Can this tire be safely patched?

[SpatiallyAware]

This is a car I only drive about 8-10k a year max, and I usually get 15k miles out of a rear tire.

I picked up a nail the other day, and after pulling the wheel off I noticed that the tire is just about bald on the inside. Can this still be patched? I know the tire only has ~5k usable miles left, but for my purposes that's quite a bit of life. None of the wearbars are touching, yet, but the nail is in a 'bald' section of the tire. I know it looks bad, but I don't drive the car in rain.

My alignment is in spec.

The car is on jackstands, the jack is only there as a failsafe and has no weight on it.

 

[lavaheadache]

regardless of the hole or not, that tire is very near the end of it's useful life due to a bad front end alignment.

The wear bars are like idiot lights for tires, You do realize that you are not very far away from showing metal on the inside of the tire right?


*** edit***
I missed the part where you said it wasn't your tire... Anyhow, experts will tell you that it is dangerous to patch the tire that close to the sidewall but I wouldn't hesitate too.

 

[Leymenaide]

In most states that is not a legal tire. You might have a problem getting it fixed.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

regardless of the hole or not, that tire is very near the end of it's useful life due to a bad front end alignment.

The wear bars are like idiot lights for tires, You do realize that you are not very far away from showing metal on the inside of the tire right?

It's a rear tire, and it is aligned correctly, this car has that much negative camber stock. Trust me, the wear is normal. And I know it 'looks' bad, but there is at least 5k miles left if it weren't for the puncture, which is 6 months of driving.

 

[BassBomb]

Looks feathered

 

[SpatiallyAware]

You guys are friggin killing me. I'll take a pic of the actual tire at lunch, and will update later with what my tire shop says.

 

[LTC8K6]

You guys are friggin killing me. I'll take a pic of the actual tire at lunch, and will update later with what my tire shop says.

The tire shop will be the decider if your aren't going to do it yourself.

My guess is, from your description, the tire shop will be reluctant.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

The tire shop will be the decider if your aren't going to do it yourself.

My guess is, from your description, the tire shop will be reluctant.

After taking an actual pic it definitely does need to be replaced. Going with pilot supersports.

 

[phucheneh]

That puncture is too close to the sidewall. A patch will come loose. A plug will likely hold.

But the 'by-the-book' answer is 'no' to either.

 

[JulesMaximus]

That tire should be replaced even without the screw in it.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Couple used tires $20 mounted and balanced at the local Mexican tire shop. Don't knock it till you've tried it.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Couple used tires $20 mounted and balanced at the local Mexican tire shop. Don't knock it till you've tried it.

Looks like the car is a BMW Z4. No way would I put used tires on it or any car for that matter.

Those tires are past it, at least the rears are, can't tell about the fronts. Replace the rears at least with some fresh rubber or all 4 if they are about the same age and wear. The car will handle much better and be safer too.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Looks like the car is a BMW Z4. No way would I put used tires on it or any car for that matter.

Those tires are past it, at least the rears are, can't tell about the fronts. Replace the rears at least with some fresh rubber or all 4 if they are about the same age and wear. The car will handle much better and be safer too.

lol. I use to think the same way till I bought one for a temporary tire till I could buy a proper $150 replacement. Still havent bought the replacement. Ghetto as hell I know. That's also another reason I don't want an expensive car. So much worry over stupid crap like door dings or a rock chipped the hood.

 

[phucheneh]

Geez you guys are snobs. Go walk around a parking lot some time and look at the garbage that people will actually drive on. That tire ain't that bad. I'd plug it and replace it when I could.

Emphasis on _I_ would plug it. I would not advise it to anyone else, 'cause I trust myself more for both doing the plug and driving the car. If I go by the 'if it was [insert family member]'s car' rule, I would only do a plug if needed as a limp-home fix.

But as far as tread? It's not that bad. Yeah, it's going to wear through the rubber on the very inside (left of the almost-flush wearbar) fairly soon. But it's not just a failure waiting to happen or something; he just needs to keep an eye on it. The rest of the tire has enough tread to not be dangerous, IMO. Judging by the the wearbars (2/32), inside groove is 2-3, outside might as much as 5 or so. Again- I see worse tires (literally 'bald' on at least one half of the tread) all the time. That doesn't make it okay to drive on 'almost bald' tires, but you come to not shit on people for stuff like the tire in the OP, when there are so many driving on flat-out dangerous shit.

