I inherited Pirelli run flats with car purchase. With very little wear on them I had a shop attempt to re and re one of them to a different wheel due to learning it was mounted on a crack repaired wheel. Despite the tire being in only it's 5th year since mfg. upon removal it became internally cracked beyond use and the shop tore the bead. This may have resulted in part due to older tire shop equipment, but I suspect the rigid design of these tires leaves them more vulnerable to machine impact particularly once they been mounted for a considerable length of time. I won't be buying a run flat tire going forward and I'm wondering what other's have experienced with them. I really like the way they perform, lot's of acceleration grip. This one had some under inflated travel prior to the wheel repair. The tech was having one heck of a time with it, having to hammer the side wall repeatedly with the machine to get it off and that's when I recalled that it was a run flat and realized it was probably more than his equipment could adequately deal with. I've not experienced this issue with non run flat, low profile tires brought to the same operator and equipment over the course of many years and would've been even more disappointed if I'd incurred the cost of the original tire purchase. I've read special equipment really is required for best results. I'm disappointed the tech didn't tell me to take it to someone else and I'm thinking he may have proceeded knowing destruction awaited in hopes of selling me another tire.
I worked at a Dodge dealership for 12 years. Also bought a brand new challenger and it had the Perelli run flats on the car. Service techs told me that when a run flat tire is removed from the rim, it is ruined, and cannot be installed again.
Appreciate your response. Surprisingly there are intact used run flats on the market. There also seems to be a lot mfg's pushing directional tires which limits rotation flexibility which has me suspecting may be motivated by earlier wear outcomes?
