Normally your everyday mode of transportation proves to be quite reliable, but every now and again your car can cause some major disruption. For example, if you've ever suffered a puncture before, you know how much time and effort is involved to put it right. Somebody always seems to have tightened the wheel nuts too aggressively to actually get the wheel off, or you need to wait around for help to arrive. Perhaps you should consider run flat tyres?
These tyres were designed in order to give you a window of time before you actually need to change a puncture. In this way, they enable you to drive until you are in a safe and more sensible place, in order to take up the issue. You should be able to get to your nearest tyre fitter for help, or at least to get home. These tyres are also designed to help you maintain control, even if you should suffer a high-speed blowout.
Toughened rubber is used to create the sidewalls of the tyres, which enables them to actually support the car's weight, even when all the air has escaped. Otherwise, the weight of the car pushing down can cause the wheel rim to contact the road surface.
Don't Take Advantage
However, you shouldn't be blasé and imagine that you can drive for an indefinite amount of time on one of these run flat tyres. The manufacturers recommend that you keep to normal road speeds and do not drive for more than 80 km before you get the tyre changed.
It is also advisable to replace a run flat tyre after it has been compromised. Manufacturers do not advise getting a patch and simply re-inflating. It's possible that the product's integrity could have been damaged when it was driven, following the puncture.
Monitoring the Situation
When fitting one of these tyres to your vehicle, remember that you must have a tyre pressure monitoring gadget fitted as standard, which is normal in modern cars. This will allow the driver to receive a dashboard alert whenever a puncture occurs so that he or she can start making plans to repair it. This is important because otherwise, it's possible you may not know about the incident and should only be driving within the prescribed limits when a puncture does occur.
Ask your mechanic or tyre fitting professional to look at your car's suspension when you are getting ready to fit these run flat tyres. Due to the stiff construction, small alterations may need to be made to the suspension to accommodate. This is because the car was originally designed to run on conventional tyres.
