I have a nail in my passenger rear tire and it's located near the sidewall. I took it to a tire shop and they said that they could repair it but wouldn't trust the plug. They recommended buying a new tire but could see that I have a lot of tread left on these tires. They did check and the tire isn't leaking any air but I have to go on a 10hr road trip with this car and don't know whether or not I should trust this. The tire guy even said that he would trust for 10hrs since it wasn't leaking. It isn't leaking now and I don't know exactly how long this nail has been in my tire. Let me know what you guys think.

 

i just found a 1+ inch nail in my tire, my grandfather just plugged it. i rather have a nice plug in the tire rather than a nail.

 

Now that you've noticed the nail in the tire, get it fixed.....find an ol' service station to plug it....they'll do it right....The tire shop wants to sell you a set really once you return with their leaky plug

 

Actually if the nail is less then 1" from the side wall it is very dangerous to plug this and you really should get a new tire to replace it. Highway driving can be affected with a puncture that close to the side of the tire. The tire can blow at on you at any time. Better safe then sorry!!!

 

Last year the same thing happened to me, One day I noticed this cut off nail sticking through my rear right tire, and decided to just leave it there (2 months old tire), Once in a while I had to pump some air on it, but it didn't give me any major headache, making around 1000 miles a week.
My advise would be to go ahead and make that trip with the spare tire well inflated in the trunk just in case. And if it blows (not probable), well, at least you tried...

 

plug it - if that nail leans over and rubs against the sidewall, you're going to wind up with a hole in the sidewall and replace the tire anyway. At least a rubber plug can't cut into the sidewall from the inside.

 

If it was in the middle of the tire, then I'd say that they're just trying to sell you tires, but Cruisin' is right - it's dangerous by the sidewall. You need to get a new tire.

 

As the tire heats up over 10hrs, I imagine it could expand enough and the nail could fall out. I'd just replace the tire(s).

 

whoa, replace that tire. you are lucky that you found the nail. i was driving my family minus my dad in my sisters car on the freeway when the tire all of a sudden blew out. at freeway speeds it becomes very hard to control, especially on an interchange with no emergency lane. it took a lot of strenth to keep the car in a straight line. so whats a hundred bucks when you are playing with a nessessity on a car? after i got pulled over and put the spare on i took a look at the tire. guess what, there was a whole in the tire about one half inches from the sidewall and a whole in the side wall where the nail decided to punch through. besided, not to dis your car, you never said what kind of tires, so i assume they are probably like the ones that i am running, which are the off brand 50 buck ones. i would just replace them.

 

Yeah, seriously - don't BS about it. I know you don't want to spend the money but it really is dangerous. It's not worth risking it.

 

new tire...

and i seriously feel your pain about replacing a almost new tire.



in the past 2 years, ive gone thru EIGHT $200 each rear tires for my motorcycle.


EVERY ONE OF THEM WAS FROM A 4" or longer self tapping screw!!

i got 2 in dallas.... 5 in various parts of south carolina and 1 in north carolina.

every time, i had to get a new tire.


what really sucks is they were all almost new....

 

well correction..... past 3 years was 8...... past 2 years was "only" 7

 

Plug it. Its in the tread and 99 times out of a hundred, the plug will seal it and no harm comes to the tire. I've done this tens of tires and ALWAYS had good luck.

Goto an auto parts store and buy the plug kit. Easy fix.

Now if you are really worried about the 1% happening to you, get the tire patched. A shop will need to remove the tire and patch it from the inside.

 

Now with a bike, YES! You gotta have near perfect tires.

 

hehe, now that you mention it..


yes, tire number 8 does have a patch plug in it....... it was just to get me home...



i dont have the money for a new tire right now (well i do, but im spending it on my welder)

so im just going to wait...... no high speed backroad fun for now..... just a lil in city putting around to keep my sanity.... (my bike keeps me sane)





edit:

for thoes that dont know, a patch plug is this:

you take the tire off

you ream out the hole to a specific size...
you ruff up the INSIDE of the tire around the hole
from the INSIDE you push this plug out.. you then pull it thru from the outside... on the bottom of the plug, stuck inside is a big patch (hence the name patch plug.)

the big patch is what seals it, while the plug fills the hole.

 

my wonderful pic of a patchplug:



(kinda reminds me of thoes big mexican hats, except with a really tall center)

 

Thanks to all who gave me your comments. I tried another tire shop and they told me that they would leave it as is again. They didn't try to sell me a tire. I'm trying to get a new tire but doesn't look like I will have it before Sunday. Wish me luck if I go on this 10hr trip.