Rav4 T180 Tyre Rip Off

[unknownislands]

I took my Rav4 to Kwikfit in Banbury and they ordered two Bridgestone replacements. Only when they tried to get them off did they find out about the ring etc and I was totally unaware of this. They contacted Bridgestone and then spoke with Inchcape Toyota in Kiddlington, Oxford. KwikFit took the wheels to Inchape Toyota and now I have been told that the inner rings have been damaged by Kwikfit so these will need to be replaced. I have just been charged over £1000 by Inchape Toyota for the two new tyres and I am waiting for these to be returned to Kwikfit so they can be put on my Rav4 T180 2008 model. I will never buy another car from Inchcape or Toyota. I was never advised that this run flat system required such specialist fitting nor would it be so very expensive. Of course salesmen don't mention these things do they!

[MarsKy]

Yep, a sneaky move by Toyota to use T180 owners as guinea pigs in their flawed experiment, and well complained about on these forums.

If it's not too late (but seems like it is) your £1000 would buy you a set of new alloys and ordinary, repairable tyres. And some have kept the OEM alloys, took a grinder to the support ring, and just put on ordinary, repairable tyres - albeit the TPMS warning light will stay on (someone was going to try and disable the warning light, but they've never reported back on whether they were successful - I take it they weren't?)

[Big Kev]

I took my Rav4 to Kwikfit in Banbury and they ordered two Bridgestone replacements. Only when they tried to get them off did they find out about the ring etc and I was totally unaware of this. They contacted Bridgestone and then spoke with Inchcape Toyota in Kiddlington, Oxford. KwikFit took the wheels to Inchape Toyota and now I have been told that the inner rings have been damaged by Kwikfit so these will need to be replaced. I have just been charged over £1000 by Inchape Toyota for the two new tyres and I am waiting for these to be returned to Kwikfit so they can be put on my Rav4 T180 2008 model. I will never buy another car from Inchcape or Toyota. I was never advised that this run flat system required such specialist fitting nor would it be so very expensive. Of course salesmen don't mention these things do they!

You must have been living on your call sign/nom de plume ("unknownislands")not to have seen any posts on these bloody tyres, but I can nonetheless sympathise. In a conversation not long ago with a Kwik-Fit operative, his attitude was that "he could remove any run-flat apparatus" and had no directive re the BSR (Bridgestone Steel Ring, or Blasted Simple Ripoff) from his H.Q. not to get involved.

Only yesterday when getting tyres fitted to wifey's 3 door Rav at McConechy's at Greenock did I find out that they have Bridgestone machinery at both Ayr and Spiersbridge, Glasgow. Due to the excellent service received, they will be my chosen ones to remove the tyres.....thereafter I will have previously researched a "remover of outdated military equipment" to remove my steel corsets and fit ordinary tyres.

Yours in Empathy,

Big Kev.

[MarsKy]

Only yesterday when getting tyres fitted to wifey's 3 door Rav at McConechy's at Greenock did I find out that they have Bridgestone machinery at both Ayr and Spiersbridge, Glasgow.

Might be worth resurrecting this link, but check ahead first to see if a centre still provides the machinery: Bridgestone Run Flat Repairers

On a separate issue Big Kev, how are your aluminium side step's rust spots?

[bothwell_buyer]

Only yesterday when getting tyres fitted to wifey's 3 door Rav at McConechy's at Greenock did I find out that they have Bridgestone machinery at both Ayr and Spiersbridge, Glasgow.

Might be worth resurrecting this link, but check ahead first to see if a centre still provides the machinery: Bridgestone Run Flat Repairers

On a separate issue Big Kev, how are your aluminium side step's rust spots?

speaking of which, how does one minimise corrosion at the point of interaction between aluminium panel and steel??

And back on topic....unkownislands.... we have just bought a JCB 515 - £40k+ worth. It comes with dumper truck type tyres which within 80 hours use we have had one puncture and have another nail in the tyre.

I got quoted £220 + VAt for EACH tyre to be treated with foam to prevent puncture downtime. The wheel and tyre size is scarce (well it is after all a brand new model for JCB) and it looks like we will be hit with another couple of thousand to either treat each tyre, or replace with segmented solid tyres. What is it with tyre manufacturers that they can't make the tyre less likely to get a puncture??? Oh, I know! Its cos they make a fortune frae us numpties willing to put up with it.

Where's me horse and cart???

[three5]

speaking of which, how does one minimise corrosion at the point of interaction between aluminium panel and steel??

