Tire patch or replacement

[Arif]

I found a nail in my tire and need to get it fixed. Here in Panama they'll do whatever you want them to do (fix or replace) but I recall in GA a tire store manager told me they no longer fix flats. Instead they recommend a replacement tire. Is this a ploy to make more money selling that $150 seventeen inch low profile tire instead of the $10-15 to patch it? Or is there some safety guideline that they are following?

 

[Nords]

I found a nail in my tire and need to get it fixed. Here in Panama they'll do whatever you want them to do (fix or replace) but I recall in GA a tire store manager told me they no longer fix flats. Instead they recommend a replacement tire. Is this a ploy to make more money selling that $150 seventeen inch low profile tire instead of the $10-15 to patch it? Or is there some safety guideline that they are following? 

I think new tires are a boat-payment revenue-enhancer.

If you're peeling rubber at the racetrack then I could see the need for a patch-free tire. But the average driver with an average clunker can do just fine with patched tires. The rubber "worms" for patching nail punctures are even sold in retail stores today, which may be why the repair shops are leaving that chore to anyone else.

 

[brewer12345]

Yeah, as long as the sidewall is still intact, patch away.

 

[Danny]

It depends.

I just did this. I got a new tire after trying a plug on a nail hole on the edge of the tread...
....it depends on where the hole is...if it's right on the middle area of the tread that meets the road - then plug it...if the tread is pretty low anyway then get a new tire...if the hole is towards the side of the tread then the plug will tend to work it's way loose - better to get a new tire in that case.

 

[Texas Proud]

The best is a patch... second is the plug... I would do the patch instead of plugging...

 

[Leonidas]

On work cars I used to pick up one or two nails a year in my tires. The city garage would usually patch anything in the tread, but never in the side wall. Patches in sidewalls tend to come "unglued" because of all the flexing. The tire guys said that patching a sidewall was just too risky, especially with V or Z rated radials on cars that would actually be driven at high speed and make lots of aggresive turns.

 

[OAG]

Last one I did they used the patch. Seemed to work just fine. IF you have a full sized spare just throw the patched one in the trunk (check every so often to make sure it has air in it for an emergency). If you do not have a good looking wheel on the spare but it is full size just have them swap the spare to the good wheel. Much cheaper to get the two wheels rebalanced than buying a new tire. I did keep the patched tire on the road for another 2 years before I traded the car. The problem was on the tread not the sidewall. As I remember the tech did say patching the tread was no problem but not the sidewall.

 

[TromboneAl]

I've had tons of punctures repaired rather than replaced, and never had a subsequent problem.

 

[Jay_Gatsby]

Last time I dealt with the situation I had them both plug and patch the tire. No problems since then.

 

[TromboneAl]

The city garage would usually patch anything in the tread, but never in the side wall.

How do you get a nail in the sidewall, other than by doing this?

 

[Donzo]

I have always used plugs. They work great as long as the puncture is not to large. I do alot of back road/gravel driving - before replacing my last set of tires there were a couple that had at least 6 plugs in them - with no problems.

 

[Texas Proud]

I have always used plugs. They work great as long as the puncture is not to large.  I do alot of back road/gravel driving - before replacing my last set of tires there were a couple that had at least 6 plugs in them - with no problems.

Plugs are 'ok'... I have used them in the past and had no problems also.. but it is better to take the tire off the rim, dress the inside and put a patch.. now, this is out of the blue... but I had heard that there are some tires that will have water seep into the tread and rust the steel belts.. don't ask me to support it... can't...