Tram-line

[Johnalexander]

Why do run flats tram-line?

Should you keep run flats or change them?

 

[Worcester_spoon]

Solid side walls I'd imagine, and hell yeah, change them..!

 

[andya1]

Hi John

I had read a lot about run flats tram lining and making the handling skittish and when I first picked my car up and drove the 170 miles home on run flats it became very clear to me that everything I had read was correct as the car did tram line and on country lanes the handling was skittish bordering on scary! I replaced them straight away with non run flats and the difference was very noticeable, the car handling was normal with no tram lining so if I were you I would get rid of them ASAP

 

[Johnalexander]

Thanks Andy. What did you change them to?

 

[andya1]

Hi John

I put on vredestein ultrac sessanta which are a mid range priced tyre and have a big following on here, they also have a funky tread pattern do it and you will notice a big difference in your car.

Andy

 

[Johnalexander]

They look nice . My fronts are really worn so was thinking about changing them first . Can you drive with 2 run flats on the back and 2 non run flats on the front?

 

[andya1]

They look nice . My fronts are really worn so was thinking about changing them first . Can you drive with 2 run flats on the back and 2 non run flats on the front?

Hi John

if I were you I would bite the bullet and replace all 4 and at £400 they are a good price, I really hated how the run flats made the car feel and I wouldn't leave two of them on the rear.

 

[TrickyDicky]

I had it the other way round ie RF on the front, it was fine. Ideally you would do all 4, as it massively improves things. My view was it was better to have decent treads all round rather than 2 that were near the limit. I always follow the rule that you don't mix on the same axle.

Posted from Tapatalk

 

[TonyP]

Like TrickyDicky, I fitted new non-RFT's on the back whilst I still had RFT's on the fronts, it bugged me about the mismatch & I decided to replace the fronts too after just a couple of weeks, fitted Vreds Ultrac Sessanta & the handling was very noticeably different from RFT's all round,
I ordered my tyres from Camskill online with next day delivery & got them fitted locally.

Others have said it's particularly the Bridgestone Potenza's that are rock hard/tramline & the other brands of RFT were noticeably better.

If you do ditch the RFT's make sure your breakdown people will still recover you if you have a puncture & also carry some tyre goo just in case, I also carry a 12v compressor too.

 

[andya1]

So long as you have a compressor and some tyre weld breakdown people will recover you but of course you should always check with them.

 

[Johnalexander]

Good point , I will check with my cover . Has anyone experienced a situation where they were declined because they did not have run flats on?

 

[andya1]

Good point , I will check with my cover . Has anyone experienced a situation where they were declined because they did not have run flats on?

John they won't turn you down if you don't have run flats on it but they do like you to carry some tyre weld as you have to show them that you are taking some precautions if you get a flat tyre I also carry a compressor as well.

 

[Johnalexander]

Where did you buy them Andy?

 

[TonyP]

I have two cans of the Holts stuff which both fit nicely into a 1L oil bag that is velco'd in the boot, some debate about whether the tyre can be repaired after using the Holts stuff, some people swear by the 'Slime' product, not used either personally.

The compressor came from a scrappy & was originally in a Mini, fits in the well behind the battery-unless yours has an amplifier there of course.

 

[SUUNTOBOB]

Hi John

I put on vredestein ultrac sessanta which are a mid range priced tyre and have a big following on here, they also have a funky tread pattern do it and you will notice a big difference in your car.

Andy

+1

 

[andya1]

Where did you buy them Andy?

John

I bought two large cans of holts tyre weld from Halfords as they were on offer and I got a funky new Michelin compressor off ebay. The tyre weld is beside the battery in the boot and the compressor is in the right hand pocket in the boot it takes up hardly any room but at least it gives you some sort of piece of mind.

 

[Johnalexander]

Thanks

 

[Cavey1638]

Hi,

I bought a 3.0S 2004 Z4 in January which had run flats on it. I drove 200+ miles to get her home and the first point of call was a decent set of tyres. I run Continental SP's which I like. I also poly bushed the front suspension. What a difference. The wifey has 3 series which has run flats on it which also handles ***t! I have had one puncture in the last five years so willing to run the risk!

Cavey

 

[Johnalexander]

What's poly bushed?

 

[ab7]

I've been getting very frustrated with run flats recently, my car has always tram lined but on the A and B roads to Milton Keynes this morning I felt like I was literally fighting the road at times.

I need to investigate (on the previous forum threads) how it impacts insurance and warrenty etc, but with my back tyres soon needing replacement I think it's time to switch to non-runflats.