so I kept the tire. in retrospect I wouldn't have minded plugging it and see what would have happened. but heard from more than one person now that since it's close to the wall it may have bubbled out. it cost me about $150 to get the new tire, not too bad.
That's what I would have done. Patch the inside, then put in a radial tube. Fixed many of them that way....
Because they'd rather sell you a tire. A tube is about $20, a patch $1. They make more off of a tire than a repair....
With a tube I wouldn't even bother with a patch. A couple decades ago I removed my snow tires, put my summer tires (radials) on my car, lowered the jack, and the tires instantly went flat! These had been stored in my garage all winter just leaning against a wall. Changed back to the snows and took the leaky tires to the tire store for repair. Guy filled them up with air, put them in the water tub, and then called me out to the shop. Each tire had about nine small holes in the sidewall. He said he'd never seen anything like that before and I had no idea what had happend. He put radial tubes in and they held up fine for years. When I got home I noticed a couple pieces of plywood against the wall, each with about nine small finishing nails driven through them. Seems my 8 year old son had nailed the plywood to my tires and then pulled it back off...
I would also put a patch on it if I did use it with a tube. That would help insure that the hole wouldn't cause trouble with the tube. Sometimes there is a wire that pokes into the direction of the puncture. When these wires are damaged that's when the tire can get the seperations. I used to slice use old innertubes and line the spoke wheels on my bicycles cause I found them dang spokes would sometimes poke my tubes. Kinda the same concept.
That's funny, and it isn't...... I once drove over a 2X4 with about 6 long nails in it, as I would drive the truck would shake, I pulled over to see what was wrong, but the spot with the 2X4 was up in the wheel well, so I couldn't see it, so I drove down the road, and around the corner, till the tire went flat...then I found the 2X4, cost me $60 for a new tire, and I was only making $4/hr.... was 16...
LOL, I would have needed nine patches in each tire. IIRC my old tires had fiberglass belts, maybe that's why the guy just stuffed tubes in em.
I have plugged holes in my tires in that location and never have any problems. I've benn driving for 30 years. Have any of you doomsday "tire gonna explode" guys ever seen that happen WITH YOUR OWN EYES? Didn't think so. The do it yourself plugs work well. The garages all used to do them but are all afraid of lawsuits.. the rest of you are just fraidy cats.
As a matter of fact, Yes I have seen tire shred because of plugging tires that close to the sidewall. That is the location where the steal belts end and the sidewall belts start. The reason has alot to do with lawsuits, but the main reason is that is what the tire manufacturers recommend. Working in a tire store we replace probably 2 or 3 a week because of this. Most of the people we serve buy a road hazard on their tires so it hurts us more to replace them when they come in in this condition. It costs an average of $7 to $14 dollars for the road hazard and when you replace a $150 tire it has an effect on profit. We are glad to replace the tire because we do care about our customers and their families, not to mention they would be driving on the same roads as our families. The last thing I am going to say about this is Think about the cargo you are caring in your vehicles. Is your family's safety worth $150? Why take the chance. I know I cant replace one of my children for $150. Its all about perspective!
I know you are not supposed to, but I have patched (inside) tires like that without any issues. Its bareley a hole if it leaks that little. a patch will not make it leak worse or break belts. Get another one like it and take pictures while you smoke the crap out of them, there by adding a nice thick black undercoating to your lower quarters. Post cool pictures on forum. There, now it didn't get wasted.
tire repair i own a tire shop and we are asked can we patch a sidewall and the answer is no the reasoning behind not patching is the tire might fail and who need that responsibility so we take the path of least resistance , now for the real world yes we patch some side wall .we use our experience and knowledge.
