I just bought an 09 SS/TC and They told me it doesn't come with a spare tire because the tires are runflats. Is this true?

 

Car doesn't have run flats, at least mine doesn't. So if they told you that... big time lie.

It comes with a "tire inflation kit" of goo + air compressor. My car actually has a spare tire, it was $75.00 option

 

Mine came with a spare as well....for 50 bucks its yours...haha

 

i heard the spare tire is an option. if it is get it. my friend in his 08 ss/tc hit a bump in the road (kinda like a speed bump but it wasnt) and his tire actually like exploded. he was going like 70... didnt know the bump was there cuz it wasnt there like 2 weeks before. but yeh the point of this was that it doesnt matter if its a runflat (if it actually is) when ur tire actually blows not some little nail gets in it.

 

Salesmen typically don't know crap about the cars. They just tell people what they want to hear in order to sell the car. It was a mistake out of ignorance.

 

The spare tire option is pretty useless. If your tire blows out on the highway, do you pull over and change it yourself or wait for AAA (or an equivalent service)? Either way, chances are your rim is fubar'd. I would just keep driving until I got to a safe area.

The inflator kit is stock on the GT500 and Corvettes, they take up less room, don't weigh much, and are only useful for slow leaks.

 

Corvettes actually do have run-flats. The SS Cobalt does not.

 

How is a spare tire useless? First of all, have you ever lifted up a space-saving doughnut spare? The weight is negligible if gas mileage is a concern and it's not like it takes up space in your trunk... unless you find the need to store massive quantities of water bottles in the spare wheel well, then hey, more power to you.

A doughnut affords limited mobility to the driver in distress, if not to just pull to the nearest tire repair center or at least to the next exit to get off of the highway and keep you and your passengers safe from insane drivers oblivious to your emergency on the shoulder, whizzing by at 80mph. Fix-a-flat won't work with a blown out tire... so if you do have a blowout, you're basically stranded. Basically it's a $75 dealer option that you'll thank yourself for spending if you find yourself on the side of the road. And by the way, make sure you check that it has air every few months... heh.

You can of course have a spare inflation kit handy, and while I have no experience with using one (I've always had a spare tire), I can tell you that removing a wheel and replacing the tire on a rim that had "fix-a-flat" applied is a job that most techs do reluctantly. The stuff smells gross and is generally just a big mess. Heh, keep your mechanic happy... tip if you use fix-a-flat...

 

"Some" Corvettes have run-flats. The performance ones (i.e. Z06 & ZR1) get the same can of goo we do.

 

I agree w/Motorway Justice. Not all flats are rim wrecking "blow outs" and I've been in the situation of having no spare before... it sucks. Especially out here in Iowa where it can be 20-30 miles between a town that has any sort of services. Most flats I seem to get involve sidewall damage too, and the goo isn't going to help you in that case.

He's right about the tire guys too. The HATE the goo/fix-a-flat/whatever. It usually gets all over the dismounting equipment and generally sucks ass.

If you're worried about the weight, just remove it at the track like I do Not like it takes very long.

 

my buddy blew out a tire on his ss/tc and he had to rotate that oneside the spare dosnt fit on the front cus of the brembos

 

Wow, thats a pretty epic fail on GM's part if they put a spare in the trunk that can't clear the brakes. I'll have to check mine. The owners manual doesn't say anything about that as I recall.

 

sooo if you get the spare tire you dont get the goo kit? i had a spare tire but took it out for weight reduction!

 

You get either the goo kit OR a spare tire, not both.

 

See the other 1,000 posts about this...consider it a good thing that it doesn't fit on the front as you are never supposed to put a spare on a drive wheel...

 

Theres nothing wrong with having a spare on a drive wheel as long as its the same diameter. Otherwise yes, you will smoke the differential (esp an LSD) with a quickness.

If they included something < 18" that pisses me off to no end. It also pisses me off they make no mention of this in the owners manual that I saw. I'm a weirdo and read through the whole thing in a couple nights

I'll search around for other threads and please excuse my n00bness, I've only had the car 7 days

 

damn id rather have the goo kit

 

Maybe they saved you from an epic fail on your behalf. Sure, they prolly didn't check for room on the front but they shouldn't have to. Spare tires are not to be placed on drive wheels. No matter what the case is, if you get a flat on a drive wheel, you need to swap out with a non drive wheel. If not it will hurt your diff, and LSD, and spare tire.

 

I edited my above post, but as long as the spare is the same diamater as the normal tire+wheel combination... theres nothing wrong with putting the spare up front.

I just bought this car after owning a Volvo for 6 years and it came with 17's (S70 T5-R). Volvo was smart enough to put a 17" spare in the trunk so you could put it on a drive wheel. So I still see it as a fail on GM's part, even if some of you don't.

Honestly not trying to be a dick or belittle GM here... just a small obnoxious detail.

 

I understand where ur coming from but ours cars are near the bottom of the food chain, the more expensive the better the spares

 

I do recall reading about the need to rotate a tire if the damaged tire is coming from the front. Maybe it was from somewhere else, but I do remember reading it from SOMEWHERE. Short term memory loss due to inhalation of foreign bodies.

 

as far as changing a flat tire if its on the front of the cobalt,you must remove one of the rear wheels,put it up front in place of the flat tire and put your spare tire on rear,the spare will not clear the brembos.

 

x2 when my friend blew his tire we to had to rotate the tires cuz he blew his front but not only cuz it didnt clear the brembos because you should not put the spare on the drive wheels read that and memorize it it will save you alot of hassle in the future

i am glad u refered to the post below this....there should be a sticky or something about putting the spare tire on our cars because many ppl seem to not know you should not put the donut on the drive wheels i think it was smart engineering that it doesnt clear the brembos cant fail if you cant do it.

 

Hey guys, us SRT -8 owners sympathize We also have this issue, and heres what I can share about it. The few pics Ive seen of the Vettes kit ( as opposed to the one for the pickups) looks a bit odd. Does it require you to squeeze the latex (all maufacturer kits use %100 latex, it helps save the TMPS sensors, and is not too bad to clean up) from a separate bottle, then hook up the compressor?

The new one for the GMC pickups and the G8 looks very similar ( on reflections its the same damn thing) to the one Dodge issues for SRT-8s. the sealant canister is built into the pump, and has a provision so that you can either use the pump solo, no sealant, or hook the pump to the sealant, and the sealant to the tire, and have the compressor pump the sealant into the tire for you.

Heres a vid I found that shows how to use the G-8s setup.

http://www.truveo.com/Pontiac-G8-Tir.../id/3289842042


Now, Dodge charges about $80 just for a replacement goo (latex, which system BTW was designed by Continental back when, for Mercedes) container, which is nuts. Not sure what GM charges, someone might want to call. Theres a better option, much less expensive.

Tirerack sells the "ContiComfortKit", which is the same deal, except the whole kit, inflator and all, costs $80. But the key is that new canisters cost under $30. Now, I had to use this system on my SRT-8 once. Didnt work, becuase what caused my flat was a rolled up lead wheel weight clip. Acted like a biy hypodermic needle. So, in addition to the new kit, I carry a needle nose plier, and a simple rope plug kit, just in case.

 

It is there...

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