Living with run-flat tires

[Quattro Pete]

Many new higher end cars come with RFTs. Ride quality issues aside, how do people deal with these when they do get a puncture?

In theory, you should be able to drive 50 miles after the tire was punctured to allow you to get to a shop that can repair it. But that is very restricting. What if you're on a road trip? What if it's after hours or weekend and the shops are closed? Even if the shop is open, but the tire cannot be safely repaired, what is likelihood the shop can get their hands on a new same model RFT to sell to you the same day? Seems like the chances of you getting stuck for a while despite having RFTs are fairly high. Or am I overthinking this?

Is buying a spare wheel+tire and a jack and lug wrench to carry around with you (that takes up cargo space since most of these cars have not been designed to carry a spare) the right thing to do?

Any personal experience with RFTs that you want to share?

 

[jeepman3071]

In my opinion, run flats are a total gimmick. My dad had them on his '09 M-Benz GL450 SUV. He had two punctures in the tires during the time he had the vehicle. One front tire had a puncture from road debris which put a hole in the tire causing it to deflate rather quickly. He also had a nail in the rear tire which caused it to go flat while sitting at the work parking lot. Both times he tried making it the 5 miles to the M-Benz dealer near his work, and the tire completely shredded in 1 or 2 miles. He ended up needing the donut spare both times.

These tires were Goodyears though, and others may have different experiences with different brands. In the 90,000 miles he owned the vehicle, he spent $10,000 just on tires, which was one reason he got rid of it.

 

[exranger06]

Well, you pretty much run into the same limitations with donut spares. Those are only designed to get you home or to the nearest repair shop so you're not stranded on the side of the road. You're not supposed to drive on them any more than that. You're not supposed to drive over 50 miles on them, not go over 50 mph, etc...

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: jeepman3071
He ended up needing the donut spare both times.

So his GL actually had a donut spare or did he end up purchasing one?

 

[dparm]

You've pretty much hit the nail on the head.

They're fine if you just putz around town and can limp over to Discount Tire later that day for a replacement. Nothing beats a legit spare tire, even if it is a space-saver.

FWIW, my car has no spare at all. It has a pump and can of fix-a-flat in the trunk. Even my S2000 had a spare...

 

[johnachak]

Our Caddy had the choice but I went with the regular tire option figuring I'ed get a spare tire. Wrong. as you stated, all the higher end cars are trying to lose the spares for weight savings and to add cargo space. It came with an inflator kit. B.S. Since I was thinking the same way as you. I ordered a spare tire / jack / mounting kit for the car. I wasn't about to risk being on a road trip and getting a blowout with no spare. At least they still had the space for it under the trunk mat. Now I have both, the inflator/sealer kit and the spare and jack. My wallet did get lighter though.

 

[hattaresguy]

AFAIK only BMW uses them, Mercedes hasn't caught the stupid bug yet. Well maybe on a couple models, not sure about the 14's though.

On a high end car their is no excuse for not including a full size spare, proper jack, tool set, and gloves.

The problem is these days people are fairly stupid and unable to perform simple tasks so the manufactures save the money and throw on runflats. I was at the gym the other day watching a middle age guy call AAA to have a flat tire on his Dodge pickup changed...seriously anyone with a pickup who has to call AAA for a tire replacement needs to have their man card taken away.

 

[johnachak]

Originally Posted By: exranger06
Well, you pretty much run into the same limitations with donut spares. Those are only designed to get you home or to the nearest repair shop so you're not stranded on the side of the road. You're not supposed to drive on them any more than that. You're not supposed to drive over 50 miles on them, not go over 50 mph, etc...


On a dark rainy night I'll drive the spare a lot more than 50 miles if need be. I just won't exceed 50. I know I've put over 50 miles on a car with a space saver, but, I can't remember which car or exactly how many miles.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
AFAIK only BMW uses them, Mercedes hasn't caught the stupid bug yet. Well maybe on a couple models, not sure about the 14's though.

MB is moving that direction, too. A lot of their cars have RFTs now.

Quote:

On a high end car their is no excuse for not including a full size spare, proper jack, tool set, and gloves.

I think the assumption is that a person driving a high end car will not want to get their hands dirty and he/she will just call for a tow truck anyway. A lot of these higher end cars have free road side assistance included during the warranty period.

 

[johnachak]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
AFAIK only BMW uses them, Mercedes hasn't caught the stupid bug yet. Well maybe on a couple models, not sure about the 14's though.

On a high end car their is no excuse for not including a full size spare, proper jack, tool set, and gloves.

The problem is these days people are fairly stupid and unable to perform simple tasks so the manufactures save the money and throw on runflats. I was at the gym the other day watching a middle age guy call AAA to have a flat tire on his Dodge pickup changed...seriously anyone with a pickup who has to call AAA for a tire replacement needs to have their man card taken away.


As you get older you get wiser. If you have AAA and the time to wait, why get dirty and hurt your back? (Which by middle age is normally hurting on a good day). The flat change is already paid for. By middle age, the man card has been exchanged for a gold one. No need to prove anything anymore.

 

[BISCUT]

I sure hope the technology improves. I ditched the runflats on my BMW. I'm about to swap over the snow tires and rims. Run flats are just way too harsh for me.

 

[johnachak]

Quote:

On a high end car their is no excuse for not including a full size spare, proper jack, tool set, and gloves.

