Hi all. After some spirited driving, I get out of my car in the garage and see that there is a screw in the front left tire. The tire is not deflated at all, and after attempting to nudge the screw out of the tire, with no sucess. I was just curious what i should do? should i order a new tire and then replace it, or should i pull out the screw? also how many miles do i have left on this tire? thanks

 

It al depends on where the screw is and how bad/big the hole is....A patch should be fine if it is not too bad

 

If it has penetrated the inside of the tire, An internal patch should fix it. If the screw is on or near the sidewall, trash the tire.

 

Normally, I would recommend that you take it to Discount Tire and let them fix it at no charge...

But...

I'm just not sure I'd trust them with my Porsche. I guess it depends on your local Discount Tire shop... if it is a good clean shop with mechanics who care, then perhaps you should try them... but I view this as somewhat risky just because I don't know if I would trust them with MY car; makes it difficult for me to recommend them to you. This being said; I have NEVER had any problems at Discount Tire with ANY of my other vehicles, and I've been buying tires from them for 20 some odd years.

The next thing you could do is plug the tire yourself from the outside... with a radial tire plug (purchase the kit)... the drawback to this approach is; do you really want to risk having a tire problem at 198 mph because you didn't do a good job with the patch?

And last but not least, you could take it to a dealership and have them fix it for a large fee (probably).

I'm actually not sure what I'd do.... but I think that I would probably take the tire off myself, drag it down to Discount Tire and let them fix it... making sure they understand how expensive my rims are by talking to the manager up front and showing him/her that they are PERFECT and I need them back that way... and I'd probably tell them that I'm willing to pay for the repair just because I'm asking them to be EXTRA careful with my tire/rim assembly.

PS... as somone else already said, if the screw is in the sidewall OR on the rounded edge of the tire; pitch the tire out and get a new one... and if someone tells you they can repair it; RUN AWAY fast.

Kind Regards,

Joe West

 

Let me tell you, in Chicago, tire companies making a living patching tires. Construction always going on and in Chicago we have alleys which is where our garages are. Happens all the time. Take your wheels to a place that has experience mounting large tires/wheels and have them patch it. It will be fine, I just had to do it last week and my gf has had to do it 3 times in her car.

-Lou


BTW--consider yourself lucky that the screw wouldn't come out. You are lucky it stayed in the tire otherwise you would be sitting at the side of the road with a flat. If the screw/nail has penetrated the tire, always leave it in until you can get to a tire shop and get it patched

 

patching would work if the screw is not on or near sidewall.

don't pull it yet!!! u mignt still be able to drive around a bit, at least to the shop.

 

I don't trust shops to lift my car...but I'm ****...and paranoid! So if you have the tire repaired, use the little worm gear jack in your car and pop the tire yourself. Then you know you've got the correct jack point, protected your bolts and have torqued the tire correctly when you re-install it. You also know to put the same bolts in the same holes so you don't injure the threads. How's that for **** retentive!

PS: You also get a chance to clean the inside of your wheel and the wheel well!

 

a good patch is ok if you run generally velow 120-ish. if you do any sustained high speed running, above 120, replace the tyre.

 

I couldn't find a place on Saturday to patch so i plugged the tire for the day and will order a new tire. Do not patch a tire on a turbo car if you drive hard. Replace the tire and cut your loss-at least that's what i'm doing

 

MWILENS,

Very well said. When it comes down to it, what's your life / car worth?