$164 screw.

[Paul Higg]

I was driving my son home this weekend and I didn't know it but a screw got lodged right in the center of my left rear Kuhmo, (new in April last) and overnight it must have slow leaked.

I needed gas REAL bad so Robin and I went to Kroger to get gas. Well on the way the car was all over the road. I was thinking, good grief, what now? Steering, suspension? Nope, a screw.

When I was filling it I looked at the tires and was horrified to see the left rear so low it was almost flat. So they had air at the station but it was broken, of course. So I went another mile up the road and paid 75 CENTS ad for air. WHEN did THIS happen? I remember when air was free!!

It held air till I got to a tire store. So they unmounted it while I watched and I was in shock by what I saw. The tire was shredded inside. There were handfuls of tire crumbs. So now I have to buy a new tire. All because of one 3/32" x 2" screw. madmad

One question. Is it okay to have a newer tire on the left as compared to the right?

BTW: First flat tire in 31 years! So there's karma for ya.

 

[Rabbit]

I can't recall if you have the LTPWS or not. If you do...did it warn you of a low tire?

 

[Paul Higg]

No, I do not have that system. I wish I did now! But from what I have read about some of the problems it can cause I was thinking I was glad I didn't have it. But now I wish I did. Oh well. Just think, that would have saved me a lot of money! Bummer.

Thanks and that was a good call. I never thought of it because I do not have it.

Paul

 

[Victory Red C6]

So I went another mile up the road and paid 75 CENTS ad for air. WHEN did THIS happen? I remember when air was free!!

The air is still free you are paying for the electricity that it takes to pump that free air.

 

[LT4man]

Paul, sorry to hear about the screw. If the other tire has a fair amount of tread, I would not worry about the new tire on the other side. If you are buying the exact same tire (brand, size & tread pattern) you should be good to go.

WHEN YOU GET THE NEW TIRE MOUNTED, PLEASE SAVE THE !

 

[G Winter]

It is hard for me to understand that you didn't feel the low tire. My 90 lets me know something isn't right if I have a tire 5 lbs low. Actually get a bit of a vibration.
I did ruin a tire is somewhat the same way. A large nail went into the tire right at the edge. The law says the repair shops can't put a patch on in that area. I had them put an umbrella plug in to get home,but it is a very unsafe place for any repair. I bought a new tire.

You don't have the road hazard on your Kuhmos?

Glenn

 

[Rabbit]

No, I do not have that system. I wish I did now! But from what I have read about some of the problems it can cause I was thinking I was glad I didn't have it. But now I wish I did. Oh well. Just think, that would have saved me a lot of money! Bummer.

Thanks and that was a good call. I never thought of it because I do not have it.

Paul

I've had 2 punctures (screw & nail) & the system alerted me before I got into trouble.

Glad nobody got hurt.

 

[Dads C5]

tires

The guy I bought my vette from had just put a new set of BF Goodrich g-force super sport tires on it but these are not run flats. I'm afraid to go far out of town b/c of the above. Any suggestions? A guy I met at a car show keeps a small jack and plug kit in the back of his C5.

 

[Hib Halverson]

Typcially, if you get a screw like that in the tread, it's not going to destroy the inside of the tire....that said....some of the Kumho tires (the street stuff) can be pretty low-end products. It is possible that the manufacturing or construction used by Kumho in the interests of reducing cost (compared to a premium tires such as Michelin or Goodyear) is such that the tire shreaded.

It is also possible that, if the tire was driven even a modest distance at highway speeds in a severely underinflated state, the tire casing would "shread".

In any event the lessson(s) might be 1) don't buy cheap tires and/or 2) avoid driving on severely underinflated tires.

As to the question of tires with different tread depth on left and right, it depends on how much they differ in wear.

 

[Paul Higg]

First, thank you guys for the advice. I also found another screw today in the other rear tire but at least it didn't go flat so I can have it fixed.

Hib,

Why don't you stop bothering me. I have never seen such a pompous *** in my entire life. I will buy whatever brand of tires I want, THANK YOU. I don't give a tinker's cuss what YOU think about Kumhos, a lot of people I know like them. I do not need "lessons" from you, okay?

Your trite, inane posts are just parroting whatever someone else says, you continue to harangue people about the FSM, and you are just plain annoying.

I was AMAZED that you didn't tell me to consult my FSM about this problem.

I'll tell you what. You be a good little guy and not reply to MY posts okay? Now, why don't you go and do as I asked you to do and become a private Corvette consultant and make a million. I am SURE there are thousands of Vette owner's who are just DYING to listen to your advice to consult the FSM, ad nauseam. THEN you could add that to your fancy moniker of technical writer. Which no one CARES about!!

 

[Mac]

Paul, have you ever heard of the "Ignore" feature? It allows you to tune out anyone you're not interested in reading. It's far easier and less stressful than writing angry replies. Just a suggestion...

-Mac

 

[Paul Higg]

Mac, I apologize, but I am not the only one. I get PM's from all KINDS of people about this guy, however that is no excuse and I am sorry. I get my dander up easily and again, no excuse and I am sorry. You are right, it may seem like an angry post. I surely did not know about this ignore feature. Could you please explain exactly how I can activate it? I wish I knew about this feature a long time ago.

Please try to give me as detailed an explanation as possible on how to do this and I will appreciate it very much. Not to sound like a suck up but during my walk in the woods today I was seriously considering becoming a supporting member. I saw some button somewhere in the last couple of days that would allow me to do this. I just need to know how much it costs as I would hate to see this forum go under during these tough financial times and I can more than likely afford to support it even if I can't afford to become a supporting member.

