Run Flat Tires anyone?

[MySlate]

Are any of you hoping to use run flat tires? Please, someone who has more knowledge than I, would RFTs be a good fit for an EV? Please answer if you can educate me about this. My other cars have Run Flats and I have always been happy for that.

 

[AZFox]

Are any of you hoping to use run flat tires? Please, someone who has more knowledge than I, would RFTs be a good fit for an EV? Please answer if you can educate me about this. My other cars have Run Flats and I have always been happy for that.

Hat tip to @metroshot. His post got me doing research about RFTs.

Run-flat tires used to suck. Now they're fully developed apparently pretty good. Who knew?!

After a lot of (but not exhaustive) searching I have so far landed on the idea of getting certain 18" wheels and some touring tires made to replace OEM tires on Aston Martin and Mercedes vehicles. Cost for both tires and wheels is ~$1,600-1,700 plus mounting and balancing.

Without a doubt I'll install run-flats, although I might put All-Terrain tires on the stock steelies and drive on those from time to time.

 

[Doctors Do Little]

Hat tip to @metroshot. His post got me doing research about RFTs.

Run-flat tires used to suck. Now they're fully developed apparently pretty good. Who knew?!

After a lot of (but not exhaustive) searching I have so far landed on the idea of getting certain 18" wheels and some touring tires made to replace OEM tires on Aston Martin and Mercedes vehicles. Cost for both tires and wheels is ~$1,600-1,700 plus mounting and balancing.

Without a doubt I'll install run-flats, although I might put All-Terrain tires on the stock steelies and drive on those from time to time.

Come on, now….go ahead and give us the intended AT tires for the steelies. I’m bought in now. (Ready to save links…)

 

[AZFox]

I've had excellent luck with Toyo Open Country A/T III tires, so probably those.

Probably in the 245/70R17 size and XL load range, pending information about whether that size requires a lift. (I'm thinking probably not.)

One nice quality of that particular tire is being slightly lighter than the competition. They're also made in the United States, which for me is pretty much mandatory for tires. Your Range May Vary on that.

Something to be aware of is that there are two versions of Toyo Open Country A/T III tires. The ones with white letters are a bit more highway-oriented than the ones without white letters.

Last year I compared a lot of AT tires of various sizes and documented nearly everything I found in this thread:
Taller 17" All-Terrain Tires for OEM Wheels

 

[wa6qmq]

Used a RTF one time, got me back but just barley, will use a full size spare on the slate, other cars have the donut spar, they work but s&^k

 

[Doctors Do Little]

I've had excellent luck with Toyo Open Country A/T III tires, so probably those.

Probably in the 245/70R17 size and XL load range, pending information about whether that size requires a lift. (I'm thinking probably not.)

One nice quality of that particular tire is being slightly lighter than the competition. They're also made in the United States, which for me is pretty much mandatory for tires. Your Range May Vary on that.

Something to be aware of is that there are two versions of Toyo Open Country A/T III tires. The ones with white letters are a bit more highway-oriented than the ones without white letters.

Last year I compared a lot of AT tires of various sizes and documented nearly everything I found in this thread:
Taller 17" All-Terrain Tires for OEM Wheels

I’m going for the same Toyo AT 3, if possible. Would love no lift so just need a compliant size.

 

[kvermeer]

I honestly don't plan on getting either run-flats or a spare. In 20 years of driving, I've had several cars get slow leaks and one trailer tire blow-out, but only one puncture, and that was easily repaired with a plug kit (used an MTB plug kit, which I know is wrong, but I have it in the tool kit and it worked). The compact MTB frame pump was an awful way to get air back in the tire but it worked! I have pressurized my compressor and loaded it in my truck with my jack, jack stand, and breaker bar/sockets twice to rescue my brother and my Dad when they had leaks/flats on the road.

I'm fortunate that I've got at least a dozen people within 20 miles that I could call to help me out if something happened. Not to mention tow trucks, who would do the same for anyone, would cost less to call for a tow at least 4-5 times than it would to buy a spare tire and carrier.

I spend maybe half an hour per year on bridges or busy downtown highways where stopping is prohibited, don't want to jinx it but I'm just not that worried about flats.

 

[AZFox]

I’m going for the same Toyo AT 3, if possible. Would love no lift so just need a compliant size.

