Big screw in RFT tire - options?

[SteveSRT8]

All the LX cars are the same under the skin. Magnum, Charger, 300. Even the Challenger is extremely close. All mount the battery in the exact same location.

The trunk well is the key here. The factory 20's on any SRT model will not fit in the well in the trunk, no matter what you do. I have a 17" Borbet wheel that DOES clear the rear calipers and fit in the well, but the front still hits.

According to my sources there are 18's available to clear both ends. But I sometimes carry a full size spare with me on trips just for peace of mind.

 

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
........Run-flats are dreadful. They ride like granite, handle poorly, and they cost a fortune. Some can't be repaired. Not on a bet.


I truncated most of the post. No need to re-read it. It obvious Jarlaxle doesn't like RFT's.

- BUT -

That post was chock full of mis-information and I think it needed to be commented on.

RFT's have come a long way since they were first introduced. They no longer have the severe ride issues they used to have. I attribute that to the suspension design folks figuring out how to cope with the characteristics of RFT's.

RFT's have always handled as well regular tires, so I don't understand the comment. Yes, there is a wide difference between good handling tires and poor handling tires, but that has always been there and has nothing to do with the RunFlat capability.

And, yeah, they are more expensive, but we are talking on the order of 30% more.

It is understandable that some folks don't like RFT's, but let's at least be honest about the facts.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Regardless if suspension engineers have become accustomed to them, RFT's have large differences between them and their counterparts when compared on EXACTLY the same platform for most drivers.

I can't imagine anyone who would actually choose them if they got to test drive the exact same car both ways.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
All the LX cars are the same under the skin. Magnum, Charger, 300. Even the Challenger is extremely close. All mount the battery in the exact same location.

The trunk well is the key here. The factory 20's on any SRT model will not fit in the well in the trunk, no matter what you do. I have a 17" Borbet wheel that DOES clear the rear calipers and fit in the well, but the front still hits.

According to my sources there are 18's available to clear both ends. But I sometimes carry a full size spare with me on trips just for peace of mind.


I never tried, but it didn't even look like my Mag's 225/60R18 would fit in the tire well! I was told (by someone who had tried it) that a 17" wheel will not clear the front calipers on even an R/T...that was actually one of my FIRST questions upon buying the Mag. (I wanted to run 17" snow tires.)

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
All the LX cars are the same under the skin. Magnum, Charger, 300. Even the Challenger is extremely close. All mount the battery in the exact same location.

The trunk well is the key here. The factory 20's on any SRT model will not fit in the well in the trunk, no matter what you do. I have a 17" Borbet wheel that DOES clear the rear calipers and fit in the well, but the front still hits.

According to my sources there are 18's available to clear both ends. But I sometimes carry a full size spare with me on trips just for peace of mind.


So the trunk well isnt where they put the battery? On the 135 the trunk well is round (would fit a spare if one would fit) and the battery is strapped down in the bottom.

Makes it impossible to put a spare in there...

But the real issue is this - they dont make a donut spare that would fit, right? Im hearing that you went out and bought a different wheel with a different tire (not sure Id be comfortable running that on the drive axle) to take along as a spare. So there is no compact option that would fit?

And coming back to the main point here, why did Chrysler choose to do this? Obviously you found a workaround. Does the battery placement exclude putting anything into the trunk well? If so, you have much less cargo space in the trunk? What do the "lesser" versions of these cars do???

 

[Jarlaxle]

No, the battery IS in the trunk well! The donut fits the base (17") and R/T (18") cars, but I do not think it will clear the SRT8's front calipers. All LX cars have the well under the trunk floor...SRT8's have only the battery, lesser LX cars have the battery AND the spare tire/jack/wrench.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
No, the battery IS in the trunk well! The donut fits the base (17") and R/T (18") cars, but I do not think it will clear the SRT8's front calipers. All LX cars have the well under the trunk floor...SRT8's have only the battery, lesser LX cars have the battery AND the spare tire/jack/wrench.


So what Im interested in is how it all fits. Is the donut placed over top of the battery? Is the well long so that they are placed in a forward-aft arrangement?

Wouldnt want to mix battery terminals and spare tire wheel metal...

 

[Jarlaxle]

I sold the car a few years ago, but as I recall: The battery is an odd-looking one, long and relatively narrow (I suspect it's a Benz-spec battery). The well is large (basically, the entire width of the cargo area) and relatively shallow, the battery is on one side, next to the donut. IIRC, the wrench & jack are under the tire.

Edit: Yes, it's a long, narrow battery. Per AZ's site, the battery they list for it (H8-DL) is 14x6.5 and only 7.5" high.

 

[JHZR2]

Well some good news - the screw did not go through!

Shallow, Iike a half inch screw.

Explains why never lost any air.

Now my other concern, probably universally relevant: if this grill breached the outer carcass to the point where the metal belts are, then it is possible for moisture to get in and corrode those belts. It is obvious that the inner airtight liner was not breached, but should something have been used to seal the hole from the outside, to prevent moisture entry? Obviously they did not want to ream the whole because of further damage to the tire carcass. But assuming that I could find the remnant of the hole and put a tire specific rubber cement in the hole, should I do this?

Thanks!!