Hi Bothy - and you a Land Rover owner too! ;) Basically you have to ensure that the steel part is electrically isolated from the aluminium bit. If the bits are fastened together with pop rivets ( al la LR ) you can put some tape between the panel and the steel and ( maybe ) plastic washers under the rivet head. The plastic tape is a bit like very sticky plasticine on a roll. PM me if you want some - I use it for another purpose so have a goodly stock!

[luke4x4tech]

Having changed quite a few of these tyres i can see where people are going wrong however !!! you can change the tyres with out anybother once up to speed with the machine , this is down the training and not useing customers wheels to train on.

The support ring can be damaged when changing it because of the nature of fitting it and getting it of as some people have said ,if yo cut them of and put a standard tyre on that is up to you you might have to tell your insurance tho.

As for the radio tyre valve, fitting a normal tyre "WILL NOT" !!!!! stop it working, what will is some idiot taking it out or damaging it cutting the ring of just leave it in and it will still do its job. get a flat tho ond run it on the rim it will snap it of so dont get a flat tyre.

[Taylor6971]

I have been looking back to find an appropriate post to add my news to and this seemed the best.

I have been dreading getting my RFs replaced so when my MOT was due this week I thought I may as well bite the bullet and get them done (tyres were still perfectly legal but winter is coming)

I phoned 6 different garages and got quoted up to £260 per tyre with the warning that the inner ring would be another £130 if required. Well to cut a long story short the cheapest garage by far were in Kingsway Tyres in Great Yarmouth and they charged £158 each.

The guys doing them were superb. The first one took just over an hour; the second about 40 mins and by the end they could do them in 15 mins. They admitted they had only changed 1 tyre previously in the two years of having the machinery and were actually referring to the online DVD during the work

luke4x4tech is quite right when he says that they can be removed easily once familiar with the machinery. The mechanics really took their time to get it right.

Incidentally, I re-phoned the Norwich supplier and asked if he had perhaps made a mistake with his quote and he told me no, the £240 quoted was correct.

Has anyone found somewhere cheaper than £158?

[Steve-Jeep]

Only yesterday when getting tyres fitted to wifey's 3 door Rav at McConechy's at Greenock did I find out that they have Bridgestone machinery at both Ayr and Spiersbridge, Glasgow.

Might be worth resurrecting this link, but check ahead first to see if a centre still provides the machinery: Bridgestone Run Flat Repairers

On a separate issue Big Kev, how are your aluminium side step's rust spots?

speaking of which, how does one minimise corrosion at the point of interaction between aluminium panel and steel??

And back on topic....unkownislands.... we have just bought a JCB 515 - £40k+ worth. It comes with dumper truck type tyres which within 80 hours use we have had one puncture and have another nail in the tyre.

I got quoted £220 + VAt for EACH tyre to be treated with foam to prevent puncture downtime. The wheel and tyre size is scarce (well it is after all a brand new model for JCB) and it looks like we will be hit with another couple of thousand to either treat each tyre, or replace with segmented solid tyres. What is it with tyre manufacturers that they can't make the tyre less likely to get a puncture??? Oh, I know! Its cos they make a fortune frae us numpties willing to put up with it.

Where's me horse and cart???

[Steve-Jeep]

Re: Aluminium / Steel interface corrosion

When I bought my T180, there was a small dent in one sidestep. I finally found one on eBay, which came complete with the steelwork attached. The corrosion was very evident at the steel/aluminium interface points when I stripped it. I drilled out all of the pop rivets during the strip down, and binned all of the rusty steel nuts & bolts. Once it was all cleaned up, I used translucent silicone to seal the plastic end moldings in place as well as new rivets. This prevents road muck and grit from getting in there and generally looking messy. I used all new stainless steel nuts & bolts during the re-build and coated all interfaces with JC5a compound, which prevents the corrosive effects where dissimilar metals are in contact. There is another compound - Duralac, which does a similar job, but it is not so easily disassembled because it goes hard with time. You can check both compounds out on Google.

Regards,

Steve

[MarsKy]

Re: Aluminium / Steel interface corrosion

When I bought my T180, there was a small dent in one sidestep. I finally found one on ebay, which came complete with the steelwork attached. The corrosion was very evident at the steel/aluminium interface points when I stripped it. I drilled out all of the pop rivets during the strip down, and binned all of the rusty steel nuts & bolts. Once it was all cleaned up, I used translucent silicone to seal the plastic end moldings in place as well as new rivets. This prevents road muck and grit from getting in there and generally looking messy. I used all new stainless steel nuts & bolts during the re-build and coated all interfaces with JC5a compound, which prevents the corrosive effects where dissimilar metals are in contact. There is another compound - Duralac, which does a similar job, but it is not so easily disassembled because it goes hard with time. You can check both compounds out on Google.

