Can this nail puncture be repaired?

[wilwn]

I got a nail in my tire a month ago and took it to multiple shops. Per google, the puncture is too close to the side wall to be repaired. But one shop just plugged it for me.

It held up PSI find for a few weeks but lately it's been losing slowly losing pressure over the course of a 2 days down to 39 from 42.

Can this be patch repaired? Thanks!

 

[Tronguy]

Um. So, let me get this straight: you took this tire, with the nail in it, to multiple shops until you found one that was willing to give it a go.

I think you already have your answer. Not that tire shops don’t have a vested interest in selling one a replacement tire when one shows up with a flat. It’s just that the vast majority of them are not scammers.

What they are scared of is a wrongful death or injury lawsuit when a repaired tire goes blooey at speed and flips the car off the road, over the guardrail, and down the cliff. If the Powers That Be (cops, DA’s, their insurance, the driver’s insurance, the driver (if still alive), and the grieving families (if the driver and whoever was with the driver are not)) find out, there will be heck to pay. At the end of which the person who okayed the repair may be behind bars and very likely out of business.

It’s for reasons like these that tire shops refuse repairs under questionable circumstances. They are rightly over cautious and would much rather err on the side of safety. This same kind of thinking is why dealerships, despite all their faults, are one of the very safest places on the planet to take one’s car in for a brake job. The dealerships’ repair shops really do put their best mechanics on the brakes, when they’ll put any snotty newbie on the oil changes.

In any case, you’ve got a corroborating answer as well: The repair didn’t work, did it?

Stop dicing with death and replace the tire already.

 

[SpriteM3]

General rule of thumb, don't cheap out on things that separates you from the ground: mattress, chair, shoes, tires, etc.

That nail is way too close to the sidewall, don't cheap out on something that you'll be driving on going 65+ mph. It's a danger to yourself and others.

 

[SalisburySam]

@wilwn you can likely get whomever plugged your tire to patch it as well. But please don’t drive near me. It’s a tire, a small replacement cost vs the price paid for the vehicle. And infinitesimally small against the possible and maybe even likely costs of failure outlined well by others. Your money, your call, please don’t drive around me.

 

[Gumball]

No, to close to the outside. Any decent shop will not repair this. New tire is the only way.

 

[howardnj]

I got a nail in my tire a month ago and took it to multiple shops. Per google, the puncture is too close to the side wall to be repaired. But one shop just plugged it for me.

It held up PSI find for a few weeks but lately it's been losing slowly losing pressure over the course of a 2 days down to 39 from 42.

Can this be patch repaired? Thanks!

View attachment 945787

No! Replace the tire

 

[Gauss Guzzler]

People get so nervous about tires!

It’s difficult to patch tires near the sidewalls because they need a nice flat surface inside to stick the patch down. Tire shops don’t make any money on patches, so they prefer not to risk the hassle of having to redo a repair, not because you’ll surely die, contrary to internet folklore.

Your damage is not even close enough to the sidewall to be of any concern, it’s right at the super-conservative 1” mark. I’d bet they just didn’t tighten the valve stem enough after the job. Give it a little cinch and see if that fixes your leak. Or risk certain death. Whichever you prefer.

 

[beachsideev]

Probably not patchable because it it too close to the sidewall. Shops that have patched tires for me said it can't be in the outer blocks. I thought they wouldn't patch the foam lined tires anyway.

But a plug? Probably doable by yourself. Personally I'd try it. That's what tpms is for.

People saying it is dangerous must live in states with inspections. Around here most tires I see look more like racing slicks.

 

[launchd]

Here you go... courtesy of Discount Tire.

"Repairs are limited to the tread area only. Do not repair a tire if the injury extends into the shoulder or sidewall area. In this situation, the tire must be replaced. For a safe repair, the puncture must be 1/2 inch away or more from the edge of the tire tread where the internal steel belt begins. Any puncture less than 1/2 inch from the start of the internal steel belt on the shoulder or sidewall of the tire cannot be repaired (highlighted in red)."

 

[afadeev]

I got a nail in my tire a month ago and took it to multiple shops. Per google, the puncture is too close to the side wall to be repaired. But one shop just plugged it for me.
It held up PSI find for a few weeks but lately it's been losing slowly losing pressure over the course of a 2 days down to 39 from 42.
Can this be patch repaired? Thanks!

Yes, but the results will likely remain the same - intermittent air loss.

The reason you don't patch holes near (within 1") the sidewall is because constant tire flex may undermine the patch's seal, over time.
Sidewall flexes as the tire rolls under the weight of the car, and the area of the tread nearest to the sidewall experiences maximum shape distortion. Normally, that constant twisting flexes the sidewall and the friction is enough to generate heat in the tire. If you run the tire too low on air, the flex will overheat the sidewall of the tire and it will disintegrate.
Now add any form of a patch into the mix (plugs that extend into the hole from the inside are the best and longest lasting!), and you can see how the surface area of the plug will be put under exponentially increased amount of stress as you get closer to the sidewall.

