NAIL in tire

[barbaram]

Found a nail in my hydroedges on monday-

Went back to BJ's and the replacement is basically free with 12,000 miles on the tire-(hard to believe I've driven that much since February!)
It is barely leaking air and I want to keep the tire for a spare.
Can it be fixed? BJ's said NO but the guy at the auto parts store said it should be able to be plugged. It's really one of the smallest nails I've ever seen!

I guess I can just keep it with the nail ?

[silentak1]

Ouch, that's the edge. Most shops won't fix anything along the edges, they only consider flats repairable if they are along the main thread leaving out about 1" of edge thread.

There are questionable places that will do it for ya but it's up to you! May not be safe but the Hydroedge isn't a cheap tire to replace. It's your life.

[Pinto Girl]

Agreed; it seems that's a bit too far onto the sidewall to be patched safely.

I'm not sure if my info is still current, but it used to be that taking off the tire and patching it from inside was best. The plug, on the other hand, is supposed to vulcanize itself to the tire with heat from driving...but it doesn't always happen that way.

Wondering if it won't get hot enough to melt the plug material since it's rather far away from the tread...?

Again, this is mostly speculation on my part.



One more thing...have you actually pulled out the nail to see if it's leaking? You might have lucked out out and it didn't penetrate the carcass of the tire.

Pull it out, put a little spit in the hole to see if it's leaking (it'll bubble if it is) and then either be happy you lucked out or put it back in the hole and decide what you're going to do.

[dragonfly]

Wait, can you explain - what is BJ's? Is that your dealer?

I had a flat tire after 1500 miles. Yes, that's 1500, not 15,000! I put on the spare & drove it to a tire-fixing-place, who replaced it for, I dunno, $100 or so. They said there was a tear in the sidewall, probably caused by me driving into a pothole. Now, notice I live in So. Cal. There are no potholes here. But anyhow, they said it it not a warrantee-covered thing, and I would have to buy the new tire. So I did. Did I get rooked?

Silly me, I didn't even try going to the dealer's. I just believed the guys at the tire-fixing place.

[JimboK]

I was in the tire business in the early 1980s, and at the time our philsophy was what Pinto Girl states: patching from the inside is superior to plugging. We never plugged tires. Furthermore, as silentak1 suggests, we didn't try to patch holes on or near the sidewall like yours. The thought process is that the patch may not hold due to the constant stresses of the sidewall flexing.

Though tire repair technology may have changed a lot since then, a recent experience of mine suggests these practices haven't. I picked up a nail in one of my tires and took it to a Goodyear dealer just last week (OEM Integrity). It was not as close to the sidewall as yours, but the dealer said it was unrepairable. Fortunately, 2005s still have road hazard coverage, so I'm expecting Toyota to reimburse me for the new tire.

Also as silentak1 suggests, with the price of the Michelin, I might possibly consider keeping it for a spare and find someone who will plug it (not hard to find, as you've evidently discovered). But I would think long and hard about that. If you do that, make sure you check the pressure regularly. Most don't check the spare tire as frequently as those on the ground. Even without a hole in the spare, folks often discover it's flat at the least opportune times! I'd say if you have road hazard coverage, which it appears you do if BJs will replace it, then replace it.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dragonfly @ Oct 12 2006, 09:02 PM) [snapback]332055[/snapback]</div>

But anyhow, they said it it not a warrantee-covered thing, and I would have to buy the new tire. So I did. Did I get rooked?
[/b]

Probably not. Though it might not have been a pothole, it almost certainly was a road hazard of some sort: a curb, large rock, piece of metal, etc. Most tire warranties do not cover road hazards.

[c4]

Pintogirl- a bit of misinformation on your part: patches and plugs do not rely on temperature to "vulcanize" (which is actually an incorrect use of the term- vulcanization is actually the process of cross-linking the isoprene molecules so that they become a much more durable product that in fact does *not* melt under heat). In any case, even if tire rubber were unvulcanized, any temperature that was sufficient to fuse the patch/plug rubber to the native tire rubber would also cause the rest of the tire to melt, so obviously this is not the process that is occuring..

As mentioned several times both by yourself and others, plug-only repairs are generally not recommended with radials. Acceptable repairs are done with internal patches, but the best type are actually plug-patches, ie, an internal patch with an integral plug that looks kind of like an umbrella or a mushroom, but instead of the rubber fusing together by heat, instead, what's happening is a mechanical bond help by some chemistry, ie, glue..

The repair requires drilling out the hole caused by the nail and ensuring that the belt material does not intrude and cut the plug, and on the inside of the tire, the surface around the puncture is roughened up to improve the quality of the bond. Then the glue (which is basically a fancy rubber cement) is applied to both the tire and plug-patch and allowed to dry, then a puller is inserted from the outside of the tire, through the drilled out nail hole, and is used to pull the plug end of the plug-patch up through the hole until the patch makes contact with the inside of the tire wall at which time a roller is used to firmly bond the patch down to the inside of the tire, and after some extra drying time , the excess plug portion is cut off and the tire is mounted back on its rim and the repair is complete.

As for the original question- if the tire store wants to give you a new tire, I'd take it and ask for the old tire back, then you can take the old tire to some other place and ask for it to be patched. The location being right on the very edge of the tread is questionable, but it should be fine if you're just going to use it as a spare.

[dragonfly]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimboK @ Oct 13 2006, 06:32 AM) [snapback]332174[/snapback]</div>

Fortunately, 2005s still have road hazard coverage, so I'm expecting Toyota to reimburse me for the new tire.
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Probably not. Though it might not have been a pothole, it almost certainly was a road hazard of some sort: a curb, large rock, piece of metal, etc. Most tire warranties do not cover road hazards.
[/b]

So I'm confused... you say Toyota will probably reimburse you for a road hazzard thing, but later you say road hazzards are not covered. Sorry but I'm feeling really dense! Is it something the 2005s covered, but the 2006s don't?

[JimboK]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dragonfly @ Oct 13 2006, 10:51 AM) [snapback]332240[/snapback]</div>

So I'm confused... you say Toyota will probably reimburse you for a road hazzard thing, but later you say road hazzards are not covered. Sorry but I'm feeling really dense! Is it something the 2005s covered, but the 2006s don't?
[/b]

Sorry, I should have been a little more clear. It's the tire manufacturers that don't typically cover road hazards. When you have such coverage, it's usually from whom you've bought the tires, such as a tire dealer or, in my case, the car manufacturer. It's often an option you can choose to pay extra for at a tire dealer.

You're correct regarding the model year. Toyota included Roadside Assistance, which included road hazard coverage for tires, up to and including the 2005 model year, but not beyond.

[dragonfly]

Gotcha - thanks for the explanation!

[Pinto Girl]

Thanks for the clarification about how the plug works. I had a feeling I was misusing 'vulcanize' but didn't know for sure. Also, the comment about the sidewall flexing, I could see how that would make a repair lots more difficult. Veeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrry Interesting.