tire puncture in treaded area

As long as it is in the tread belt, there are no real problems except maybe the size of the hole. I recently had a flat fixed that had been slowing losing air (had to fill it about once a month) I did not use vehcile daily and it would sit for weeks at a time on occaision so I let it go. Recenty it started to leak faster so I went to have it repaired and they found a nail near edge of tread that was long worn down (I had made a trip to Colorado with it that way a few years ago so I knew tire was sound otherwise) They told me that it could not be patched and that I needed a new tire though it had 75% tread still so I took it home and patched it myself and had it remoted and balanced and I have had no problems with it as it does not leak a bit now and it has made a 1000 mile trip since then too.

----------------- The SnoMan

Tread area only, no closer than 1/2 inch to edge of tread area. Speed rated tires lose rating when repaired. The only approved way to repair a tire is to dismount it, through inspection, and the use of a patch/plug combination. Its a patch with a plug applied from inside. The patch provides the air seal, and the plug seals the injury to keep moisture and debris out of the belt area. Steel belts have a habit of cutting plugs as they flex and then the tire goes flat.. No tire driven on flat should be repaired. any signs of cracking in the side wall area or blistering in the liner area rule the tire repair out. Repairing damage closer to the edges is not a good idea as the steel belt may be damaged.

Here's a good link from Continental Tires

automobile/themes/contiacademy/drivers_ed/tire_repair_en.pdf Dunlap says Everything you ever wanted to know about tires Whitelightning

THis really depend on the type of hole as there is no hard set rule here as this implies. A smal nail hole 1/4 inch from tread belt edge will do less damage to tire than a 1/4" bolt in center of it. (I had this happen once with a new tire on a import and I did plug it and run it 40k miles with no problems) Also I have mixed views on plugs or plig/patch combos because sometimes you can do more damage then the punture did by reaming the hole out for a plug. Most nail holes do fine with just a radial patch with plugs or plug patches being reserved for bigger holes.

----------------- The SnoMan

All tires are different. PA State Saftey Inspection Code states no sidewall repair. Most tires are very clear as to what is tread and what is sidewall. If in question, stay on the safe side and call it unrepairable. I deal in only 5 or 6 different style tires, all have wear bars. I dont repair tread outside the wear bars by choice.

I h>Does anyone have some guidance, or rule of thumb, about how close a

I looked at several of the tire manufacturer's web sites, and they all said pretty much the same thing. The following is from

:

"Is it safe to repair a flat tire?

"If a tire loses all or most of its air pressure, it must be removed from the wheel for a complete internal inspection to be sure it's not damaged. Tires that are run even short distances while flat are often damaged beyond repair. Most punctures, nail holes, or cuts up to 1/4 inch -- confined to the tread -- may be satisfactorily repaired by trained personnel using industry-approved methods. Don't repair tires with tread punctures larger than 1/4 inch, or any sidewall puncture. Also, never repair tires which are worn below 1/16 inch tread depth. Your best bet is to make sure your spare tire is always ready to do the job. Check it regularly for proper air pressure and be sure that it is in good shape. If your car is equipped with one of the several types of temporary spares, be sure to check the spare tire's sidewall for the correct inflation pressure, speed, and mileage limitations. See Goodyear retailer for expert tire repair."

The "tread area" is defined as the area between the inside edges of the grooves on either side of the tire (i.e., the tread area does not include the outer most tread block on the edge of the tire). See

for a picture defining the tread area. The text associated with the picture follows:

"This graphic indicates that puncture repairs are limited to the tread area as generally depicted in the graphic. DO NOT make repairs where the injury damage extends into the shoulder/belt edge area OR where the injury extends at an angle into the shoulder area. If there is any question that the injury extends into the shoulder/belt edge area, then the tire must be scrapped."

You might also want to look at:

Silicone is a bad choice here as it will not bond to rubber well. If tire is off rim, get a radila patch and install it inside tire and be done with it.

----------------- The SnoMan

Ok yea, thank you, and others, very much for all the info. Searching didn't seem to get me into the technical stuff.

That chart must be the reason why the shop claimed un-repairable. It's between the edge of the tread and the area in the chart marked as "puncture repair area". I'm guessing about 3/4 inch from the tread edge and 1/2 inch from the puncture repair area - and between ribs. It's a small puncture. Although from the Michelin web page link, the damage location is "is only in the tread section of your tire" - which it is.

I'm planning on sealing the nail in with some silicone. If it doesn't stop the air leak then I'll try another shop for repair. I'm thinking the problems begin when the nail comes out.

The mechanic also indicated that it was the side flexing (I assumed he met: during corners) that prevents a patch from lasting. If that's the case then moving the tire to the back should take care of that.

I dont think moving it to the back will take care of your problem, I personally would not keep that tire if it has a nail within an inch of the side wall. I have had about 14 years exp.in the tire business and I have seen alot of people that just didnt want to believe that there tire was bad, dont risk your life over a tire, just replace it or make it your spare if you have a full size spare. Be safe. :]

Over the past 25 years i've not had a single problem repairing them RIGHT ON the sidewall. I believe it's a fabrication of lies by the tire manufacturers to sell more tires. At worst, a patch and a tube will allow the tire to live out it's tread.

steve

Its a liability issue and nothing more. Given the increased flexibility of radial tire sidewalls (as opposed to bias ply sidewalls) a plug has a much greater chance of not holding seal. This can result in tire failure due to several causes. Catastrophic air loss, excessive heat due to low inflation condition, etc... The standards set by the tire manufacturers are guidelines for retailers to protect the mfgr first and the tire shop second. Dave D

Yea, I was thinking it was a liability issue as well. Then I started to think that it could be that the shop doesn't won't to fix the flat multiple times - just say no, LOL.

I pulled the nail out today. Nothing happened. Air did not start coming out. I had planned on sealing the nail in with silicone today but it was too short and stubby to do that. Apparently it just barely got through to the inner tube seal. It was a slow air leak.

So I let 99.9% of the air out and then stuffed some super glue through the hole with a toothpick. I almost got the toothpick stuck :-( Then I let all the air out, let it sit for while, and then filled the hole with super glue. Then let it set for awhile to soak in. After 30 minutes I "kicked it" with a super glue accelerator (a required step).

Inflated to 35 lbs and drove around town doing errands all afternoon. Pressure is still 35 lbs.

Any guesses as to how long it will take before it will start leaking air ? ?

I know the power of super glue, having built many RC model airplanes with it, but with a tire - I have no idea if this is going to work. My guess is that if I got the inner tube rubber to touch each other when I kicked it - the problem is solved. The super glue around the outer tread area should break off / wear off. The inner tube rubber should give (flex) and the super glue joint (puncture point) should be stronger than the inner tube rubber. If the inner tube glue joint doesn't hold, then start over with a more standard method :-)

On Fri, 26 May 2006 23:13:02 -0600, - HAL9000 rearranged some electrons to form:

By the time you did all of that, you could have fixed it correctly with a tire repair, not some mucked up super glue repair.

OK, now I know this is a joke.

If you gotta ask, ask your local tire store. If the tire can be fixed, they'll fix it. I've seen more places try to fix a bad tire than refuse to fix a good one.