wobble on lines with runflat tyres....help

ianbar0

i have a 57 plate mini one. as usual with miis it has run flat tyres. i find that on some painted lines or grooves in the road(from heavy trucks in inside lane, or where road hase been widened) that there is a "wobble" as the wheen goes over it. im guessing its because the tyres are so firm that they kind of slide over these bumps. i find it quite scarey really especially on the motorway. i was wondering if anyone else had found this with there runflats? i am thinking on seriously of going to some standard tyres which woul sbe softer and more grippy. hope you can all help

harveybobbles

The walls on RFT's are stronger. i'm guessing the "wobble" you're referring to is the car "tram lining" which is usually caused with larger wheels going over changes in the surface or cats eyes etc...

ianbar0

tramlining thats the phrase i was looking for! is this going to happen with standard tyres still then? i know my tyres are quite wide

harveybobbles

What size wheels does it have?

Doozergirl

I have 17" runflats on my MINI and I found the same when I first got it but my driving style I think has adapted to it and I don't have issues with it at all.

I notice when my husband drives the car it sometimes does it and I suspect that is because he does not hold the steering wheel in the correct fashion :rolleyes: The reason for holding the wheel at ten to two is to give you best control over the wheel and it does work for me.

I heard that not having the tyre pressures too high helps.

I wouldn't change the run flats - I was thinking about it myself when mine wore down but having had the full benefit of the run flat halfway down the M5 to Devon it got me there and to a tyre dealer the next morning rather than a hair-raising tyre change on the motorway! Having changed to the Clubman however, the ride quality has improved - it was particularly bumpy in my old Cooper.

ianbar0

mine are 17" too. the cheek to suggest a man does not hold the wheel correctly lol vey unsure what to do now really, most hve said change it but just not sure. would rather keep £400 to myself!

vikingaero

Definitely tramlining. It's worse in cars with low profile and wide tyres. It could also be that the route you drive where you experience tramlining has especially deep ruts which exaggerates the problem.

CHR15

Go faster and drive in lane 2 !!

I'll let you use my lane to help out

emmell

I wouldn't change my mini wheels as I had the same problem with a Bmw coupe with larger wheels a low profiles (not run flats) so I think it affects cars without run flats.
ML.

harveybobbles

Anthing with wheels bigger than 16inch is affected by tram lining. More noticable with low profile tyres.

AdrianHi

Some cars (of an identical specification) using run flat tyres are better than others (manufacturing tolerances?), some tyre brands are better than others.
Some weather conditions are better than others. Winter, cold and wet, tyres don't warm up the way they should, especially on short trips, tyres don't get supple as a result and the usual slight increase in tyre pressure as they warm up does not happen as expected.
If your tyre pressures are too low they will ride more on the stiff sidewall causing worse ride and most definatelty (worse) tram lining. You can improve the situation a little by increasing tyre pressures slightly over the specified settings, an extra 0.1 bar to 0.2 bar or 3-6psi. 0.1 bar is about the amount tyre pressure increases by when tyres warm up, it's why you must check and correct pressures when you have not driven for a few hours to make sure the tryes are cold.

Fitting standard tyres does in most cases cure this tram lining but for 18"+ wider profile tyres your probably stuck with some tram lining.

I've been discussing on a BMW forum life with run flat tyres for over 3 years and had input to the conversation from engineers in the field, Bridgestone and even (indirectly) BMW themselves. Increasing the pressures a little is advice that actually originates from BMW and later build dates of my car actually have higher pressures specified for tyres for the same wheel sizes.

On my car I covered 14,000 miles on Continetal Premium Contact SSR (run flats) which were OK early on but tram lined badly 9000+ miles and wore unevenly on the outside edge. This uneven wear is nothing to do with tracking or alignment (checked every tyre change and always bang on), it is the nature of some run flat tyre brands to wear this way. Next I covered 20,000 miles with Conitnental Premium Contact 2 standard tyres and it was a different car to drive. No tram lining ever, grip security improved, better ride, all round more pleasant driving experience. For reasons I won't go into now I went back to run flat tyres and have now covered 15000 miles on Michelin Pilot Primacy HP ZP run flat tyres. They are wearing evenly, still have a lot of life left, have no grip security issues, ride quality is good but in these cold wet days they do still tram line a bit. No where near as bad as the Continentals.
If you want to stick with run flat tyres I would recommend these Michelin Pilot Primacy HP ZP's.

If you wanted more detail on this subject you will get many many hours of reading material by searching on "RFT" at www.bmwland.co.uk