billyboy47

not really familiar with the run flats so i have to ask, due to a screw in the middle of tire (front right) oem with 4500 on the clock. should i buy a new one or just have the tire center put a plug in it? its not the money i'm concerned about, its the low miles on the tire. what a waste of a almost new tire if i have to toss it. opinions please. thx

Knoxrower

I've had many tires patched over the years and have never had a problem. If you taking it on the track that might be another matter but for normal use, that's what I'd do.

5W30

I recently came from America's Tire where they found a screw dead center in my rear tire. Other than casually mentioning it to me they had that sucker patched up from the inside without a second's hesitation. They trust their work, so do I.

dvilin

Neil Baker

Tire must be patched from inside, they use heat to bond the patch to the tire. I have had GoodYear do this for me on my old C5, never had a problem after repair.

Vette_DD

Local Chevy dealer plugged one of the tires on my 6900-mile 012 coupe yesterday. Would have plugged it from the inside, but the nail was on a rib inside the tire, so they had to plug it from the outside.

Anxious to see if that causes any problems and lasts awhile.

According to the current wear on my tires, the fronts should last about 28K and the rears should last about 37K, so I didn't want to buy any new tires if I didn't have to.

jackhall99

Really no need to toss the tire. It can be patched from the inside and last as though the puncture never occurred.

Seadawg

The main reason I have runflats is my tires seem to be nail and bolt magnets. Discount Tire has fixed many for me, no issues on the street or the track.

No vibration or balance issues either.

cclive

Since no tire manufacturer reccommends plugging a tire from the outside, I would not suggest that. But if the puncture is in the middle of the tread and not the sidewall, it is fine to have it properly patched from the inside of the tire. Michelin told me in an email that their policy for patching a runflat is the same as for non-runflats...I printed it up to keep in the car for tire places that are not up to date (of which there are many).

DezVette

How about patching, from the inside, a puncture on the edge of the tread/sidewall? I know doing it with a plug kit from the outside is a no-no. But what about the inside? I am about to have this replaced as I already have the tire. But with less than 800 miles on this tire I hate to pay them a CA recycle fee and toss the tire if it can be patched for emergency use later.

dpigguy

If you are running GoodYears and want to use one of their stores, find a Gemini GY dealer location and they will know how to plug the tire and will have the appropriate equipment to mount the tire on your rim. Discount tire as well as others are also okay but ask them about their equipment so they don't mess up the wheels. Had an OEM GY plugged early in its life and it lasted the life of the rest of the tires (20K miles)!

RKInIL

I had the same thing happen last year with only 1200 miles on the car. I had a a screw sized rivet in the left rear dead center of the tread. They removed the tire and patched it from the outside and inside. No issues with the tire since. Patch it you can always buy a new tire. HOWEVER they wrecked my wheel removing the factory weights with a screw driver and refused to compensate.

cclive

That shoulldn't have been necessary as they should have marked the position of the tire on the wheel and then no re-balancing would have been needed. Next time remind them of this as tire places tend to want to sell more service than is truly needed.

cclive

For emergency use, just to get a few miles to someplace...maybe, but no reputable tire place will repair that tire...it is absolutely against every tire manufacturer's policies.

DezVette

Yeah, I did not think so. I already shelled out the $350 for a new one, but never thought about patching from the inside and it's limitations.

cclive

I believe that the reason that no sidewall patching is allowed is that the sidewall flexes more than any other part of the tire, generates the heat in the tire, is the thinnest, most delicate part of the tire and this makes it a bad place for the survival of a patch.

billyboy47

thanks for all the input guys. had it done, so far so good but i ownly put 30 miles on it on the highway to make sure.

wolfdogs

that cant be safely repaired. you would be asking for a belt edge separation
.

wolfdogs

Do not plug a tire. Not only do the tire manufactures hex it, NHTSA is in the process of outlawing it. And if you do get it patched from the inside, make sure its the mushroom patch repair to seal the hole that goes into the inner liner as well.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=77

Being my career was the Federal Governments Manager of the Federal Tire program and serving on NHTSA committees for various tire issues, I can tell you this is more serious than people think.. ive posted about this in the past and im sure the posts are on this forum in the archives.... bottom line, is i have served as U.S. Govt expert witness in fatal accidents due to blow outs after tire failure analysis was performed. The inner liner of the radial tire is the inner tube of the tire. When a puncture occurs, if you repair by plug alone, you do not seal this inner liner. Depending the quality of the tire and time involved, moisture begins to migrate into the casing of the tire. This moisture travels throughout the tire and begins to rust the steel belts. This condition has caused belt separations which lead to blow outs. I know...folks say "ive plugged tires and have had no probs". Folks, you are playing Russian Roulette ...... Ive seen over and over the damage this repair has caused....in quite a few cases that led to death due to loss of control. Repair the tire properly.

cclive

Honestly, I just don't get why this concept is so hard for people to grasp. There is NO tire manufacturer that says it's OK, and yet there are still lots of people who say that they have been driving around on a plug and "never had a problem". It's really no different than someone saying that they always smoke while filling their gas tank and "never had a problem"...LOL. Why is there an aversion to properly repairing a tire??? I don't get it, especially when some of those same people will go way overboard on the maintenance items on the car. I don't get it....