Hi all,
I just typed out a LONG intro post, and lost it. :-( So this one will be shorter. I'm a long-time BMW geek who has been more and more impressed with what Ford is doing lately. While I still have some German iron floating around, including my E36 race car, I picked up a 2014 Fiesta ST in the spring, and in May I ordered a GT350R--which I took delivery of about a month ago. Lightning Blue, no stripes - fantastic machine. And my very first new car.
Here are the obligatory delivery shots:
As you can see, I picked it up with 4.4 miles on the clock. It hadn't even been washed (which was how I wanted it). Now, I have been pretty busy in the weeks since. Work travel, got married ... you know, little things. ;-) So I was very excited on Sunday to drive the R to Milwaukee. The trip had two purposes - to show the car to one of my BMW geek friends up there (who has a twin-turbo LS1 in his E28 535i, putting ~505 hp to the wheels), and to drop off my '68 BMW 1600-2 to sleep for the winter in his shop.
Unfortunately, we didn't get there. As we were cruising slowly up I-94 in moderate traffic, about 10 miles from home--wife driving the BMW and me in the Shelby--I had a sudden loss of pressure in the LF tire. The TPMS came on at 20psi, then quickly dropped to 18 psi. Fortunately we were approaching an exit, so I jumped off the highway and got to a safe parking spot with the monitor showing ~5-6 psi in the tire. Not sure if that's bad enough to trash the sidewall, but we may have bigger concerns (read on).
Here we are ... most people seeing this picture wouldn't guess it's the brand new car that is immobilized!
I assumed there had been a puncture, as the pressure loss was sudden and I haven't hit any potholes (and I am the only person to have driven the car so far). But as I examined the tire and felt around each groove, the tread, and sidewalls, I couldn't find any trace of a hole or foreign object. I was unwilling to use the trunk-mounted compressor and sealant, because that stuff will build up and ruin an otherwise-repairable tire. It was a nice day, so I called Ford Roadside Assistance for a tow.
Unfortunately, when the tow truck arrived (flatbed), the driver wasn't comfortable trying to load such a low car (and he didn't have ramps or boards, which I had confirmed with his dispatcher he would). After a 2nd truck arrived and the same problem occurred, I changed tactics. I was about 4 miles from a friendly shop, VFC Engineering--which I recommend heartily to any readers who have Porsche/ Audi/ VW/ BMW needs. I confirmed the owner was in town, then tried the mobility kit to see if I could get the tire to hold air and limp the 4 miles to VFC.
No dice ...
As you can see, still no evidence of a puncture in the tread, but sealant immediately started leaking out past the bead around ~1/3 of the wheel circumference. I began to think the bead had somehow unseated, and there was no way I was going to get it re-seated with the weight of the car on the sidewall. So I called up Zach at VFC, and he recommended North Shore Towing. 15 minutes later, they were on the scene, and 15 minutes after that the car was safely loaded without even the hint of a splitter scrape.
We took the car to VFC, aired up the tire as much as possible (got about 15 psi in it, for about 2 minutes before it all blasted back out around the rim), and rolled the car safely inside. We then jacked it up and tried to inflate the tire again, to no avail. Now I was thinking there was either some failure of the tire (internal delamination or similar?), or some failure of the wheel in the bead seat area. No idea, though, as everything looks normal from the outside. I left the car there and went home.
On Monday, I called Fox Ford Lincoln, where I bought the car, and confirmed they would be okay with me bringing them the wheel/tire combo and not the entire car. They said yes, so after work I had North Shore come out and tow the car to my home. We got it safely tucked in the garage, and I pulled the wheel/ tire and dropped it off at the dealer today. The service advisor wasn't even sure they have the proper machine to mount/dismount on the carbon fiber wheels, so I am waiting to hear what happens next via phone call tomorrow morning--and if I can, I'll go to the dealer to be there when they take a look at it.
So, that is the status right now ... one Shelby on three wheels and a jack stand (nicely cushioned with wood) in my garage. I'm mostly bummed that I am missing the last of the excellent driving weather before the snow flies here in Chicagoland!
Sorry for the super long intro post. Will keep this thread updated as I learn more!