Paul

 

[Paul Higg]

Okay, my bust Mac, when I went back to reread it I saw your link and I followed it and put his name in it. Now, how does that work? Will I just not see his replies to my posts? I have never done this before and never even knew this existed.

Please PM me about how to become a supporting member and if too expensive at least send some money to help the forum as it means a lot to me. I like the guys, I like the experience, I like the humor, and I especially like to help when I can. I do not work so I have plenty of free time on my hands.

Paul

 

[Hib Halverson]

Regardless about how Paul Higg feels towards me, personally, there are only two reasons why the casing of a non-runflat tire "shreads" or develops a large quantity of "tire crumbs" in its interior:

1) defective or poor quality tire
2) overheating of the tire casing due to driving underinflated. The distance you can go with low pressure before the casing begins to disintegrate varies with how far above the tire's "temperature limit" you get, along with the materials and construction used in the tire. That is, if you get a cheap tire really hot, it's going to fail after only a short distance. If you get a high-quality tire a little bit hot, it may survive for a while.

Now, there is a third reason which is specific only to Kumho's runflat tire and that has to do with way Kumho gains "run flat" ability. A "sacrificial material" (that's Kumho's description, not mine) is added inside the tire casing which, for a finite length of time, absorbs heat generated by the severe flexing of the tire casing which occurs when running the tire at low or no pressure. The material absorbs a finite amount of heat then disintegrates. When that happens, the tire fails. This doesn't happen until after 50 miles at 55 mph, which is the runflat operation for which the Kumho is rated. This is why a Kumho runflat must be scrapped after any runflat incident, whereas, under certain circumstances, the Michelin and the Goodyear runflats can be repaired and returned to service

 

[John Robinson]

Which Kumho

Paul what series of Kumho tires do you have.(ASx etc). The reason I ask is my first set of Kumho tires were the ecstra 712 and I had at least 4 different flats on these and all were reparable. Last month I put a new set of the ASX tires on my car and was curious if this is the Kumho tire you are running. As for replacing the tire with a new one as said earlier as long as it is the same tire and tread pattern it should not make any difference. Having said that I definitely would not mix and match manufacture and or tread patterns. On my car the 712 were very quick and I had a bit of over steer with a definite tail out in the middle of a corner to correct for. The new ASX tires are dead neutral and it took me a few days to get used to them. This is the first time I have experienced this kind of sensitivity to tires on a street machine. On a race prepared car for SCCA use I have experienced what cold tires or other conditions can do to the handling of a car. Based on that knowledge I would again state do not mix and match on the C4. I do not have any opinion on what happens with changing the tire size with new rims has to the handling of the C4.

 

[XLR8]

Paul, here's a link to a thread regarding becoming a Supporting Member.

http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com...r-wondered-about-supporting-member-title.html

For a nominal fee, Supporting Members can enjoy a few perks and help offset the cost of running the CAC.

Jane Ann

 

[Paul Higg]

Hi John, I have the Eksta SPT's. I have the same exact tire on order. I have to have the other one fixed today because there is a screw in it but it did not go flat. The only reason I noticed it was because I spent the day yesterday stripping and buffing and clear-coating my rims. One to go. It is a LOT of work doing it manually, wet sanding, etc. But the three look brand new! Especially with the clear coat.

BTW, I have someone on my ignore list now so I didn't even have to read that person's post! The admin told me how to do it. I didn't even know you COULD do that! Cool!

Paul

 

[Mac]

Paul, here's a link to a thread regarding becoming a Supporting Member.

http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com...r-wondered-about-supporting-member-title.html

For a nominal fee, Supporting Members can enjoy a few perks and help offset the cost of running the CAC.

Jane Ann

Thanks for taking care of this, Jane Ann.

Folks, if you ever have any questions of forum features, don't hesitate to contact the moderators or administrators... or check out the Site Help forum where there's a variety of threads which offer helpful hints on how to make things work. I'm not sure if there's one on the "Ignore" feature but it's very easy to use. One caveat- it does not allow you to ignore mods or admins!!

-Mac

 

[Paul Higg]

John, I had the tire fixed today. The reason it did not go flat was because it was a nail. A very small one. When they unmounted the tire you could see that it was a centimeter away from puncturing it, there was a bump on the inside. A little more wear on the tire and it would have leaked.

At least they didn't charge me as I am buying a new one from them and they are the people I bought them from last year.

One more thing John and (anyone else). I have heard of these tires called, I THINK, "ride flat" or something like that? Could someone explain a little about them? How they work. Who makes them? Any recommendations? Are they more expensive than other tires?

Thanks.

Paul

 

[Rabbit]

John, I had the tire fixed today. The reason it did not go flat was because it was a nail. A very small one. When they unmounted the tire you could see that it was a centimeter away from puncturing it, there was a bump on the inside. A little more wear on the tire and it would have leaked.

At least they didn't charge me as I am buying a new one from them and they are the people I bought them from last year.

One more thing John and (anyone else). I have heard of these tires called, I THINK, "ride flat" or something like that? Could someone explain a little about them? How they work. Who makes them? Any recommendations? Are they more expensive than other tires?

Thanks.

Paul

They are called run-flats. Apparently they have super reinforced side walls that prevents the tire fron deflating immediately & allowing enough time to get to a service station.

One caveat. You will have to have some type of tire pressure warning system as it would be difficult to tell if you have a puncture until it's too late.

Have also heard they rough riding & noisy. Don't know about those aspects.

I think Tire racks website will do a much better job of explaining than I did.