Will in fail catastrophically? Probably not.
But the patch has an increased probability to fail over time, and no tire shop wants to deal with unhappy customers who will blame patch failure on the shop and demand compensation, at best. Or free replacement tire at worst. There is ZERO upside to a tire shop to take on that extra risk, especially when the alternative is to sell you a new tire(-s) at much higher margin.

You had already repaired the hole once, and it is leaking air again. How exactly was the patch applied?
You can try more involved and more expensive methods of repair, or spray some sealant goo on the inside, or cut your losses and buy a new tire.

[...]when a repaired tire goes blooey at speed and flips the car off the road, over the guardrail, and down the cliff.
[...]Stop dicing with death and replace the tire already.

There is absolutely no need to be melodramatic.
The repair may fail and start leaking air, but that is no more or less dangerous then any new puncture you may pickup on the road. Tires do not go "blooye" and cars don't "flip off the road". That's comically ridiculous.

Can this be patch repaired? Thanks!

Patch can be replaced and a more durable repair applied in its place.
But if you can't DIY the repair and don't have any more shops to rely on, realistically, you have only one remaining course of action - buy a new set of tires (keep same tread depth on an axle).

Personally, I've gone both ways.
I had had many tires patched (now I just DIY that with Dynaplug and carry a kit in EVERY car).
And occasionally, when there is sidewall damage after someone drove too long on low pressure, or one time when I took a direct metal plate into the sidewall, I replaced two tires on the impacted axle.

HTH,
a

 

[Tronguy]

There is absolutely no need to be melodramatic.
The repair may fail and start leaking air, but that is no more or less dangerous then any new puncture you may pickup on the road. Tires do not go "blooye" and cars don't "flip off the road". That's comically ridiculous.

Um. Tire blowouts are a Thing. Admittedly, they're usually due to running into some object on the road that fully compromises the tire. But I've personally had the tread on a tire rip off for no discernible reason while motoring down an interstate in Michigan. I later found out that the car I was driving (it was my fiancee's car; we were on a long trip and it was my turn) had had the tires replaced with ones that were nominally the wrong size by the previous owner, so that might have had something to do with it. In any case, we heard the flapping, looked at each other, the car got parked off the side of the road, and I spent some time feeling around until I found a flap of tread hanging loose. At which point we did the jack-the-car-up-and-replace-the-tire-with-a-spare trick. And over the next couple of days got the somewhat worn tires replaced with a new set. Of the right size.

Thing is, though: a major cause of tire failure is heat. The heat is usually caused by flexure of the sidewall. One gets abnormal flexure of the sidewall when the tire pressure is low. And all of that is made worse by running the tires at speed.. like down an interstate in 95F weather.

So, here we have Teslas. My understanding is that they're relatively heavy cars. Certainly, the tires have to be rated for a heavier load carrying capacity than one's normal ICE car. So.. put a patch or plug near the sidewall, which is going to flex more anyway, which leads to possible leakage of the patch (or plug); which leads to more heat; and this isn't going to end well.

It's not melodrama. It's common sense on a standard technology item.

 

[cruiserlarry]

People get so nervous about tires!

It’s difficult to patch tires near the sidewalls because they need a nice flat surface inside to stick the patch down. Tire shops don’t make any money on patches, so they prefer not to risk the hassle of having to redo a repair, not because you’ll surely die, contrary to internet folklore.

Your damage is not even close enough to the sidewall to be of any concern, it’s right at the super-conservative 1” mark. I’d bet they just didn’t tighten the valve stem enough after the job. Give it a little cinch and see if that fixes your leak. Or risk certain death. Whichever you prefer.

As an professional automotive customizer / off-road vehicle upfitter for over 4 decades, I would say you are incorrect on your assessment on many accounts.
The puncture is almost directly at the flex point of the tread (most certainly less than one inch from the effective sidewallt), and is not legally repairable in most states for safety concerns, some already mentioned in this thread. The main issue is relating to the flex of the tire at that area when driving - a plug or a patch can easily dislodge at a flex point, causing a possible blowout or rapid deflation and possible accident. And while imminent death is not likely, inconvenience, damage, and injury are a reasonable possiblity of a poor tire repair. Most tire shops are legit, follow regualtions and industry standards, and have concerns for their customers and their legal liability - so they would decline a likely unsafe / unreliable repair request such as the one pictured in this thread IMO. Regarding money, many tire shops offer free inspections, free tire repairs, etc., on the premise of finding additional services to market to the customer - so a tire repair can be seen as an easy way to generate a new customer and additional business, as well as show good will to a person in need.

Certain things don't seem to be worth the risk to save a few bucks - especially tires and brakes on any vehicle driven at speed among other folks whom you put at risk for your thriftiness. Buy a new tire.