-tammer
I just typed out a LONG intro post, and lost it. :-( So this one will be shorter. I'm a long-time BMW geek who has been more and more impressed with what Ford is doing lately. While I still have some German iron floating around, including my E36 race car, I picked up a 2014 Fiesta ST in the spring, and in May I ordered a GT350R--which I took delivery of about a month ago. Lightning Blue, no stripes - fantastic machine. And my very first new car.
Here are the obligatory delivery shots:
As you can see, I picked it up with 4.4 miles on the clock. It hadn't even been washed (which was how I wanted it). Now, I have been pretty busy in the weeks since. Work travel, got married ... you know, little things. ;-) So I was very excited on Sunday to drive the R to Milwaukee. The trip had two purposes - to show the car to one of my BMW geek friends up there (who has a twin-turbo LS1 in his E28 535i, putting ~505 hp to the wheels), and to drop off my '68 BMW 1600-2 to sleep for the winter in his shop.
Unfortunately, we didn't get there. As we were cruising slowly up I-94 in moderate traffic, about 10 miles from home--wife driving the BMW and me in the Shelby--I had a sudden loss of pressure in the LF tire. The TPMS came on at 20psi, then quickly dropped to 18 psi. Fortunately we were approaching an exit, so I jumped off the highway and got to a safe parking spot with the monitor showing ~5-6 psi in the tire. Not sure if that's bad enough to trash the sidewall, but we may have bigger concerns (read on).
Here we are ... most people seeing this picture wouldn't guess it's the brand new car that is immobilized!
I assumed there had been a puncture, as the pressure loss was sudden and I haven't hit any potholes (and I am the only person to have driven the car so far). But as I examined the tire and felt around each groove, the tread, and sidewalls, I couldn't find any trace of a hole or foreign object. I was unwilling to use the trunk-mounted compressor and sealant, because that stuff will build up and ruin an otherwise-repairable tire. It was a nice day, so I called Ford Roadside Assistance for a tow.
Unfortunately, when the tow truck arrived (flatbed), the driver wasn't comfortable trying to load such a low car (and he didn't have ramps or boards, which I had confirmed with his dispatcher he would). After a 2nd truck arrived and the same problem occurred, I changed tactics. I was about 4 miles from a friendly shop, VFC Engineering--which I recommend heartily to any readers who have Porsche/ Audi/ VW/ BMW needs. I confirmed the owner was in town, then tried the mobility kit to see if I could get the tire to hold air and limp the 4 miles to VFC.
No dice ...
As you can see, still no evidence of a puncture in the tread, but sealant immediately started leaking out past the bead around ~1/3 of the wheel circumference. I began to think the bead had somehow unseated, and there was no way I was going to get it re-seated with the weight of the car on the sidewall. So I called up Zach at VFC, and he recommended North Shore Towing. 15 minutes later, they were on the scene, and 15 minutes after that the car was safely loaded without even the hint of a splitter scrape.
We took the car to VFC, aired up the tire as much as possible (got about 15 psi in it, for about 2 minutes before it all blasted back out around the rim), and rolled the car safely inside. We then jacked it up and tried to inflate the tire again, to no avail. Now I was thinking there was either some failure of the tire (internal delamination or similar?), or some failure of the wheel in the bead seat area. No idea, though, as everything looks normal from the outside. I left the car there and went home.
On Monday, I called Fox Ford Lincoln, where I bought the car, and confirmed they would be okay with me bringing them the wheel/tire combo and not the entire car. They said yes, so after work I had North Shore come out and tow the car to my home. We got it safely tucked in the garage, and I pulled the wheel/ tire and dropped it off at the dealer today. The service advisor wasn't even sure they have the proper machine to mount/dismount on the carbon fiber wheels, so I am waiting to hear what happens next via phone call tomorrow morning--and if I can, I'll go to the dealer to be there when they take a look at it.
So, that is the status right now ... one Shelby on three wheels and a jack stand (nicely cushioned with wood) in my garage. I'm mostly bummed that I am missing the last of the excellent driving weather before the snow flies here in Chicagoland!
Sorry for the super long intro post. Will keep this thread updated as I learn more!
-tammer
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