# How do those tires work?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-those-tires-work/61293>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 8, 2001, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-those-tires-work/61293 "2001-04-08T23:59:58Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mercutio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Mercutio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mercutio)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2001, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-those-tires-work/61293/1 "2001-04-08T23:59:58Z")

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I’m wondering how exactly do those tires which stay pressurized even though they have no air, work.

It doesn’t make sense to me. If you puncture your tire it should go flat, why not these?

Anyone mind tossing me an answer?

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**Author:** ![Anachronism](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@Anachronism](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anachronism)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2001, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-those-tires-work/61293/2 "2001-04-09T00:28:20Z")

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I assume you are talking about the ‘run flat’ tires that are available. They do not stay pressurized, they have a stiffer sidewall that will support the car without any air pressure.

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**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2001, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-those-tires-work/61293/3 "2001-04-10T06:01:03Z")

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They hold their breath for 50 miles or 10 minutes whichever you choose.

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**Author:** ![NothingMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b77776/32.png) [@NothingMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NothingMan)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2001, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-those-tires-work/61293/4 "2001-04-10T06:12:43Z")

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Hey **kniz** are you being serious or sarcastic ?

I also wondered if the tires discussed here would cause a problem for law enforcement . . . . it seems that spike strips would be rendered useless.

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**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2001, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-those-tires-work/61293/5 "2001-04-10T10:59:05Z")

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I can tell you how this works with bicycle tires, anyway. You usually have to do the modifications yourself, but it’s not that hard. You buy a thick plastic strip called a tire liner and put it on the inside of the tire, to help stop sharp things from reaching the inner tube. You can also put a chemical inside the inner tube that stays liquid unless a hole develops, then it hardens around the hole to form a temporary patch. Of course, a few weeks after I “bulletproofed” my bike I ran over a piece of sheet metal that slashed my sidewall, bypassing the liner and overwhelming the patch chemical.

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**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2001, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-those-tires-work/61293/6 "2001-04-10T14:18:24Z")

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Basically, what **Anachronism** said. Take a look at this link [http://www.goodyear.com/jm/tires/runflat/](http://www.goodyear.com/jm/tires/runflat/) or here [http://abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/CarTech/cartech2.html](http://abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/CarTech/cartech2.html) or here [http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/runflat.htm](http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/runflat.htm) for details.