Tire Repair -- Nail in Tire

[llll1l1ll]

Well, Greenville roads suck and there is a nail in my tire. I took it to a couple of shops and they said they could not repair it, but I'm a shadetree mechanic, so I want to undertake it myself. I have included a couple of pics of the problem...









If I can, cool. If I can't, whatever. I guess I'll be out 170 bucks for two new front tires...


Also, here is a bonus picture of my car after a bunch of snow here.

[Dave]

they wont touch 'em if it is in the sidewall or shoulder.

You can plug it there, but I wouldn't push it too hard afterwards.

[Danny]

Nope, too close to the sidewall to really repair it.

Get a can of fix-a-flat.

[Farbin Kaiber]

You can plug it, you can do an internal patch, but the tire guy behind the counter will tell you it is unsafe, and sell you a new tire. The line below the arrow is the absolute point on the no patch, but they will tell you it's somewhere in the middle of the outermost block of tread.

[jlevie]

That is really too close to the side wall for a plug, but an internal patch is a possibility. Whether a patch is reasonable depends on the car's role. I would be comfortable with a patch on a DD that won't see track or AutoX use, but not otherwise.

[llll1l1ll]

Yeah, it's just my DD. Aside from a spirited drive here and there, she doesn't see much but one left turn, one right turn, straight and stop.

So, would a tire shop be able to plug it internally for me?

[nando]

that's not repairable, it's too close to the sidewall.

sorry, that's what they are going to tell you. sucks too because all the shops around here will repair it for free.. that's why I started getting the road hazzard warranty, because this happened to me on 3 sets of tires in a row.

[Rolla1990]

So, would a tire shop be able to plug it internally for me?

I'm a professional technician, and I would absolutely NOT repair that for a customer, no matter what method I use (plug, patch, or plug-patch). There's too much liability involved if that tire blows out and the customer rolls the car and kills his kids.

That being said, I would repair it on my own car, and understand that it may still leak or blow out and drive accordingly.

[xwill112x]

it can be fixed, just don't push it to the limits.

[Liam]

I'm a professional technician, and I would absolutely NOT repair that for a customer, no matter what method I use (plug, patch, or plug-patch). There's too much liability involved if that tire blows out and the customer rolls the car and kills his kids.

That being said, I would repair it on my own car, and understand that it may still leak or blow out and drive accordingly.

I'll back this statement and go one further.

I wouldn't even fix this one for my car, the tife gets too much "work" in that area to hold a patch well.

[turbo325i]

Dude I do patches all day long... I wouldnt do it on a customers car, but on my own, yea I would. Whats the worst that happens? Your shoulder/sidewall flexes and the patch wears itself off in a few weeks and slowly leaks air out?

Ok that sounds pretty bad... Dont patch it lol. Especially dont patch it if you have any roadtrips ahead of you... Summer heat would eat that thing up!

[Liam]

Dude I do patches all day long... I wouldnt do it on a customers car, but on my own, yea I would. Whats the worst that happens? Your shoulder/sidewall flexes and the patch wears itself off in a few weeks and slowly leaks air out?

Ok that sounds pretty bad... Dont patch it lol. Especially dont patch it if you have any roadtrips ahead of you... Summer heat would eat that thing up!

I guess it depends on, A: how fast you like to drive and B: how much you don't mind walking.

[moatilliatta]

I patch tires everyday. Id patch it for myself and prolly my friends. And id push it to the limit. If you cant push it to the limit, its not fixed... The key is prep, if its correctly prepped the bond between the patch and tire is solid. Ive never had a patch leak. i wouldn't patch a sidewall. I have plunged a sidewall. but that was only to get me home.

Most tires that come in have flimsy sidewalls, even with a stiff sidewall; patching it would be nevus, as i wouldnt know if the tire would blow while pushing it.

[llll1l1ll]

that's not repairable, it's too close to the sidewall.

sorry, that's what they are going to tell you. sucks too because all the shops around here will repair it for free.. that's why I started getting the road hazzard warranty, because this happened to me on 3 sets of tires in a row.

That road hazard warranty only covers for ~1 year or something really weak. I was out of the country for a year, heh.

Anyway, I'll see if I can finagle a shop into just plugging it for me sans liability. I don't drive anything above like 35 around here, since this is a country town.