Xtech

One of the first things I did after getting my 430SC was to get rid of the run flats. Everyone knows the reasons, enough said. Since I haven’t had a flat on any of my cars in the last 30 years I figured I would sacrifice the spare for the added trunk space. I got a small compressor and a nice tire repair kit and thought that would save my *** in the remote chance I got a flat. Five years and only 17000 miles later (I don’t drive the SC in the winter here in the rust & salt belt + I have too many cars) I learned my lesson and paid for my stupidity, though probably not enough.

I made a very nice run from Omaha to Denver and I can’t say enough about how nice the car rode or how much quieter it is than my other cars. So all is well until I started the journey back to Omaha (Warren Buffet Town). Hit a piece of debris on I-76 180 miles out of Denver at 6:30 in the morning (can you say massive blowout boys and girls). My compressor and repair kit were useless, there wasn’t anything left of the inner sidewall of the tire. I guess having 245-35 19s might be good in most situations but not in this one. By time I could get down from 80mph and to the shoulder rubber was flying everywhere.

Now I’m in the middle of nowhere, no spare and out of luck. Fortunately a Colorado Dept of Roads worker was going to a meeting early in Sterling, Co and gave me a lift to the maintenance facility where they directed me to an “honest” tire/repair shop. They didn’t have any tires my size and couldn’t find any at the other 2 shops in town, so it looked like I was going to have to spend the night and wait for a tire out of Denver. The owner’s wife drives a Lexus so I guess he took pity on me and was more than helpful. One of the guys that works for him found a semi bald 255-35 19 and mounted it. Guess what, he charged me $30! I did have to pay $162 to get my car picked up and taken to the shop but I think that if the guy at the tire shop would have had a tilt bed he would have thrown that in too. As it was I had to get a body shop next door pick up the car. The guys at the maint dept shop weren’t lying about the shop, small towns can have some real nice people in them and overall they saved my ***.

I’m back in Buffet town after another pleasant section of road and am going to put the run flats back on. Moral of the story: to spare or not to spare or put those dam run flats on.
I hope this helps someone who is considering being as stupid as I was. I was lucky, it could have been a front tire that blew and cost me a whole lot more than $192 and some of my time.

CBG

I don't know if runflats would have helped you when you are that far out in the boondocks. Depending on how your runflats are rated they are only expected to get you 50 or 100 miles on a flat. I dought you could have driven 180 miles to Denver even on runflats. But that is good everything worked out for you in the long run.

PHXSC

I, like you, have the compressor and a can of fix a flat. They both are stored where the spare tire would normally go. Neither of those do you any good if you shred a tire, and you're in the boonies with no tire shop around. So when I'm going on a long trip, I remove the compressor and fix a flat, and put a spare tire in their place.
You can pick up the Supra spare for ~$100, and all the full trunk conversion stuff from Lexus for ~300 bucks, and keep your non-runflats.
Do an advanced search for "spare tire" in the "SC430 forum", and you'll get tons of good info.

Oh yea, Welcome!

intdiamond

iTrader: (2)

Last year I had to drive almost 300 miles on a flat run-flat and I had no problem, though I'd never recommend it.

Yes

i keep a mini spare in the garage and break it out for long road trips. i figure if i get a flat in town, i can either limp into a gas station or call a tow truck.

JohnnyCake

+1 > Spare for long trips, normally stored in garage.
It only makes sense.

farkas

iTrader: (5)

I keep my spare with me all the time! Doesn't take up that much room!

Habious

Yup...I keep a spare tire AND a compressor/fix-a-flat kit in the car...just in case.

I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

I'd suggest you pick up a temp spare for long trips instead of putting the run-flats back on there. One) for the ride and two) for the wear (the run-flats I had only lasted about 11K miles: We're on ~25K on the non-run-flats and still treading strong).

jimmer!

dittos on having a donut spare for long trips. then you are covered.

what a nightmare blowout story!

thanks for that dose of reality.

rcpeters

Wow, I am glad that I bought the Supra compact spare which stays in my trunk and has not been a problem for trunk space. (I can always go with the top up if I need more space on a trip)

What convinced me to get a spare, is an experience I had with a Mustang once. A tire blew out and none of the service stations near the highway on the outskirts of a city had the correct size tire. Nothing special, just not the same as most cars, I guess. I finally went to a Sears store and replaced all four tires and then got on my way.

ntr987

MURPHYS LAW says, "anything that can go wrong will go wrong"

ASER

You guys certainly are quite a pessimistic lot!
Xtech, this is the first tire issue you have had in 35 years (30 years before you bought the SC and 5 after)! Seems like a pretty excellent record to me.

Call me foolish, but I don't have a spare either. Putting one in during the long trips is counterproductive - isn't that when you need as much luggage space as you can possibly get? Investing in AAA seems like a much better use of money to me. They'll tow you for 100 miles for free with the Plus membership and probably more for an additional charge - enough to get to a tire shop and get that tire replaced.