Regards,

Steve

Was in Arnold Clark Bishopbriggs today for 36 month service and first MOT. Booked in a month early to get a check over during its final days of warranty. MOT failed on brakes - needed new discs and pads. They said there was brake judder. Honestly never felt it before. Not covered by 3 year warranty - 10k miles or 18 months. And the OEM style pack's side steps are not covered (or won't be honoured) - so the rust spots on their aluminium have to stay (some materials scientist at Toyota needs to go back to class for this schoolboy error). So when is a Toyota 3 year warranty not a 3 year warranty? On the plus side, 4 new alloys to replace my bubbling ones.

[anchorman]

........and have you paid to have your brakes done?

[MarsKy]

........and have you paid to have your brakes done?

Yeah :( Off on holiday now and needed the car ready asap - so a hostage to misfortune. I would have done them myself but time isn't on my side (I would actually have contested it if I had the time). So bit the bullet. Got non-OEM ones though - there are aftermarket discs and pads available now, which wasn't the case a few months ago (they've been noisy so got them checked out by Toyota techy a couple of months ago and checked availability. And techy said he couldn't hear anything, and that while there was surface corrosion, pads and discs were perfectly okay. And he actually said they would get me through my MOT... :censor: )

On the plus side, T180 RFTs are 4-5-4 on front and 3-4-3 on rear, so should be good for a bit still.

[frankie49]

I have had my T180 (44,000 miles) since September 2006.(Zero punctures) I part exchanged a rav 4 granite at RRG Salford Quays. I live in Newton Stewart, Dumfries & Galloway. The guys explained fully to me about the runflat system. I have since changed 2 tyres on the front at 33,ooo miles and another 2 (ex rear) at 40,000. I used the local Toyota dealers in Dumfries/Carlisle 50 miles away who couldn't be more helpful. As yet I have not had to pay for any damaged rings or valves.I must admit to worrying that the exclusivity of this system could result in me being left at the roadside one day. As far as I am concerned this has been a cheaper option (and safer) as normal tyres would have been lucky to see 20,000 so it would be reasonable to assume that if I was running normal tyres I would be on my third set by now. I am due to take the Rav abroad to Scandinavia this summer and I would be interested to know if it is possible to take a spare OEM wheel complete with BSR + tyre sensors to act as a back up.

[vivianM]

I have had my T180 (44,000 miles) since September 2006.(Zero punctures) I part exchanged a rav 4 granite at RRG Salford Quays. I live in Newton Stewart, Dumfries & Galloway. The guys explained fully to me about the runflat system. I have since changed 2 tyres on the front at 33,ooo miles and another 2 (ex rear) at 40,000. I used the local Toyota dealers in Dumfries/Carlisle 50 miles away who couldn't be more helpful. As yet I have not had to pay for any damaged rings or valves.I must admit to worrying that the exclusivity of this system could result in me being left at the roadside one day. As far as I am concerned this has been a cheaper option (and safer) as normal tyres would have been lucky to see 20,000 so it would be reasonable to assume that if I was running normal tyres I would be on my third set by now. I am due to take the Rav abroad to Scandinavia this summer and I would be interested to know if it is possible to take a spare OEM wheel complete with BSR + tyre sensors to act as a back up.

When I part exchanged my 2.0L petrol Rav, for the T180 nearly three years ago, at RRG Stockport they explained about the run flats and said that RRG Denton could change the tyres with the correct equiment, they even offered to take any puntured tyre from Stockport to Denton if I needed it. You could take a spare T180 wheel/tyre with you (on sale sometimes on eBay) and not worry about the tyre sensor light comming on when the spare has been fitted.

Guy

[MarsKy]

When I part exchanged my 2.0L petrol Rav, for the T180 nearly three years ago, at RRG Stockport they explained about the run flats and said that RRG Denton could change the tyres with the correct equiment, they even offered to take any puntured tyre from Stockport to Denton if I needed it. You could take a spare T180 wheel/tyre with you (on sale sometimes on eBay) and not worry about the tyre sensor light comming on when the spare has been fitted.

Guy

Umm - would it not come on as the punctured tyre would not be maintaining its pressure, and the spare won't have had its sensor registered?

[frankie49]

Thanks Guy.I have just noticed that performancealloys.com do a replica catania wheel that they say is identical to the rav t180 version. It can be fitted with standard 235/55 18 tyres or with bsr from toyota, although I havn't approached toyota yet to see if they would do this.

Frank

[wardude]

Why not just keep the wheels you have and cut the support band off?? The tyres that are on your car are nop different to normal tyres, only difference is the steel ring thats on the wheel. Keep thje sensors in place and the TPMS will work as normal. I have a spare wheel and tyre which i bought new for £100 and i carry it in the boot. Even if you have a puncture and the light comes on, it will go off again when you get the tyre replaced as long as you keep the sensor in!!