I think the assumption is that a person driving a high end car will not want to get their hands dirty and he/she will just call for a tow truck anyway. A lot of these higher end cars have free road side assistance included during the warranty period.

[/quote]

Ok, and what can roadside assistance do without a spare? Tow you? Your trip is shot at that point. Some AAA trucks carry a flat fix kit and a compressor which is good if you'a gotten a small puncture. I don't know if they can get that needle and patch through the thick runflat tire. A highway blowout and you are stuck without a spare.

 

[earlyre]

Not to mention aren't most Run-Flats only 3 Season tires? meaning not for use below 32 Degrees?

friend of mine had a set on the Elantra she bought new a couple years back, anytime the temps dropped that low, the gip went to pot. (and she bought the car in Dec. within a week of trading in her Wrangler for the Elantra, we got just enough snow she couldn't make it off her street. My Neon(with all-season Yoko's), didn't get stuck once, even when i gave her a lift home before her street had been plowed)

 

[JHZR2]

For all the marvels of modern technology, the one thing people can't prevent are foreign objects on the roadway, pot holes, the road surface that was in the hole before it became a hole, etc.

So having no spare makes me somewhat uneasy even if I have roadside assistance, AAA, etc. If it happens at an inopportune time, or you have some oddball size high performance tire that youre not going to easily find, then what?

Still, if we can wargame and crash simulate and perform actuarial analysis of when youre going to die from eating ice cream, they probably can also do a decent estimate of how far from home and a dealer/tire shop the vast majority of punctures and damage will be, and also what the nature of the failure would be.

The only tire issue Ive had in years (knock on wood) was a chunk of metal bouncing across the highway that hit the outer shoulder of my tire. If the sidewall had stayed resilient and straight, I would have made my meeting on time, even at 50MPH or less, and I could have dealt with it. Instead I was stuck on the side of the road with a seized lug bolt. RFTs would have saved the day, because if nothing else, it would have saved me a ton of time allowing me to limp down the road a few miles to a tire shop.

So they have their purpose and place, but generally even with an RFT Id prefer to have a real tire available. Easier said than done with staggered sizes and way aggressive performance fittings, I guess.

 

[supton]

After all the complaints I've read about run-flats, I'd rather have a real spare. That said, knock on wood, it's been a really long time since I've needed a spare.

 

[dparm]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
AFAIK only BMW uses them, Mercedes hasn't caught the stupid bug yet. Well maybe on a couple models, not sure about the 14's though.

On a high end car their is no excuse for not including a full size spare, proper jack, tool set, and gloves.

The problem is these days people are fairly stupid and unable to perform simple tasks so the manufactures save the money and throw on runflats. I was at the gym the other day watching a middle age guy call AAA to have a flat tire on his Dodge pickup changed...seriously anyone with a pickup who has to call AAA for a tire replacement needs to have their man card taken away.



My old 2005 Audi S4 had a full-size spare (actual fifth wheel with the OEM Conti tire, not some hideous unpainted thing). On my 2011, it was a space saver. Infiniti is the same way: my dad's 2003 G35 has a legit full-size spare with tire, but on my mom's 2010 EX35 it has the donut.

The auto manufacturers don't want to jack their prices up and scare away potential buyers, so they cut corners. One such way is to stop putting full-size spares in.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: johnachak
Ok, and what can roadside assistance do without a spare? Tow you? Your trip is shot at that point.

Depending on the type of roadside service/protection plan you have, you may have a rental car option available to you once you and your car get towed to the shop.

 

[Colt45ws]

Good luck finding a shop that has them in your size, available when you need them. I ran into this a couple times when I worked at TLE. People would show up late Sunday night with a Flat RFT.
One was that really odd-ball Michelin Honda put on the Odyssey for a couple years. The rim is a cone shape with different inner and outer wheel diameters, to let the tire fit more easily over support ring. I had no way of dismounting it to attempt a fix, if it was even possible.
Not a fan. Both my cars have full-size spares.

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete

So his GL actually had a donut spare or did he end up purchasing one?


It had a donut spare in the rear cargo area under the mat in the back. It also had a jack, which couldn't support the car. The first time he had a flat and needed the donut, he tried using the provided jack. The jack only held for 20 seconds or so until it crushed. Thank God he wasn't under the vehicle. He used the correct jacking point as stated in the manual. I ended up going to help him and brought my 3 ton floor jack.

The second time he had to have road side assistance from the dealership come and put the donut on for him.

I think a spare real tire/rim is a great idea, and is what I would do if I owned a car with those tires.

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
Good luck finding a shop that has them in your size, available when you need them. I ran into this a couple times when I worked at TLE. People would show up late Sunday night with a Flat RFT.
One was that really odd-ball Michelin Honda put on the Odyssey for a couple years. The rim is a cone shape with different inner and outer wheel diameters, to let the tire fit more easily over support ring. I had no way of dismounting it to attempt a fix, if it was even possible.
Not a fan. Both my cars have full-size spares.



This is another problem my dad ran into with his GL. After buying a few sets of tires at the dealer which were very overpriced, he had a hard time finding a local shop to order and mount new tires. Only one mom and pop shop where we live has a special machine needed to mount the run flats, and the shop is fairly large and has been in business for a long time.