Instead of getting out in the rain or at night, you can drive to a safe location and have the tire fixed or replaced. The most obvious benefit to the run-flat tire is that you can continue driving after air pressure is lost. However, these tires will also only last so long without the right amount of air pressure. With this design, it’s the wheel that supports the vehicle weight, not the tire. Instead, this run-flat configuration contains a physical structure that gets attached to the wheel itself. With a support ring system, the reinforcement isn’t in the sidewall. However, there’s a limit to how long it will hold up. When air is lost in the tire, the sidewall construction can carry the weight of the vehicle. This tire does exactly what the name suggests. The most common form of a run-flat tire is the self-supporting construction.

Driving a regular tire without the right air pressure causes a buildup of heat that leads to tire damage and failure.

The air pressure itself is what provides the support. Regular tires aren’t built to support the vehicle’s weight without air pressure in them. However, they are not built to allow you to drive without air pressure indefinitely – many are only rated to go up to 50 miles at 50 mph or less.

Run-flat tires have reinforcement to ensure they can temporarily support the vehicle’s weight when the air pressure is lost. Are run-flat tires noisy? What are Run-Flat Tires?

How run flat tires work