[MarsKy]

Thanks Guy.I have just noticed that performancealloys.com do a replica catania wheel that they say is identical to the rav t180 version. It can be fitted with standard 235/55 18 tyres or with bsr from toyota, although I havn't approached toyota yet to see if they would do this.

Frank

I have my winter tyres on the Catanias.

My Toyota dealer was okay with fitting TPWS sensors and tyres, but I never asked about the support rings. Once I found out the cost of 4 x TPWS sensors and fitting, it was tooooo costly.

I think in a separate thread we costed it would be around £700 to build up, fit and register an OEM equivalent wheel.

[MarsKy]

Why not just keep the wheels you have and cut the support band off?? The tyres that are on your car are nop different to normal tyres, only difference is the steel ring thats on the wheel. Keep thje sensors in place and the TPMS will work as normal. I have a spare wheel and tyre which i bought new for £100 and i carry it in the boot. Even if you have a puncture and the light comes on, it will go off again when you get the tyre replaced as long as you keep the sensor in!!

Here's a thing - Ormi's Post shows that if you get a wheel and tyre from eBay with the TPWS sensor, they can only register it by reading the sensor's label. And they can only do this by taking the tyre off :o

[wardude]

Why not just keep the wheels you have and cut the support band off?? The tyres that are on your car are nop different to normal tyres, only difference is the steel ring thats on the wheel. Keep thje sensors in place and the TPMS will work as normal. I have a spare wheel and tyre which i bought new for £100 and i carry it in the boot. Even if you have a puncture and the light comes on, it will go off again when you get the tyre replaced as long as you keep the sensor in!!

Here's a thing - Ormi's Post shows that if you get a wheel and tyre from eBay with the TPWS sensor, they can only register it by reading the sensor's label. And they can only do this by taking the tyre off :o

yeah but you dont need a sensor. You already have one in each wheel. Deflate tyres using the valve, Cut tyres off so as not to damage valve removing it the usual way. Cut support band off with a grinder, fit new tyres, inflate, pop a spare in the boot and bobs ya uncle. No run flats, fully working TPMS

[wardude]

Why not just keep the wheels you have and cut the support band off?? The tyres that are on your car are nop different to normal tyres, only difference is the steel ring thats on the wheel. Keep thje sensors in place and the TPMS will work as normal. I have a spare wheel and tyre which i bought new for £100 and i carry it in the boot. Even if you have a puncture and the light comes on, it will go off again when you get the tyre replaced as long as you keep the sensor in!!

Here's a thing - Ormi's Post shows that if you get a wheel and tyre from eBay with the TPWS sensor, they can only register it by reading the sensor's label. And they can only do this by taking the tyre off :o

you dont need a spare with a TMPS sensor. just pop a normal wheel and tyre in ya boot. if you get a puncture the light will come on. Pop the spare on and continue to the nearest tyre place. Tell you have a puncture and that the valve on the wheel have a TMPS sensor fitted and it is to remain in place. They will replace your tyre leaving the valve and sensor alone, inflate it, pop it on ya car and pop the spare back in the boot. Your tpms light will now go out.

[MarsKy]

you dont need a spare with a TMPS sensor. just pop a normal wheel and tyre in ya boot. if you get a puncture the light will come on. Pop the spare on and continue to the nearest tyre place. Tell you have a puncture and that the valve on the wheel have a TMPS sensor fitted and it is to remain in place. They will replace your tyre leaving the valve and sensor alone, inflate it, pop it on ya car and pop the spare back in the boot. Your tpms light will now go out.

Aye - but the point is, if you buy an OEM wheel on eBay for £290 (like the one advertised a couple of weeks ago) as a spare or replacement, at some point you would like to be able to make use of its fitted TPWS sensor (well, I would anyway).

But you need to take the tyre off to get its number to get it registered and then get it all put back together again - more £$£$£$

[vivianM]

When I part exchanged my 2.0L petrol Rav, for the T180 nearly three years ago, at RRG Stockport they explained about the run flats and said that RRG Denton could change the tyres with the correct equiment, they even offered to take any puntured tyre from Stockport to Denton if I needed it. You could take a spare T180 wheel/tyre with you (on sale sometimes on eBay) and not worry about the tyre sensor light comming on when the spare has been fitted.

Guy

Umm - would it not come on as the punctured tyre would not be maintaining its pressure, and the spare won't have had its sensor registered?

Yes, of course, the light would come on just like the headlights on light - just ignore it until that wheel/tyre was replaced !!

Guy