself.

 

I knew something was wrong when the flat bed was still at 30 degrees and we were about to drive off.......Cant even begin to imagine what could have happened

If anyone has good experience in Houston for tires please let me know.

Otherwise I will default to the dealer.

 

Quick answer. Damon at the TireRack 1-888-353-5082. Damon can reccomend an installer in your area.

 

I buy all my tires from Tirerack. They drop ship them to mt Pcar dealer who charges me the same parts price fr the rubber as I would have paid to have them shipped to my home. They used to charge a bit of markup in the past but got smart that this was not in their best interest and changed their policy. I let them mount and spin balance and install on the car for their usual labor charge. Added plus is I have them do a 4wheel alignment if I am replacing all 4 tires.
Many tires later on a total of 6 vehicles over 14 years I have no complaints at all.
Jonathan

 

Sorry for the issues you had, but this brings up an interesting question! Has anyone ever used the SLIME to temporarily seal the leak? If so what happened to the tire and rim. We're you able to reuse? I have often wondered about this"...

 

I buy my tires off tirerack, and carry the wheels in loose to get mounted. I usually just go to wal-mart, as it's conveniently close and they're the cheapest within 20 miles. Aside from a broken cap once, they've always done a great job; turns out people that do nothing all day but mount/balance tires get to be pretty good at it compared to someone at the dealership who might only do it a few times a month. I'm really hard on tires so feels like I'm constantly replacing them...

I take my track wheel to a specialty off-road garage as wal-mart refuses to mount low-profile r-comps (heh) and turns out my track wheels aren't really compatible with the machines any any of the closer tire shops have.

 

+1 on tirerack.com, they have really quick shipping, and low prices.

 

Damon

 

Tire rack gives me installer options for big O and one german car specialist. I guess I have to call the german car specialist if they have the tools to do the centerlock. If not then I would need someone with a truck to take the tires for me to the dealer or buy the centerlock tools. I really want to do the 5 lug conversion.