REpairing car tyres

AFAIK it is ok to repair small holes within the centre three quarters of the tyre tread, so, nowhere near the edges basically or on the sides. Most tyres are relatively cheap nowadays, so very few repairs are done.

Mrcheerful

Garage in my town repaired my tyre, only done a few hundred miles on it though so was worth doing.

OTOH, I once had a set of tyres fitted on a Friday, got a puncture caused by a screw near the edge of the tread on Saturday morning, and had to by a replacement tyre on Saturday afternoon!

I tried three places, but they all refused to repair it.

Total mileage? Less than 20!

Chris

For personal use I would put a tube in and keep it as the spare, or use it up, depending on the car, but for a commercial outfit they can't take the risk.

Mrcheerful

It is only economically to repair pucntures that fall within the centre 3/4 of the tread. It is possible to repair certain punctures outwith that area, but very few people do it, as it requires specialist equipment and materials which are not commonly available.

I know that if it was my own tyre, I would repair it, but it's not a risk any company can take.

I wouldn't want to do this other to keep strictly as a spare, for two reasons: I've seen too many tubes damaged where they've rubbed on internal ribs; and by leaving a hole in the tyre, water can get in and damage the cords. And, of course, tubes may not be easily available for low profile tyres.

I believe there's a BS CP covering repairs, and this specifies which areas of the tyre can be repaired with headed plugs (basically, central area of tread), but I think it also forbids such repairs on some of the higher speed rated tyres and those of very low profile.

Any garage or tyre fitter going against the BS CP would, imho, be crazy. It wouldn't sound good in court.

Interesting, though, that many people who wouldn't dream of buying a secondhand tyre will quite cheerfully buy a secondhand car and run it without taking each tyre off and checking for wrongly-repaired punctures.

I had a similar experience a few years ago with an expensive V rated tyre, about 2 days after it was fitted.. A nail in the shoulder gave a slow puncture when removed. Lost about 2 psi a day.

When I showed the tyre Co's where the puncture was, they told me it was irrepairable. Not to be beaten, I took the tyre off, bought a cycle puncture outfit, and repaired it myself, figuring that the worst that could happen was that it might come off and I'd have a slow puncture again. It cured the leak but I kept a close eye on the pressure for the next few weeks. No problem. After that I just checked the pressures of all the tyres in the normal way. The patch lasted until the tyre was worn out 22k later.

I deliberately used a cycle patch, because they are thin and IMO would be less likely to come off due to the flexing of the tyre.

Just goes to show. You don't always have to accept what you're told. Mike.

They are not allowed to because they don't make as much as selling a new tyre or two, then shock absorbers, then brakes and a backbox! My local Nation Tyres does tyre repairs but they put it on the invoice as "wheel balancing x4". A Kwik Fit I went to repaired one tyre but just took a fiver and stuck it in his pocket which is fine by me! There is no law concerning repairing tyres at the moment as a colleague has had a repair carried out by Masterfit.

Just remembered, it's the central 90% of the tread (the repair has got to fall within the tread re-inforcing plys)

"PREMA Radial Repairs are designed for use in the crown, sidewall and shoulder of radial tyres"

It is against the relevant british standard to fit a tube to a tubeless tyre, plus it's likely to puncture as you've said, and will deflate rapidly upon being punctured (a major benefit of tubeless tyres is they deflate slowly once punctured, unless it happens to be a major puncture) The holes in the tread is not that major an issue. If you look carefully at your average tyre, you'll most likely find holes/cuts that go as far as the cords on the tread. Technically all these holes/cuts should be plugged, but it's not a legal requirement (you're allowed cuts upto 6mm long IIRC within the prescribed area for car tyres). If the cords do become damaged, then the damage will most likely become apparent as a vibration long before the tyre blows out.

You can carry out a repair within the central 90% of the tread on any tyre. The profile and speed rating makes no difference.

They would be. Certainly anybody who had carried out a paying repair not in accordance with the BS, would have a lot of explaining to do.

I would never buy a second hand tyre, and would always check any second hand car purchases for any obvious tyre defects (cuts, bulges etc)

You seemed to missed the little bit "Always fill the injury channel with the appropriate Prema repair material", ie the patch is only one part of the repair. Repairs outwith the presicribed area have to be hot vulcanised, which requires specialist equipment, and it's not a cheap repair.

So a repair can be made outside the central 90% then, doh!

It's not BS approved on the higher speed rated tyres.

Strange, we fit plug patches to motorcycle tyres 6 days a week. All repairs are to BS standard, as are the repairs to car and van tyres - irrespective of speed rating.

The BS standard was changed a good few years back now, and speed rating limitations were removed, along with the maximum permissable number of repairs.

It used to be you could only carry out two repairs, or less depending onthe tyre rating, but now you can carry out as many as you want, provided no two repairs overlap, and that there is no visible damage (ie. sidewall damage from having been run flat or sat flat, any exposed cords, or any visible distortion to the tyre when inflated).

The people who usually quote the old limits, are those who stand to benefit from doing so.