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[5soko]

Well woke up to a tire that looked really low!
I have currently the E90 LCI M-sport rims with the Bridgestone potenza I RFT 225/18 in the front that is the tire in question here.

Turned the wheel sideways and had a friend move the car slowly to see if i had a nail, and sure enough, nail right in the middle of the tire next to a thread.

So i went to a few local shops to see what they thought of reparing a RFT, 3 shops and all 3 said to patch it if it is within the middle of the tire, which it was dead center. All 3 of them said i was lucky it wasnt by the sidewall because they wouldnt be able to.

So i went and got it patched from the insde, a small pin size hole..
Patched it up, put air in and the tire seems to be holding up well, reset the TPM and everything seems good.


Now my question is, can a RFT be repaired? I have heard many stories.

I had a nail in the middle of my front tire that i got patched. It is holding air well.

[TotalPower]

From what I understand you can't (read shouldn't) repair an RFT becase the side wall structure that makes an RFT an RFT degrades once it has been used to keep the cars weight w/o air pressure...

[chromisdesigns]

Assuming you didn't drive low on it (you didn't get a TPMS warning before parking it the last time, did you?) then you should be fine. It's driving with zero pressure that trashes the sidewalls, not just sitting there.

[5soko]

Thanks for the replies guys.


When i woke up saw it was low, i filled it with air and it was good. i didnt drive with it flat at that time. Drove about 10-20 miles on it with the air i put in came home and it was still good and inflated.

Then today when i woke up it was flat again..
So i didnt even fill it up, i went about 2-5 miles away and got it patched. so i basically drove 3-5 miles on it flat.. No more than 30mph.

[Orient330iNYC]

i would be wary... if you had inflated it before driving the 3-5 miles i would have said no problem, but u drove on it flat, so the tire was supporting the weight of the car on sidewalls only.
even 3-5 miles generates a ton of heat when the tire is supporting 1/4 of the car's weight on rubber alone..

i personally wouldnt patch a runflat that had been driven on that much... mostly because you'll find out how much of the integrity was lost in the worst possible way.

[5soko]

Thank you. That is very good info.

So it is okay to patch the tire, from the reading and info i have recieved throughout the internet as long as it in the middle of the tire somewhere.

But now driving on the tire flat will cause damage to the sidewall and i will need to repalce it.

Now how do i know if the tire/sidewall has been damaged?

I didnt drive above 30mph i would say, just around town, and didnt do more than 6 miles max on the tire fully flat.

Is there a cutoff to how far (miles), etc. i can do where i can now ditch the tire.

seems to ride smooth and hold air. I cant see any defects from the outside.

[chromisdesigns]

Originally Posted by 5soko335i

Thank you. That is very good info....

Now how do i know if the tire/sidewall has been damaged?

You don't know, and that's the whole problem with runflats, once they've been "run flat". It's why many places won't repair them, they are afraid of the liability. You get a blowout, an accident, and then sue them for the repair job they did...

Runflats are a great ** concept ** but the makers just haven't got it down yet, IMHO. They slam, wear like crap, and cost half again as much as regular tires, yet when and if you DO need them, you have no idea if you can rely on them again.

[5soko]

UMM i guess im on the fence now as i just dont know if the sidewall has been damaged. As risky as it may be, im going to take my chances with the patch as if it holds air i will be happy.

The thing that will bother me now is if those 6 miles running it flat do enough damage to hurt the wheel, give me a blowout, etc. I am just gonna take my chances as i rarely go over 100mph alot, and from looking inside the sidewall i did see some wrinkles from running it flat but nothing serious.

[Orient330iNYC]

i've seen runflats fail completely (after a sidewall cut) after being run for less than 5 miles at 0psi, notice that the disclaimer says "UP TO 50 miles at 50mph"
i personally wouldnt risk it. it could be 100% fine, it could fail at 65mph with a car full of family. when a runflat fails due to running flat, its usually a full tread separation, not just a pressure loss. the wrinkles you see are the rubber starting to break down from being heated and flexed. how much more life is left? who knows. thats the danger of running them flat.

[dmurray14]

I had mine patched....I was skeptical too, but I trust the shop that did it and they've been to Bridgestone training...they said they are instructed to inspect the sidewall for any signs of bowing, if not, and as long as the hole is in the middle, it can be patched. They said after patching, it should be just as stable as if it hadn't happened.

[5soko]

Originally Posted by Orient330iNYC

i've seen runflats fail completely (after a sidewall cut) after being run for less than 5 miles at 0psi, notice that the disclaimer says "UP TO 50 miles at 50mph"
i personally wouldnt risk it. it could be 100% fine, it could fail at 65mph with a car full of family. when a runflat fails due to running flat, its usually a full tread separation, not just a pressure loss. the wrinkles you see are the rubber starting to break down from being heated and flexed. how much more life is left? who knows. thats the danger of running them flat.

Yup i def saw some wrinkles in there by the sidewall where it starts to curve from the flat surface contact of the tire. Im really thinking hard about this, if there was really enough damage that i am going to have to throw 300+ dollars on this stupid tire. If there was wrinkles is that basically the start to a end of the tire? It will get worse down the road? Or could fail.. Like the start of a ripple effect? the outside of the tire looks great. i just dont know.

Good thing now i know, if i wake up to a flat runflat, take that thing off and go repair it and dont ride on it! haha.

Originally Posted by dmurray14

I had mine patched....I was skeptical too, but I trust the shop that did it and they've been to Bridgestone training...they said they are instructed to inspect the sidewall for any signs of bowing, if not, and as long as the hole is in the middle, it can be patched. They said after patching, it should be just as stable as if it hadn't happened.

Thanks!
Yea the patch was done very well. Def wont leak any air. The tire guy did look at the sidewall from the inside but didnt mention that it was bad or antyhing, i did personally see some wrinkles. Not sure how to read a tire and where the 'Not good to use' or 'its still okay' point is.