Porsche605

Well this might be a record, but I now have had three flat tires in the past nine months!

I got a really nice portable air compressor from Griots Garage when I got my last flat. There was a nail in my rear tire and I hooked up the air compressor to the cigarette lighter and got the tire to 44 PSI pretty quickly.

The tire held the air long enough so that I could drive to a tire shop to get it repaired. Man, I tell you though. This is my dream car. I saved up for six years to get this car, but I am afraid to take this car out of town for trips. I am considering selling it because of the safety issues related to the flat tires.

Also, I recently had the rear rotors, pads, etc. replaced. When they took the wheel off it looks like the rotor is on the wrong side of the car.

What is the correct way to determine what side is left or right? For example, is left when you are sitting in the drivers seat or is it determined when you stand in front of the car facing the wind shield?

OpieT

I drove my GT3 700 miles from Illinois to Arkansas recently, I share your concerns. No issues on my trip, but I do carry a Dynaplug kit...I say get the kit and go with confidence. Will have to defer to others on the rotor question.

jhbrennan

I'm in an area with lots of new home construction but luckily haven't picked up a nail in over 5 years. Where are you picking yours up? Maybe change your route.

Jaws1

POV of the driver.

Macster

You are not alone. Nail in a tire late last year. Both tires were replaced. The one with the nail for free thanks to tire road hazard coverage.

Then a few months back, or less, a rear tire had a screw in it. Had this fixed. Then not a month ago when I drove over to the dealer to drop off the keys to the other car to have it picked up for service when I walked back to my car I spotted a low rear tire. A nail this time. Had it fixed once again.

Not quite 3 flats in 9 months but close.

Dealer SM tells me he gets more and more cars in for flat tires now. I do not know what to blame this on. I avoid construction sites like liquor store parking lots on long weekends, I tippy toe -- so to speak -- through grocery store and department store parking lots like I'm on broken glass (which often is the case...) and I never on a road trip pull over to the shoulder or a pull out to stop and take a picture. If I can't photograph something from behind the wheel I don't photograph it.

Stay on the beaten path is my mantra.

Fred R. C4S

It's an old adage that you seldom hear today but, "flat tires come in threes". I think this was true until the '80s when steel belted radials became the norm. I know it was true for me in college on the early '70s.

JustinCase

In the Porsche plant they actually turn the car around at the end of the line segments so that it is always moving facing its future direction of travel. When I asked why they did this, I was told it was to eliminate confusion as to which side was which. They've apparently had this problem in the past, especially since they rotate people from one floor to another (i.e., from one line direction to another).

Porsche605

All the flats have been in completely different locations. So, I don't know what is going on.

BIG smoke

I am reasonably lucky. My neighborhood is under constant reconstruction. The pavement is barely cooled before someone is cutting it up. They even paved around a parked car. Every other house is being destroyed. Construction trucks are everywhere. At the cottage, I used to park in the road and use a big magnet to pick up any loose nails in my driveway while my house was being built.
Picked up two nails in my cars last year.
I have an air compressor in each car, plus a plug kit. Pull the nail/screw, try not to bleed too much, use a drop of blood to make sure the plug is not bubbling, inflate to 36psi-ish. I also try and keep a snow tire in each location just in case I need a full replacement.
Some tires are non pluggable, and some states don't allow them. Do check yours.

Porsche605

Yeah, I am debating getting another wheel and tire combo to keep at home for situations like this. Turns out I needed a new tire and my local Porsche dealership is all out. Not a common tire and most places don't have it in stock.

So, it would be nice to have one as a standby.

bgrpph

in past i used full spare from my 02 996C2 when either it or wife's 07 BoxsterS had flat- sold 02 996 & now have 997 TT- no spare. I'm in Hawaii so no road trips-- but worried about flat that can't be patched & requiring an expensive tow.
Been looking for used singe rim/tire to keep in garage as spare. no luck so far. I just bought 4 MPSS from Damon from Tire Rack for BoxsterS. Asked him about spare rim/tire-they had a returned 19" non-stock rim - it was only $140, got it & 235/35ZR-19 Sumitomo HTR Z III for $135- For $275 + shipping i've got a spare that fits either my AWD turbo or BoxsterS to keep in garage.

Porsche605

Wow, good find! I'll have to look into something creative like that. Thanks for the tip!

stevepow

I carry a plug kit, a spare, a jack, flash light, tarp, box cutter, a tire bags (gotta bring home the wounded without messing up the interior).

I'm having my 3rd tire replaced (buy that tire warranty - paid for itself years ago) this week with under 20K miles. Twice I found the nails with slow leaks, once was a blow out on the road that ended up being a 2+ hour ride in a flatbed (driver said it would have cost $800 had I not been under warranty) to a closed dealer and hotel - 22 hours later, and fairly diverted from my original route, I was back on the road again. I was out the money for the hotel stay.

So far, the lack of integrated spare (unlike they provide with the cars in some countries, e.g., Guatemala) has been the worst feature of an otherwise incredibly enjoyable car. I have both the collapsing spare and the taller, narrower donut that I got from ebay - some research on this forum will turn up a detailed parts list for the spare, jack, tools, and wheel mounting hangers - and even a rear seat carrier for the spare if you don't want to use frunk space. I think I actually have an extra jack and tool kit that I need to sell.

Any long trips now and I'd locate potential tire replacement facilities before hand. And since I'm out of warranty, no way I'd head out without the spare - long rides on flatbeds are expensive and no fun at all.

awrryan

A friend of mine actually keeps a spare in the car for road trips. Not a bad idea. Porsche sells a collapsible spare wheel and tire for a 997.

rdstemler

I had such wonderful luck with the BMW Mobility System (towed 2 times on a flatbed, immobilized once) that I shelled out $$ for a donut spare with the P-car. Takes up trunk space and could lead to packing problems if used but I can get to a place where I can wait days for the new tire to show up. I guess I'll get a plug kit a throw it into the trunk (frunk) for safety.