Just patched a tire from inside...How's it affect safety?

[amdhunter]

I got a small leak on the side of my tire, right at the edge of the wheel but not quite at the tread. It was leaking about 10PSI over a period of 3 days, so I decided to get it fixed.

The guy I took it to, told me that since it is on the side, and so close to the tread, he couldn't really guarantee a fix, so he was gonna just plug it with one of those stick things. I asked him to patch it from inside, and he sanded it down a bit, and put a big piece of rubber there.

How permanent is this? I only have 1600 miles on the tires and they look perfect tread wise. Is there any drawbacks to having a patched tire really? The hole was miniscule and I probably could have patched it with krazy glue after I saw it.

Here's a paint pic showing where the hole is at. tire

 

[zerocool84]

I don't know about other people but I had a screw in one of my KDW2's in the top of the tire on the inside of the tread and they patched it up and it lasted around another 10k miles when I replaced all my tires. I do drive my car hard sometimes and I took it auto-x/drag in those same tires and it was fine.

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: zerocool84
I don't know about other people but I had a screw in one of my KDW2's in the top of the tire on the inside of the tread and they patched it up and it lasted around another 10k miles when I replaced all my tires. I do drive my car hard sometimes and I took it auto-x/drag in those same tires and it was fine.

Thats what I was thinking. I never got one patched from inside tho, I always had that stick/plug thing.

The car is driving perfect too. I ended up filling up the tires 38PSI all around, which is what's recommended. (low-profile)

Car feels nice and smooth now. Maybe over the summer I'll replace the tires with some Goodyears and purchase warranty against potholes n stuff.

 

[TimeKeeper]

if it is on the side, I would recommend you bite the bullet and get a new one.
There are so much "movement" on the side wall. It has to take so much force when you are braking, cornering and maintain entire structure.

It is not about how you drive it, it is more about will it still hold, on the moment you needed the most?

You car may come w/ the best safty feature and performance gadget money can buy, but there are only 4 tires that touch the road.

 

[woodie1]

I gotta agree with the "replace the tire" people. Sidewalls constantly flex. If the rest of your tires only have 1600 miles on them you won't be able to tell the difference but you will have a safer car.

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: woodie1
I gotta agree with the "replace the tire" people. Sidewalls constantly flex. If the rest of your tires only have 1600 miles on them you won't be able to tell the difference but you will have a safer car.

Yeah, I was thinking that same thing. I never had a hole on the side like that, always on the bottom. It was a really thick piece of rubber he put in there though. I just never really had it fixed from inside before, so I was worried.

I can't believe I already blew a tire...ugh. NYC sucks when it comes to potholes. I am usually good at avoiding them too.

I had wanted to change the tires anyway to something more sexy looking. I just want to wait till it starts warming up a bit first. Damned Winter.

 

[jagec]

If it was truly a PINHOLE leak (where even if the patch were to suddenly fail, the tire would still work OK and very slowly leak air), I might just leave it.

But really, the combination of low profile and tread-to-sidewall hole (possibly the worst possible area) is not a good idea for patching.

 

[PCMarine]

I'm inclined to say to just drive it as is and keep a close eye on the tire pressure.

 

[mooseracing]

Depending on the size of the holw a plug patch works excellent. I've used them in many situations from small holes to railroad tie size holes and never had them leak. Sidewalls are tricky though. I've sealed some up that are 6" long, of course it was never used over 25mph but there was still alot of sidewall flex.

Its your car and your judgement, If its small enough i don't think i would worry but i would make it a spare or get some new tires when ya can.

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: PCMarine
I'm inclined to say to just drive it as is and keep a close eye on the tire pressure.

Yeah, my pressure sensor goes off when it's >5 PSI off.

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: mooseracing
Depending on the size of the holw a plug patch works excellent. I've used them in many situations from small holes to railroad tie size holes and never had them leak. Sidewalls are tricky though. I've sealed some up that are 6" long, of course it was never used over 25mph but there was still alot of sidewall flex.

Its your car and your judgement, If its small enough i don't think i would worry but i would make it a spare or get some new tires when ya can.

I am not too worried about it right now. I just want it to last ~3 months, then I am going to change the tires out and see about powdercoating the rims black. The hole was the size of a needle. It took the guy ~5 minutes to even find it.


If I knew where it was at, I'd have used super glue on it...lol

 

[fbrdphreak]

Needle-sized and with a TPMS, I'd say keep it if you're only waiting 3 months or so to replace the tires outright.

