Runflat tyres

[Phil_D]

So my car came with runflat tyres and I got a puncture in the front offside today. Luckily I noticed it quickly and was only a mile or so from a tyre place.

I was hoping it was repairable as I’d not really driven on it, but it turns out it had a bit of balding on the inside anyway so was destined for the bin. The cheapest replacement they had was £140 and after some hunting around they couldnt find he single one they had in stock, so the next cheapest was £180. Decided to just get 4 new standard tyres on instead at a cost of £220 to save me money in the future, pained me a little to see the perfectly good tyres that were on there go to waste but it seems to make economical sense.

Granted I now have to source a space saver for the boot but why would manufacturers even bother with run flats? They just seem expensive, unnecessary and give a rougher ride!

 

[anto44]

Weight and space are the 2 main reasons. Plus run flat tyres are more appealing to the average person these days than getting out to change a wheel and they'll happily pay for the privilege. If the car has the facility to take a spare wheel thats what I'd do if it was mine

 

[armalites]

I would have took the spares away and put them on ebay, my most recent car is a 2010 and some of them don't even have spare wheels at all even though they don't use run flats, it's madness

 

[wookie]

but why would manufacturers even bother with run flats? They just seem expensive, unnecessary and give a rougher ride!

Saves space and a bit of weight so helps their fuel economy figures.

Wife had a MX5 with a space saver, if you got a puncture and fit the space saver then the wheel you'd removed wouldn't fit where the space saver went. So if you had anything in the boot either your passenger had to hug the punctured wheel or you'd abandon it at the side of the road.

 

[knighty]

I hate space savers

just bought a full size alloy to match the others so I can toss the space saver away, luckily there was a bit of foam under the space saver... removed that and the new one fitted right in... I guess a proper spare must have been an option from new so they made space for it

 

[Phil_D]

Yeah no space for a full size spare in my car unfortunately as I’m sure it would be cheaper than a space saver! Are bottle jacks suitable for emergency wheel changes? To buy the whole space saver kit is almost £200 but I can just buy the space saver and throw a bottle jack and torque wrench in with it and as long as it all fits under the boot floor I don’t really mind about neatness

 

[anto44]

Bottle jacks tend to need more clearance than is available on most cars. What car do you drive?

 

[Phil_D]

Bottle jacks tend to need more clearance than is available on most cars. What car do you drive?

E60

 

[anto44]

They're quite a low car. Measure your ground clearance at the jacking points and check that the jack you're buying will fit. I'd say you'll have to go with a small trolley jack for an e60

 

[Rocketman]

Run flats are the work of the devil, road noise/shock absorbance. Though it could be worse my car comes with the dreaded tyre repair kit. Strictly speaking a space saver for the size of the wheels on my car doesn't fit in the boot and the same problem with the full size wheel - good old Renault thought that through well.

 

[Revs1972]

pained me a little to see the perfectly good tyres that were on there go to waste

Don't worry , I expect they will be sold as "part worns" pretty soon

 

[wookie]

I don't understand some peoples aversion to buying "part worn" tyres, after all when you buy a 2nd hand car it comes with part worn tyres.

 

[Revs1972]

I don't understand some peoples aversion to buying "part worn" tyres, after all when you buy a 2nd hand car it comes with part worn tyres.

No aversion from me
Had plenty in the past, bought two just to get car through mot before selling.

What I meant was the dealer will probably knock them out at £50-60 fitted .

Had similar happen a few months back with the van. Pulled a chunk out metal out of a flat tyre after visiting a fabricator I use. Tyre place wanted an extortionate amount to replace the Goodyear on the front due to the unusual size, so I opted to change both fronts to a different size ( same rolling diameter) for a lot less.
Kept the good tyre and sold on fleabay for 70% of the cost of the new ones

 

[slim_boy_fat]

E60

Me too. Whoever specc'd my car from new added a full-size spare, although there were 4 RFs on. I've since changed to conventional rubber and the ride is noticeably smoother.

 

[Phil_D]

Me too. Whoever specc'd my car from new added a full-size spare, although there were 4 RFs on. I've since changed to conventional rubber and the ride is noticeably smoother.

So a full size does fit in the spare wheel well? I thought it doesn’t look deep enough

 

[tom 748]

get a tin of tyre weld,smallcomp,and a scissor jack,changed mine on my 1 seies bmw ,difference is night and day

 

[normspanners]

All this talk of tyre repair kits makes me laugh a home remedy tip, if you have a SLIGHT puncture or a bead leak, a small syringe of milk in the tyre works very well and doesn't stop you from having it repaired later,
In fact my disco three of the four had bead leaks so stripped them off cleaned bead sealer etc after a few weeks down again would take about 2/3 days to need blowing up quick milk injection all good now.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

So a full size does fit in the spare wheel well? I thought it doesn’t look deep enough

Well, it does on mine. Mine's an early one and perhaps it changed when they did the LCI [Life Cycle Improvement] upgrade, I'm aware that there were 'black boxes' in the bottom of the well on later models.

 

[8ob]

All this talk of tyre repair kits makes me laugh a home remedy tip, if you have a SLIGHT puncture or a bead leak, a small syringe of milk in the tyre works very well and doesn't stop you from having it repaired later,
In fact my disco three of the four had bead leaks so stripped them off cleaned bead sealer etc after a few weeks down again would take about 2/3 days to need blowing up quick milk injection all good now.

Farm remedies Bit like the egg whites used as radweld.

Bob

 

[8ob]

Her indoors and the kids have Range Rovers because they think they need them and they are virtually impossible to jack up with the rubbish they are supplied with, the jack lifts the body and its not until the jack is at the end of its travel ( about 18") that the wheel only just leaves the ground. A pain.

Bob