Get Rid Of Bsr Runflats/ Fit 18" Spacesaver To Rav4.3?

[ericaswas]

The old chestnut - to get rid of the BSR Runflats or retain them? MOT failed the rear 2 on Friday. I can get them changed in King David Risca or Bathwick Brislington.

It comes down to minimising disruption to my other half while she's running round her patch during her working day. The ONLY advantage to retaining the BSR run-flats that I can see is they allow her to do her job and get home with minimum delay and then I can sort out tyre replacements within a day or 2.

Without runflats, contingency is RAC and/or Slime and/or mobile tyre fitters. All of which are 'messy' for her and have quite a long delay.

I might be able to win the argument if we could get hold of an 18" Spacesaver and fit it tidily in the car?

Can anyone give me an idea where I can get one from and options for fit? Does the well plastic insert come out and will the space spacer fit without raising the bootfloor?

[ALake]

I can only answer the bit about the wheel well as I've taken mine out to have a look! There isn't space to put any kind of wheel in there as the bodywork is shaped like the plastic liner once the liner is taken out - I've just given up and stuck a spare wheel in the boot.

[Gav rav]

I'm in the same boat but not sure where to take the car done to remove them then have the issues with the TPS light coming on.

Do you know how much king David in Rica charge to replace the tyres?

[ericaswas]

Thanks for the info Alake, I won't have to investigate the boot well now. I guess you have a full size spare and you don't have the run flats? Where did you get the spare from?

[ericaswas]

King David quote £45 + VAT per corner to remove the runflats. They will refit the TPMS valves and everything should be OK. They quoted me £128 for refitting Hankooks on top. Speak to Tim.

Alternatively, if I stay with the runflats, they quoted £150 for the Bridgestones but I would still then have to pay the £45 on top to deal with the BSR rings every time the tyres are changed.

Whereas Bathwick Brislington quoted £170 per tyre to refit Bridgestones, so I am considering going with them, because I can't see a way to get rid of them without having a large spare taking up boot space.

[ALake]

Thanks for the info Alake, I won't have to investigate the boot well now. I guess you have a full size spare and you don't have the run flats? Where did you get the spare from?

I was lucky in a way - I put an advert on Gumtree and a guy on there sold me his brand new Rav 4 steel wheel with an unused tyre on it. Gumtree was free so I figured a Wanted advert was worth a shot!

[Gav rav]

Thanks for that Dave, I may take mine there next weekend.

This may sound a dilly question, but can you simply take off the wheels and replace with new alloys and tyres?

[ericaswas]

There's the Tyre Pressure Monitoring System to consider. The run flats have special valves which monitor the pressure. If you just change the wheels, you'll get a warning on the dash, unless you do the pink wire mod. Sound like an expert don't i- I've just read the forum a lot!