ls1121

I paid $30 today to have a patch put inside my Michelin run flat today at Firestone and I had to walk him thru it. It's just sad.

Don-Vette

Sorry to hear, I been using my local Firestone for over 20 years,same store manager too,they may cost a few bucks more than other repair shops,but they know what their doing and my cars always get fixed right.

MikeMaj82

wow. I recently had a screw in my run-flat and the garage/gas station around the corner from me charged me $10 and it took him 2 minutes. Stay away from the big name places.

Snowwolfe

Jacked the car, removed the tire, patched it, balanced the wheel/tire, mounted it back on the car and lowered it in 2 minutes?
What NACAR pit crew did the guy work at? lol

MikeMaj82

what? I brought the wheel to him lol. He's right around the corner. All he did was patch it.

dealer06

I just had a screw in my tire too! Sucks. Anyway, the guy at Mavis Tire was going to charge me $25, but didn't after I bought some tires for my other vehicle.

Hard to believe 2 minutes. A plug in 2 mins maybe, but not a patch. For the patch, they have to dismount the tire from the rim, install the plug, install the patch (from the inside) than (at least at Mavis) they put some sort of rubber glue on and put th whole thing under a heat/UV lamp to "cure" it. Definitely took longer than 2 mintes. Less than an hour though.

Anyone have experience driving with a patch? Any concerns about reliability and durability? I don't do more than 90mph too often, no autocross, etc.

MikeMaj82

oops. yea I meant plug. Didn't realize people did patches anymore...if I ever got a screw near the sidewall, I'd just get a new tire. Every tire I've had repaired was done with a plug and it was always fine.

Snowwolfe

I had a patched tire on both my previous C5 and C6. Both were run flats and the tire patched was on the rear. Patch was 4 years old on the C5 when the car was sold and on the C6, 2 years. Did not have any problems with either after the patches were installed.

truckplay

if you see the quality of personel that works in these places you would see why you may have to help.

you know that your speed rating is voided by the repair don't you?

GrayC5

There's no way that I would continue to run a tire that was not correctly repaired and a plug alone is not a proper repair on any tire let alone a speed rated tire. See following:

Flat Tire Repairs

Top_Fuel

This is a good video showing how a proper tire repair is done. It's long and there's some product pitching going on, but it's still good to know if you've never actually seen this done before. This is why a good tire repair will run you $25+.

festone

I've had a few screws in the tread portion of RF's and non-RF's over the years. Discount Tire has always repaired them for free. Don't know if this is a nationwide policy or just here in Washington - but they do a great job.

They plug, and then put a patch on the inside as well. As mentioned previously - plugs alone allow water to enter the tire causing the steel fibers in the tire to begin to disintegrate over time - causing the tire to fail.

Here's a link to the Tire Rack article that talks about the damage to steel belts if the tire isn't properly repaired.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...jsp?techid=77&

ls1121

no plug just a patch and I do not remember him using any type of light. I do remember him saying to the manager " I don't know how to patch this kind of tire" needless to say I was glad to leave this store. The tire looks almost new and I was going to plug it myself and move on with life. I have drivin on many tires at high speeds with a plug and have never had any issues. I tell ya what, it makes me think when I need a new set of tires I might just go with a conventional tire and they are probably more comfortable to drive too. It's a Sad day when a man that only does tries for a living does not know his business. I thank God every day when I wake up that I am me and some of these dumb a$$es.

MikeMaj82

well, when my tire blows out I'll let you all know. But I've never had any issues with plugs.

GrayC5

A very informative video on proper tire repair that all here should take the time to review. Information in the video should assist owners in asking questions and finding a reputable tire repair shop that can properly repair their tires.

Thanks for posting.