TMK, Okay then

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

Well it saves the manufacturer money, weight, and space in the trunk, win win for them.
The goo will often not work well, or at all, if it is a sidewall blowout. And it makes a mess for the tire changer which will cost you more to cleanup. Unless you are on your way to an important event, I would not even bother with goo and its aftermath and call AAA for a tow. If you can, locate a space saver tire from an older model (with similar bolt pattern, forums are useful) and buy that with a jack/lug wrench.

On modern porsches the tire would not even fit in the Frunk (or interior unless you had no passenger or didn't care to mess up your seats.) It's been my experience with modern tires that the sidewall is so strong you can generally drive slowly for a bit to safety without doing damage to the rim. A cigarette lighter powered air compressor could be more useful unless it's a really bad flat.

Many years ago, there was a guy near Austin, TX that was selling Boxster parts. He was going to sell me a tire and jack from an earlier Boxster for either $150 or 250, but I never got out that way. I wish I had. You might think that they would be floating around relatively cheap from all of the Boxsters converted to race cars. I suspect a 911 spare might also fit a boxster. But I haven't really looked into it much. I should.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by bkreigsr

No need for a spare if any of the mentioned cars above cars have run-flats?

I haven't driven a car with runflats, but I've never heard anything good about the ride and handling with run flats. Assuming the ride is much harsher than non-run flats, there's no way in hell that I'd switch.

[porsche tech]

Originally Posted by smadsen

Honest, this procedure was faster, much cleaner, and less dangerous than changing to a spare tire. Sometimes the new ways are better.

…says the man who has never had to dismount the old tire that was repaired with “fix a flat”. That is one of the nastiest messes you’d ever want to tackle.

[stevej37]

I truthfully will say that I've never had to use a spare tire on the road.
I've had slow leaks that showed in the garage...but never a sudden flat on the road.

[McLovin]

I have BMWs with no spare. And no room to store one.
I have the air pump and goo, like many of you.
But to that I’ve also added a puncture repair kit.
That way for a nail or screw puncture, I can repair it and not have the mess of the goo.
I actually used it once and it worked.
(Of course if the tire is shredded, it’s not going to help, so I’d have to use my AAA).

[porsche tech]

PCNA would not allow the dealership to plug Porsche tires…we had to send customers to the tire shop if they wanted that. That being said I have successfully plugged many of my own tires. I don’t have the fancy kit you have, just the reamer and the installer. The problem is I’m getting too daggone old to have the strength to push the plug in place. I got the last one but thought I might have to get the young neighbor to help. Pathetic!

[masraum]

Originally Posted by stevej37

I truthfully will say that I've never had to use a spare tire on the road.
I've had slow leaks that showed in the garage...but never a sudden flat on the road.

I also don't think I've ever had to install a spare. I suppose it's possible that I've forgotten an instance.

Originally Posted by McLovin

I have BMWs with no spare. And no room to store one.
I have the air pump and goo, like many of you.
But to that I’ve also added a puncture repair kit.
That way for a nail or screw puncture, I can repair it and not have the mess of the goo.
I actually used it once and it worked.
(Of course if the tire is shredded, it’s not going to help, so I’d have to use my AAA).

I used to carry a plug kit in my car. I think mine was a bit simpler, 2 T-handles (reamer, inserter), glue, and plugs. They work really well.

[MMARSH]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

modern spare is a $pendy solution compared to my wrecked-em yard solution, but looks to be a good one.

I'm an old curmudgeon, just don't like rolling without a spare.

I was semi amazed to discover that when we bought Cindy's base Camry back in 2016, it came with a spare.

Unfortunately it is what it is. I don't have the option of getting a tire from a different model....so far 80K miles on both of our cars and we've never needed to use it. Funny thing, I Don't have a spare for my motorhome either.

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by porsche tech

PCNA would not allow the dealership to plug Porsche tires…we had to send customers to the tire shop if they wanted that. That being said I have successfully plugged many of my own tires. I don’t have the fancy kit you have, just the reamer and the installer. The problem is I’m getting too daggone old to have the strength to push the plug in place. I got the last one but thought I might have to get the young neighbor to help. Pathetic!