The wear is not terribly normal, though. I can see expecting a bit of wear from negative camber. But that's got toe wear, also (the uneven tread blocks on the outer edge). The alignment is probably not that bad, but you need to rotate more. Yes, even if you have staggered wheels. With enough frequency, going side-to-side and reversing the tires direction of rotation will help them wear much more evenly (which is why you don't buy directionals if you have staggered wheels).

Oh, also, OP- are you sure your rotors are going the right way? I doubt the direction of the holes makes any difference, but they're generally indicative of the way the internal vanes are curved (assumed they're curved). They should 'point' to the front so that air is being forced through them rather than just kind of 'bouncing off' the back sides.

 

[kitatech]

Hole/plug is too close to the sidewall to be/remain secure...I had a similar hole and the dealer would NOT fix it....

I have a question about your assessment of its wear...
...you said that this was a REAR tire but the wear appears to be that of a FRONT tire.
...had you rotated it recently?
The wear pattern on this tire IS NORMAL FOR A FRONT TIRE....

...If this was indeed at the front, I would have run a bit more air in the tire there...perhaps 10-15% higher PSI than you had in this tire.
...and with this wear, now that it's on the rear, I'd run a even a bit more PSI to even out the wear at the center-ribs....perhaps as much as 20% higher...

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Just got back from the tire shop, he put a plug in it with no problem. Said to rotate the rears left-right, yes it is a staggered setup.

He said that if the plug were on the outside of the tire he probably wouldn't do it, and not to go any crazy hooning or trackdays, but otherwise it's fine.

 

[kitatech]

Yes, the hole on my tire WAS on the OUTSIDE...and...
As it is a staggered set-up, I would DEFINITELY run more air in the tire than you had.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Hole/plug is too close to the sidewall to be/remain secure...I had a similar hole and the dealer would NOT fix it....

I have a question about your assessment of its wear...
...you said that this was a REAR tire but the wear appears to be that of a FRONT tire.
...had you rotated it recently?
The wear pattern on this tire IS NORMAL FOR A FRONT TIRE....

...If this was indeed at the front, I would have run a bit more air in the tire there...perhaps 10-15% higher PSI than you had in this tire.
...and with this wear, now that it's on the rear, I'd run a even a bit more PSI to even out the wear at the center-ribs....perhaps as much as 20% higher...

It is a rear tire. No, I don't usually rotate left-right as they tend to wear out fairly evenly. I get about 15k out of the rears and 30k out of the fronts, so I rarely replace all 4 as a set.

I haven't messed with the tire pressure, my tire guy says what BMW recommends is perfect... 30psi front, 32psi rear. I'll probably bump the rears up to 36psi and see if that helps the wear.


Edit: The car has a LOT of negative camber from the factory. From behind the car it sort of looks like I intentionally cambered them out, but that's just what BMW recommends. Tire guy said it's fine, completely normal wear, nothing to worry about. This is a performance suspension place, the guy really knows what he's doing.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

<snip>


Oh, also, OP- are you sure your rotors are going the right way? I doubt the direction of the holes makes any difference, but they're generally indicative of the way the internal vanes are curved (assumed they're curved). They should 'point' to the front so that air is being forced through them rather than just kind of 'bouncing off' the back sides.

I'm not 100% sure but I believe so. All of the angles 'match' so to speak, as in if that one is wrong then they are all wrong. After looking at a bunch of pics they are in fact correct.

 

[7window]

wow you are lucky that they patch it. The tire is not bad but a lot of people will disagree with me.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I tried to get Discount Tire to put two tires that were about that worn from one set of wheels to another on my wife's car. They wouldn't do it. I had to buy two new tires from them.

Sucks because we have a tire package through the dealer where they will replace tires for the life of the car for free as long as we service it at the dealer. We're on our 3rd set right now and the rears are due to be replaced soon. Fronts are good now.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

This is an independent performance shop that I've gone to for years. I don't know that he would've done it for anyone walking off the street.