 

[SalisburySam]

I got a nail in my tire a month ago and took it to multiple shops. Per google, the puncture is too close to the side wall to be repaired. But one shop just plugged it for me.

It held up PSI find for a few weeks but lately it's been losing slowly losing pressure over the course of a 2 days down to 39 from 42.

Can this be patch repaired? Thanks!

View attachment 945787

Just to recap: original tire injury in May and plugged, posting on TMC mid-June (and OP’s first post), lots of responses, now early July. What did you end up doing?

 

[Manbutter]

I’ve got the same situation as the OP. My new OEM tire (with 4500 miles) got a screw in it. Took it to Sam’s Club and they said it was too close to the side wall. This certainly does not look too close. I really wish they’d just repair it. The alternative is a $450 tire (tire, install, fees, tax). Nearly new tire. Ugh.

Any thoughts? The screw does not seem that close to the wall. But is the measurement inside to the steel belt?

Also, do the oem tires that say acoustic lining/technology purchased not from Tesla have the foam that everyone is talking about?

 

[jjrandorin]

Just to recap: original tire injury in May and plugged, posting on TMC mid-June (and OP’s first post), lots of responses, now early July. What did you end up doing?

The same thing the vast majority of these "Should I patch this tire" thread creators do, which is post, and then bail and not even login and check responses to the thread they created:

 

[beachsideev]

I think if it says acoustic technology than it is foam lined. I believe there is also a T1 int he description that is the tesla specfic version with the foam.

FWIW, I don't think the foam does anything. I replaced the michelin's with non lined pirellis that I thought were quieter.

 

[Manbutter]

All this talk about tire blowouts and losing control of a car at 70mph. Is this over exaggeration? Because the way I see it, I have a slow leak that is barely losing 3 psi per day with the screw in it. If I have it plugged and patched, the worst that would happen is that the patch fails gradually and the tire starts losing pressure at maybe a medium leak (faster than now because the plug expanded the hole). The tire is not going to catastrophically explode leaving me with nothing but rim on road.

And with the tire pressure monitor, it would tell me the instant the pressure started to drop.

If this were Africa, no one would bat an eye and would repair anything smaller than a puncture the size of a soda can.

 

[maclean525]

Buy you a plug repair kit and keep it in your car at all times. If you get one like this, try plugging it and see how it goes. If it holds up, you're golden. If it does not, you get a new tire. The reason tire shops will not warranty this is because they PATCH tires and you can't patch so close to the edge. You can, however, plug them. There's zero risk, we have TPMS. I live in the South and plenty of the smaller good old boy tire places will plug these. None of the corporate places will.

 

[Manbutter]

Buy you a plug repair kit and keep it in your car at all times. If you get one like this, try plugging it and see how it goes. If it holds up, you're golden. If it does not, you get a new tire. The reason tire shops will not warranty this is because they PATCH tires and you can't patch so close to the edge. You can, however, plug them. There's zero risk, we have TPMS. I live in the South and plenty of the smaller good old boy tire places will plug these. None of the corporate places will.

Thanks. I was thinking of doing that too since I have a plug kit handy. Maybe as a little bit more insurance though, I should have a good ol’ boy shop patch the inside too just as added insurance. I still have a lot of life in these tires and would be a shame to throw out a tire with 4500 miles on it.

Several Tesla owners have wondered if our cars are nail magnets. I think it’s from the flat profile and wide contact patch and low profile of our tires. All of those factors combined. It’s probably worse if you have a Porsche with their giant steamroller tires in the back. The wider the tire, the more chance of the car hitting every single nail in the road. Whereas if you drove an econo box with tires as thin as bicycles, the chance of you hitting the nail is nearly halved. The flatness of the Tesla tires also contributes.

 

[afadeev]

Thanks. I was thinking of doing that too since I have a plug kit handy.

OK, so do it, and tell us how long it holds air!

Maybe as a little bit more insurance though, I should have a good ol’ boy shop patch the inside too just as added insurance. I still have a lot of life in these tires and would be a shame to throw out a tire with 4500 miles on it.

If you can find someone, anyone, to repair the tire, have them install an internal patch with an integrated plug. Expect to pay for at least 1/2 hour of labor + rebalancing. That is the best of both worlds:

https://www.amazon.com/Tru-Flate-15-296-Plug-N-Patch-Rubber-Integral/dp/B000CIUOVA/ref=asc_df_B000CIUOVA/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=241983951578&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7759136968304258827&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003741&hvtargid=pla-525288984685&psc=1

Several Tesla owners have wondered if our cars are nail magnets. I think it’s from the flat profile and wide contact patch and low profile of our tires.

[/QUOTE]

They is nothing special about Tesla tires or tire profile.
If anything, the tire is relative narrow for the weight of the car.

HTH,
a