Another thought is that after 3 months, your tires still shouldn't be down to the wear bars - so you'd have still perfectly usable tires. You could just sell all four tires now at a cheap price with a disclaimer, get some money out of them and upgrade your tires now. Either way sell them if they still have low miles, they're worth something.

 

[bruceb]

The tire should last you 3 months, unless you keep hitting potholes, curbs or other foreign
objects on NYC roads. A properly applied inside the tire patch will hold almost forever. The
tire inside gets buffed down and the patch is vulcanized in place. As to NY roads, I lost two tires
at the same time on the FDR Drive northbound under the 96th street overpass.

 

[SVT Cobra]

Speed rating is obviously void.

 

[bctbct]

Originally posted by: amdhunter


Car feels nice and smooth now. Maybe over the summer I'll replace the tires with some Goodyears and purchase warranty against potholes n stuff.

I recently just had the 6th Goodyear out of the last 8 purchased fail with a sidewall bubble. Cracked sidewallls, bad belts, bubble on 6 of 8 tires.

They will warranty them but it still cost close to $100 each time because of prorating, mount /balance fees.

I now have two vehicles that have a mixture of tires. Goodyear sucks.

 

[sniperruff]

Originally posted by: amdhunter

Originally posted by: woodie1
I gotta agree with the "replace the tire" people. Sidewalls constantly flex. If the rest of your tires only have 1600 miles on them you won't be able to tell the difference but you will have a safer car.

Yeah, I was thinking that same thing. I never had a hole on the side like that, always on the bottom. It was a really thick piece of rubber he put in there though. I just never really had it fixed from inside before, so I was worried.

I can't believe I already blew a tire...ugh. NYC sucks when it comes to potholes. I am usually good at avoiding them too.

I had wanted to change the tires anyway to something more sexy looking. I just want to wait till it starts warming up a bit first. Damned Winter.

oh yeah i was driving on FDR drive the other night... god damn does that road needs to be torn apart completely and repaved!

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: bruceb
The tire should last you 3 months, unless you keep hitting potholes, curbs or other foreign
objects on NYC roads. A properly applied inside the tire patch will hold almost forever. The
tire inside gets buffed down and the patch is vulcanized in place. As to NY roads, I lost two tires
at the same time on the FDR Drive northbound under the 96th street overpass.

I know exactly where you are talking about. I once lost 3 tires speeding on the Deegan, I hit back to back to back metal plates @ ~80MPH. Ugh.

Checked the tire this morning and no loss of pressure at all. I am gonna check again on the weekend.

 

[amdhunter]

Originally posted by: bctbct

Originally posted by: amdhunter


Car feels nice and smooth now. Maybe over the summer I'll replace the tires with some Goodyears and purchase warranty against potholes n stuff.

I recently just had the 6th Goodyear out of the last 8 purchased fail with a sidewall bubble. Cracked sidewallls, bad belts, bubble on 6 of 8 tires.

They will warranty them but it still cost close to $100 each time because of prorating, mount /balance fees.

I now have two vehicles that have a mixture of tires. Goodyear sucks.

?????

I thought it was a direct replacement, with almost no cost? Damn, that sucks. I wondered how they keep making money on that. What's prorating?

 

[bctbct]

Originally posted by: amdhunter

Originally posted by: bctbct

Originally posted by: amdhunter


Car feels nice and smooth now. Maybe over the summer I'll replace the tires with some Goodyears and purchase warranty against potholes n stuff.

I recently just had the 6th Goodyear out of the last 8 purchased fail with a sidewall bubble. Cracked sidewallls, bad belts, bubble on 6 of 8 tires.

They will warranty them but it still cost close to $100 each time because of prorating, mount /balance fees.

I now have two vehicles that have a mixture of tires. Goodyear sucks.

?????

I thought it was a direct replacement, with almost no cost? Damn, that sucks. I wondered how they keep making money on that. What's prorating?

The tire tread is measured (prorating) and you pay for what you used. Even road hazard is not free replacement with goodyear.

1/2 tire $50, $20 for mount and balance, tax, etc.

Right now I have

1 tire that has 75% tread and bubble in sidewall
1 tire approx 50% tread
2 tires 90% tread

I am going to take a loss now so I dont have to mess w/ GY and warranty bs anymore.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: woodie1
I gotta agree with the "replace the tire" people. Sidewalls constantly flex. If the rest of your tires only have 1600 miles on them you won't be able to tell the difference but you will have a safer car.

Agreed, which is why most tire places won't repair a tire with damage to the sidewall. I'm really surprised that you found a place that would do this actually.