Was the Lexus SC430 made to use run flat tires?

 

That is what came on every car from the factory. You will notice there is no spare.

 

See for yourself, click on the link below to see the 2009 SC430 brochure...the cars were about the same between all of the 2002-2010 model years.
there is a sticky about the differences at the top of the SC430 forum section.
BTW, Welcome to Club Lexus!
http://www.lexus.com/documents/broch...C-Brochure.pdf

all SC430 brochures
http://importarchive.com/lexus/sc/2002-2010

 

Personally, I hate the run flat and will avoid if I can.
There are merit, but just find the harsh ride they give with those hard side wall not worth it.

But then it does get you home if something goes wrong... and I have been saved 1 time by them.

Jerrick

 

Agree. And that's exactly why many forgo the run flats and purchase a compact spare to put in the trunk -- which has saved me numerous times, except for when the same pothole at night blew out BOTH tires. Then I borrowed Habieus' spare as well as my own.

 

I got a can of those tire weld type thing in the trunk just in case.
If it is bad enough where that won't fix it, or I blow out 2 tires... then I call a recovery truck.
I wouldn't want to change my tires on the side of the freeway anyways, and for sure I don't want to change 2.

 

run flats are the DEVIL. I will never understand why anybody would ever have those on their car. Why not just mount some steel tires on the wheels and have at it. Same harsh ride and won't ever get a flat.

 

The run flats on our 2004 SC430 were terrible. Harsh ride, noisy and terrible handling. Changed the run flats out for a set of Michelin AS 3+ and it feels like a totally different car. I'd never put run flats back on the SC.
I like having a spare tire so I bought and installed a RX8 spare and cover (link to a similar example below) that fits pretty well in the trunk sitting at an angle and still leaves a reasonable amount of room for groceries, soft duffles, etc. The tire is a little smaller diameter than the OEM Lexus compact spare, if I have to use it, most likely it will be for short distance.

https://www.ebay.com/i/182602161302?chn=ps&dispItem=1

 

I don't know if a car can be made to use run flats, but they were standard equipment with the SC430. My guess that they used run flats for convenience and to save on money and weight of the car by not needing to supply a spare and the brackets needed to hold it. But at least they did design the car to be able to handle the addition of a spare at a future time. Unfortunately, they did so at the expense of the ride. A majority of us on the forum have made the change. Since the introduction of the car though, some tire companies have improved their run flat's ride but since I also ditched the run flats a long time ago, I don't know just how much or which ones are best.

Welcome to the forum, NancyOlssos.

 

I have 1 large can of flat fix and a small air compressor in the little well in the trunk where a spare would go. The trunk mat covers it up.

 

That is what a number of the other forum members do also and it seems to work for them.