My initial thought was I’d use the plug for the emergency use only, then take the car to a tire shop and have the plug removed and a patch put on the inside. It seems like that would be a cleaner solution than the goo.
I’d think that could be done?
But I ended up monitoring the tire pressure for a few months, it didn’t lose any more air than any of the other tires, and eventually the tire wore out and was replaced.

[SCadaddle]

That's a pointed stick. Picked it up in the shadows one afternoon on a freshly paved neighborhood street. Practically brand new Hankook tire. Beats all I've ever seen. Glad the old Subaru had a spare!

[masraum]

Originally Posted by SCadaddle

That's a pointed stick. Picked it up in the shadows one afternoon on a freshly paved neighborhood street. Practically brand new Hankook tire. Beats all I've ever seen. Glad the old Subaru had a spare!

That's crazy!

[red-beard]

Mrs. Beards 2011 BMW X5 came with run-flat tires and no spare. The industrial park where we had our office turned out to be terrible for screws, nails, etc. I ended up buying a spare kit (and there was space!) and now use regular tires. I also keep a spare belt in the car and a li-ion starter. She may not be able to use all of those things (well, any of those things...), but she is far less likely to be stranded.

[bkreigsr]

Originally Posted by masraum

I haven't driven a car with runflats, but I've never heard anything good about the ride and handling with run flats. Assuming the ride is much harsher than non-run flats, there's no way in hell that I'd switch.

Cool - lets start another thread on the performance characteristics of various run-flats.
BTW - your assumption is invalid.

[Norm K]

Originally Posted by SCadaddle

At least we know they didn't mount the tire wrong side out.

_

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Norm K

At least we know they didn't mount the tire wrong side out.

_

The stick juuuuust missed the bullseye!

[masraum]

Originally Posted by bkreigsr

Cool - lets start another thread on the performance characteristics of various run-flats.
BTW - your assumption is invalid.

Interesting. Thinks must have changed. It seems like when they first came out, I never read anything other than "harsh ride" and "lower limits than similar non-run-flats"

[gacook]

Pretty much no new car comes with a spare tire anymore.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

The boy is taking his 2019 Kia Soul back to college for Sophomore year so making sure everything is sorted before he goes.

Go to check on condition of the donut and location of jack and WTF, this thing has no spare or jack.

Oddly though it's got what appears to be a pump and some hoses all neatly shrinkwrapped.

Well the pump is nice thing to have but what good is it if you get a flat and the tire won't hold air.

So off to the interwebs to see what a donut will cost me and how quickly I can get one here.

Sorted a few options, none I was really thrilled with but it is what it is.

Not sure why but I google Kia spare tire and find an article that says Kia started not including spares back in 08' and cars now come with a TMK, tire mobility kit.

The shrinked hose, it's actually a short hose connected to a canister of tire sealant that along with the pump is the solution the cars now come with.

I've never had much success with sealants in a can and I know tire shops are not crazy about it but it looks like a very well thought out and quality kit.

Even has a built in pressure gauge.

He will be in Tulsa so not worried about him being stranded in the sticks.

Finally got around to watching the video. Uh, I think changing to a spare would be easier.

[SCadaddle]

Originally Posted by Norm K

At least we know they didn't mount the tire wrong side out.

_

Yeah, that really sucked. The tires were practically new. Very low miles on them. And with the Subaru AWD system you don't run different tires/tires with different wear and tread depth/overall diameter. So when they are really worn and you ruin one, you might as well buy a complete new set of 4.

I sent the photos to Discount Tire Direct where I bought the tires and talked to them on the phone. They were really cool about it. Allowed me to purchase 4 of their "tire vouchers" or whatever like a road hazard for a total of $40 and sent me a new tire for nothing. I went ahead and bought another tire to add to the newly "covered tire" at their price and put it on a spare wheel and got rid of the donut. I told them if they wanted to pay for the return shipping I'd send them the tire with the stick still in it to hang on the "wall of fame" for why you should purchase their "vouchers" but they didn't seem too interested. They did say it was one of the more bizarre things they'd ever seen.