I have been really dissatisfied with my run-flats. at 15000 miles service, the dealer said two had to be replaced (because they can't be repaired, as he put it). they run at $300 each. so after reading a lot of newsgroups, i learned the following:
*they can indeed be replaced, but most places won't do it. *most people replace them with standard tires. *i have P225/60R17 and there is not much great selection of standard tires that can replace the run-flats (while there is such a good selection if my original tires where P215/65R16)Basically i decided to do the same. I bought 4 regular tires and 1 full size spare for less than what the two run-flats would cost me. I plan to mount them sometime tomorrow. I had two choices: either replace the rims to 16" and buy nice ultra high performance P215/65R16 tires with perfect grip on rain and snow, or keep the 17" rims and choose some average grip 17"tires.
However, i need to buy an extra wheel/rim for the spare. I contacted toyota, who pointed me to the dealer, who could not answer my question: does anyone know what brand/type of wheels we have? yes, they are 17", but what? 17x7, 17x7.5? what? the manual says they are 17x6.5JJ and i have not seen anywhere on the internet rims like that. Could i just replace with the 17x7? also, the ones the toyota currently has look great. could not find anything similar anywhere. i looked on them and they write something that appears to be like "mc" on top, but no other specs (unless they write it somewhere inside, i did not take them out). So any idea what people do? most of you have replaced the run-flats or changed rims. what did you do/get??
any comments would be appreciated. thanks so much!!! PS: i know CA started a class action lawsuit recently against toyota and dunlop for the runflats. anybody know of anything like that in NJ or the tristate area???