 

[ChrisW]

I can't think of a product that would hold up without having to make the hole bigger (such as repair sealer [used on the inside] or cement), a plug would be proper (at which point I'd do a full plug and patch repair) to seal out the elements from the belts as you are thinking, but why compromise the inner liner if you don't have to? If that screw chunked out the rubber tread then maybe I'd be concerned but I would think that when you remove the object the rubber would compress back on itself. Most construction diagrams I've seen on tires show the steel belt to be pretty close to the inner-liner in terms of layers so if the screw didn't puncture through it likely didn't hit the steel belt. And that looks to be in the center rib so I doubt it went very far into the layers.

 

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Well some good news - the screw did not go through!

Shallow, Iike a half inch screw.

[[image deleted]]

Explains why never lost any air.

Now my other concern, probably universally relevant: if this grill breached the outer carcass to the point where the metal belts are, then it is possible for moisture to get in and corrode those belts. It is obvious that the inner airtight liner was not breached, but should something have been used to seal the hole from the outside, to prevent moisture entry? Obviously they did not want to ream the whole because of further damage to the tire carcass. But assuming that I could find the remnant of the hole and put a tire specific rubber cement in the hole, should I do this?

Thanks!!


Normal passenger car tires have about an 1/8" more tread rubber on top of the casing. (top of the steel belts). So measure the remaining non-skid depth and estimate from there.

LT tires have about 1/4".

Please note: There is some variation, so don't take the above as true in every single case. I know of tires that vary within the same tire across the face of the tread - that is, there's a difference between the center and the shoulder.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Well some good news - the screw did not go through!

Shallow, Iike a half inch screw.

[[image deleted]]

Explains why never lost any air.

Now my other concern, probably universally relevant: if this grill breached the outer carcass to the point where the metal belts are, then it is possible for moisture to get in and corrode those belts. It is obvious that the inner airtight liner was not breached, but should something have been used to seal the hole from the outside, to prevent moisture entry? Obviously they did not want to ream the whole because of further damage to the tire carcass. But assuming that I could find the remnant of the hole and put a tire specific rubber cement in the hole, should I do this?

Thanks!!


Normal passenger car tires have about an 1/8" more tread rubber on top of the casing. (top of the steel belts). So measure the remaining non-skid depth and estimate from there.

LT tires have about 1/4".

Please note: There is some variation, so don't take the above as true in every single case. I know of tires that vary within the same tire across the face of the tread - that is, there's a difference between the center and the shoulder.


Let's say that a good measurement/guesstimate/little poking in there indicates that there is a breach. Then should I proactively breach the whole thing, ream and plug-patch, or is there an appropriate way to just protect from moisture ingress?

Its a convertible so it doesnt see a ton of bad weather use, but it is parked outside sometimes, and does get wet.

Thanks!

 

[CapriRacer]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Well some good news - the screw did not go through!

Shallow, Iike a half inch screw.

[[image deleted]]

Explains why never lost any air.

Now my other concern, probably universally relevant: if this grill breached the outer carcass to the point where the metal belts are, then it is possible for moisture to get in and corrode those belts. It is obvious that the inner airtight liner was not breached, but should something have been used to seal the hole from the outside, to prevent moisture entry? Obviously they did not want to ream the whole because of further damage to the tire carcass. But assuming that I could find the remnant of the hole and put a tire specific rubber cement in the hole, should I do this?

Thanks!!


Normal passenger car tires have about an 1/8" more tread rubber on top of the casing. (top of the steel belts). So measure the remaining non-skid depth and estimate from there.

LT tires have about 1/4".

Please note: There is some variation, so don't take the above as true in every single case. I know of tires that vary within the same tire across the face of the tread - that is, there's a difference between the center and the shoulder.


Let's say that a good measurement/guesstimate/little poking in there indicates that there is a breach. Then should I proactively breach the whole thing, ream and plug-patch, or is there an appropriate way to just protect from moisture ingress?

Its a convertible so it doesnt see a ton of bad weather use, but it is parked outside sometimes, and does get wet.

Thanks!


First, while there is a risk that the penetration will cause the steel belts to rust, the risk is very low.

Second, the screw has to actually contact the wire for rust to happen (OK, OK, I've over-simplified this, but bear with me!!), and the end is pointed, so the odds of there actually being contact is pretty slim.

If you monitor the tire - that is, inspect it often, looking for a bulge or excessive wear in the area - then you can see if a problem develops long before the tire fails. I did that once by marking the sidewall with an arrow with a paint stick. Years later it was hard to find the arrow, but it was still there. Inspection interval? Every couple hundred miles. Inspection procedure? Rub your hand over the spot (with gloves, of course). Takes a couple of seconds.

 

[fdcg27]

While no Corvette could be called space or weight efficient, they did carry a very hard to get out full size spare for many years.
They also had their battery mounted in the back, so that's not a real impediment to having a full sized spare.
My 318i has a full size spare as well as a rear mounted battery.
My MGB had a rear mounted battery (earlier cars used two six volt batteries wired in series) as well as a full size spare.
I drove the MG for years with the spare removed, since it took up so much of the available trunk space.
Never had a problem with the tires, fortunately.
My point is that there are places other than the spare tire well in which the battery can be located, although the spare tire well provides for a cheap and easy solution when combined with deleting the spare tire.

 

[SteveSRT8]

None of the cars above sacrificed any spare tire room for a battery.

In the LX/LC cars from Chrysler the well in the trunk is seperate from the battery compartment and the (specially designed) battery is vented with a tube to outside.

The standard 18 inch wheel and tire will fit easily. It's only the SRT8 models that have an issue due to extremely large 20 X 9 wheels.

I had an MGB-GT in the 70's with that ridiculous two battery thing, what a great ad for Lucas and their known prowess at electrical design and implementation...