My guess is any size in that thread up to the size I posted (245/70R17), but that's not based on any solid information so YRMV.

There's a lot to be said for installing the stock size, knowing that the truck is probably optimized for that size.

 

[cadblu]

I'm fortunate that I've got at least a dozen people within 20 miles that I could call to help me out if something happened. Not to mention tow trucks, who would do the same for anyone, would cost less to call for a tow at least 4-5 times than it would to buy a spare tire and carrier.

I don’t have anyone to help me with a flat, but I will be carrying a small tire inflator in the frunk. In the unlikely event you need to install a spare, why not take advantage of Slate’s Roadside Assistance…

Roadside Assistance provided for 48 months or 50,000 (whichever comes first). Additional terms apply and may not be available in all locations.

 

[mrxbma]

Had runflats on the BMW for years.

Came in handy when a screw decided to become part of the tire while driving on the freeway. Made it back home (about 50 miles).

They tend to wear tread a bit quicker and slightly stiffer of a ride but gives some peace of mind.

Might put a set on for the kids when they get the slate. If I ever give it up. Haha

 

[RevMS]

I'm in an area where there are lots of thorny bushes and other things that puncture tires with some degree of regularity ... I've probably had 4 to 6 flats repaired most years between the 5 or 6 cars in the extended family on the ranch. The nice thing about regular (non-run flat) tires is that they are easy and cheap to have repaired. The local tire shop will remove them from the car, dismount them from the wheel, put a serious patch on the inside of the tire, remount it, and put it back on the car for $10.

Run flats would probably be a lot more difficult and expensive to get repaired when they do collect a mesquite thorn or a nail.

 

[Skippy]

Never run RTFs before but I've always carried a spare and a plug kit. So far so good but I've been looking at options.

*I tend to get a puncture once every 6-8 months. Guess I have $#@! luck!*

 

[E90400K]

I'm in an area where there are lots of thorny bushes and other things that puncture tires with some degree of regularity ... I've probably had 4 to 6 flats repaired most years between the 5 or 6 cars in the extended family on the ranch. The nice thing about regular (non-run flat) tires is that they are easy and cheap to have repaired. The local tire shop will remove them from the car, dismount them from the wheel, put a serious patch on the inside of the tire, remount it, and put it back on the car for $10.

Run flats would probably be a lot more difficult and expensive to get repaired when they do collect a mesquite thorn or a nail.

RFT are not any more difficult to repair than non-RFT. Been there and done that.

 

[ClayJar]

I lean very strongly toward being self-sufficient. I gutted my house to the studs and rebuilt it myself. I built my shop (30'x12', 10' walls) solo except for a group of friends on foundation pour day and one friend who also wanted to play on jackhammer day and standing up the first wall, and I got plenty of compliments during the permit inspections. I have all my own tools for trail building and maintenance, including major work, even though I can check out gear.

So, basically, I'm not the type to want to wait for outside assistance if I have a flat, and I've had plenty of flats over the years. The fraction that were unrepairable has hovered somewhere in the third to half range (sidewall damage or something took a big bite, once a full blowout on I-10 that was quite exciting), so I don't want to rely on inflators, goo, or plugs (which I still don't like due to the theoretical but remote possibility that they could seal on the tread side but provide a path for air to get in the belt layers and potentially influence a possible tread separation).

I suppose I could go with run flats, but I have avoided those primarily because I haven't liked the selection. I currently run tires on the extremely weather-optimized edge, e.g. Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady or such, as they're absolutely worth it to me when we're on a road trip trip and driving overnight through torrential rain to get to the trailhead.

For the Slate, I'm not going to have the same constraints, as it's not going to be our road tripper. In town, if the weather's terrible, I can just not go out. A good EV tire should be fine, but I would prefer one optimized for tread life and efficiency over one designed to be able to run flat.

My personal optimization seems to converge at an ideal situation being a long-lasting and efficient tire selection, carrying a donut spare around town as a get-home enabler, and packing a full-size spare when going further afield.

 

[Slatester89]

We had RTFs on her previous MINI. They sucked. We had the option for normal tires for her current MINI. We took that option.

They were the only experience we've had with RTFs. So a case study of 1.

b.