Can This Tire Be Patched?

That looks like good news. If the tire store goes by this rule then I should be in good shape.

Thanks,
Bruce

I've repaired a couple tires with similar punctures in the same area using one of those plug kits. Each tire has at least 15K miles on it since then, including miles at speeds up to 70 mph. The car is a mid-size sedan.

I just had the tire store tell me the same thing. I had them put on my spare and went to a flat shop; they fixed it without hesitation. I have been hauling pretty heavy loads in my pickup since and have not had any trouble. The screw in mine was in the exact same spot.

Don't worry about it too much unless you are going to be traveling in the boonies.

It's repairable.

When I did a lot of desert exploring in the 70/80/'s I carried a selection of 1/2 inch long sheet metal screws and used these as emergency tire patches. They worked amazingly well. As an experiment, I left one screw in a tire for 10,000 miles and it never leaked. The head just wore off.

(Not recommended for normal highway use by sane people)

They call it DIY studded tires. :)

Great for the sand!

The last place I worked at we would get railroad spikes buried all the way to their heads in tires all the time and they had no trouble patching them.

I still have my first one as I kept it for a souvenir!

Thanks to all.

When I stopped by the tire shop yesterday the manager said that it was on the border line and maybe they could patch it and maybe they couldn't. It is helpful to know that I should stand my ground on patching the tire.

Thanks,
Bruce

You've already received so much great advice I feel a little silly adding anything, but since I took the time what the heck. As long as there is no damage to the steel belt patching that tire will not be a problem.

Yes, I know that the guy in the tire store is the expert. I also know that he makes more money by telling me bad news. I'm just looking for other opinions (about the tire).

This reminds me of Doctor whom I visited for cold treatment. He gave me medicine and also asked me to go through other 10 clinical tests from particular lab, where he could get his cut. I told him there is another lab near by my house then he said "if you are o.k with medicine given by me then no tests required" I got the point and have never visited him again.

Unless the rubber has been slashed on its side walls, it can always be repaired by patching.. Vulcanized patching using adhesive+heat is a much preferred way, a lot better process as compared to just plain use of glued patch or plugs. It hardly affects the balancing of the tire. If you want peace of mind by doubling your safety factor, you can always buy and install a matching inner rubber tube (similar to a bicycle tire) which will insure those patched areas are not going to fail and leak. Good luckire

The tyre is fully repairable (as you already now know!), some countries require a "mushroom" shaped plug that can only be inserted from inside the tyre, Germany is one, I am not sure about the UK.

Some countries like Italy for example, use a thick piece of hard rubber "cord", that is placed in a giant needle, then covered in a type of liquid rubber glue and is pushed into the tyre through the hole a certain distance and then pulled out, leaving a loop inside the tyre I believe. The extra outside is cut off flush with the tread.

I have a tyre patched in this way (it took about a minute) about 7 years ago in Italy, on my caravan, it does not lose air or give any other problems......

There is a video on Youtube showing this type of repair on a motor cycle tyre here:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz5m2KCbLT8

Let's get this straight from the get-go, shall we?

First off, to properly repair this you need to have the fastener removed and a plug install through the tire. It's not a patch.

Just saying....

Tire Repair: Patch vs Plug - Auto Repair - About.com

I've been driving for over 50 years. During that time, tire repair encompassed everything from "hot" patches for inner tubes, done on the farm by hand to present day "take it to the shop" repairs.

In all that time, using all the technologies that have come along since, I have only had one professionally repaired tire fail. That was actually more a leak than a failure. That one was performed by a Chevy dealership.

For the last 30 years I've been using a product made in florida that is a heavy cotton string with a black raw rubber that is inserted with a needle, twisted 1&1/2 turns and cut flush. It cures into the tire from the heat of driving and after curing cannot be pulled out. The largest hole repaired with this material by me was a shale cut that I could stick my finger through. I inserted about 20 strands and drove it another 2 years. Best thing for repairing tubeless tires.

I had a tire with a nail in the 'red' section of the tread. NTW would not repair it as being too dangerous. I took it to a service station. The nail didn't even go through. They pulled out the nail and the leak detect solution didn't even bubble. They let me go with no charge. 20,000 miles later the tire is still on the car. I have had tires plugged in the 'red' of the tread before and never experienced any problems.

I will never go to NT&B for a tire repair.

The hole can be plugged. I had a hole in the red zone, pretty much into the sidewall that could not be plugged, the rubber is too thin there. I took it to a shop that patches on the inside. It cost twenty bucks, but the tire was almost new. That kind of professional repair can save a tire.

Like mentioned, if the damage hasn't ruined the steel belting, it probably can be fixed. Tubes are always good, but serious damage should be fixed first, if it's more than a simple puncture. My damage was from driving over a broken bottle at the dump.

I had a similar last spring, only mine was a nail. It wasn’t problem for a plug.

Had the same problem on my truck. The guy in the tire shop did the combination plug/patch because one of my General tires grabbers got a big nail. If the nail was just smaller, a plug will work fine.