Nail in tire! Halp!

Straygatsby

So the rear right tire of my 2007 Corolla looked a little low the other day (and the pressure sensor went off) and while refilling it I noticed the head of what looks like a nail entrenched between the treads. I only noticed this after a couple of hot days presumably upped the pressure in the tire, because it's been a few cold ones, and the pressure hasn't changed since I've refilled it. That said, obviously I can't ride around with a slow leaking tire with a nail in it.

My normal impulse is to just get it swapped out, eat the cost, and not get my hands dirty or waste my time, but I'm tempted to try out one of those patch kits/plug kits from a pep boys/autozone type-o-place first. Have any of you fine folks had any experience with them? Will they hold up for a few years if applied correctly and are they applicable by a guy who is very, very much not a car guy. I mean, seriously, I can change a flat, but that's it.

Lanchester

I've never used the self-patch stuff, so I can't speak to that. I recently had a similar situation.

Is your nail in the middle of the tire? If so, you will be able to patch it. If not, you will probably need a new tire. I took mine to get it patched and it only cost me $20

edit: just re-read your OP. If the nail is in the middle of a tread, you should be able to patch it. Unless it is a tread very close to the side of the tire.

see317

Do you have a Discount Tires nearby?
The ones down here will generally patch a hole like that for free, or nearly free. They've got the tools to do it quickly, the materials cost is pennies and it's great for building customer loyalty (I've been buying my tires from them for the past 13 years because they replaced a valve stem on my first car for free).

If you've got a nail in the side of the tire, yeah, it's got to be replaced. But in the treads should be easily patchable, provided that you haven't been driving it when the tire is way low.

Neyla

If you live in canada, Kal-Tire fixed 3 of my tires for free that had nails in them. Yay for construction sites!

If not call around. It shouldn't be too expensive to get a tire patched at a garage/tire place. Probably save you alot of grief in the long run if your not too sure what your doing.

adytum

Where exactly is it on the tire tread? Punctures anywhere near the wall can't be fixed, solid tread punctures can.

At least around here (in the states) most tire places won't repair tires due to liability concerns. However, you can pick up a kit for a few dollars at an auto store. The process of fixing a puncture is quick and easy (though you'll get your hands dirty).

adytum

The actual steps involved are:

1) removing the nail

2) scouring the hole with a file

3) plugging the hole with a piece of cloth covered in tar, using a special tool (that will come with the kit)

It's really, really easy.

Also, if your tires have any meaningful amount of miles on them you shouldn't replace just one, and tire places may in fact refuse to do so. Better to plug it and drive until they all need to be replaced.

Gilbert0

Neyla wrote:

If you live in canada, Kal-Tire fixed 3 of my tires for free that had nails in them. Yay for construction sites!

If not call around. It shouldn't be too expensive to get a tire patched at a garage/tire place. Probably save you alot of grief in the long run if your not too sure what your doing.

Like Neyla said, depending on who you call / goto, a nail in a tire is REALLY easy to fix and they'll do it for free or very very cheap (like $20).

Call around and see.

Draygo

@adytum

I dont find that to be true. There are at least 3 places within a 5 minutes drive of my house that will fix a tire. Fixing a tire is cheap, even if you have someone else do it, much cheaper than replacing the tire. Tires eating nails really isnt that uncommon.

adytum

It's certainly going to be different in different places. I've had a difficult time trying to find anywhere around here willing to patch a tire, so I eventually just started doing it myself. It's really a trivial process, even with no experience or skill.

Djeet

I've used self-patch kits and they work fine, assuming it's all tread damage and no sidewall damage. If you're going this route I'd get a kit that has a pistol grip (like this) rather than the traditional screwdriver grip as you'll have to push in hard to get the plug in.

Septus

adytum wrote:

Also, if your tires have any meaningful amount of miles on them you shouldn't replace just one, and tire places may in fact refuse to do so. Better to plug it and drive until they all need to be replaced.

Just this last monday I had to get a new tire because of a flat. I think the place said replacing just one, instead of two tires, was ok if they were within 2/32nds of each other. I'm assuming you're using old here as a proxy for tread, since that will wear over time. Does this sound reasonable?

Also, when I took it in, it was determined that the tire had been too low on pressure, either initially when punctured, or because I drove on a punctured and slow-leaking tire for 2-3 days, and so it tore a hole in the inner liner or something.

I don't know what you need to do to test this. Perhaps there's nothing to do but try to plug it, and watch to see if it stays inflated?

Straygatsby

The nail is dead center, as far from the walls as can be, so that's a positive. They are relatively new tires, but I didn't like the place I got them from (gave me a hassle about replacing one of the four that blew out about 3 hours after we drove off the lot). Perhaps taking it to a Midas or other semi-reputable chain would only cost be 20 or 30 bucks and save me the hassle?

Thanks for the thoughts people!

MushroomStick

Take it to any tire place and ask for a patch. They should take the tire off the rim and repair it from the inside. That'll be better than any plug and by me, it only costs about $20.

ArbitraryDescriptor

Septus wrote:

adytum wrote:

Also, if your tires have any meaningful amount of miles on them you shouldn't replace just one, and tire places may in fact refuse to do so. Better to plug it and drive until they all need to be replaced.

Just this last monday I had to get a new tire because of a flat. I think the place said replacing just one, instead of two tires, was ok if they were within 2/32nds of each other. I'm assuming you're using old here as a proxy for tread, since that will wear over time. Does this sound reasonable?

Also, when I took it in, it was determined that the tire had been too low on pressure, either initially when punctured, or because I drove on a punctured and slow-leaking tire for 2-3 days, and so it tore a hole in the inner liner or something.

I don't know what you need to do to test this.

Inner lining? Is it possible they were just trying to sell you a new tire? My understanding is that your tire wouldn't leak if there weren't a hole in your "inner lining." It's not like a bike tire where you've got an inner-tube or something.

Tire construction

Perhaps there's nothing to do but try to plug it, and watch to see if it stays inflated?

That's what I do. They're surprisingly effective, I've put thousands of miles on plugged tires without issue. If the plug fails you're out like 25 cents, and not any worse off than you started.

bowen

Is it leaking air? Is it actually long enough to go further than the tred? I had a nail but it only got stuck in the tred portion of my tire, so no harm no foul. Pictures help. Sometimes you can tell how big a nail is just from the head.

Akilae729

Last time this happened to me, Pep Boys fixed it for $13.

Go to a Pep Boys, Les Schwab, Discount Tire, Midas, etc etc etc.

mts

as long as the puncture is not in a side wall, any tire place can fix it. hell, les scwabb used to fix tires for free

a5ehren

see317 wrote:

Do you have a Discount Tires nearby?
The ones down here will generally patch a hole like that for free, or nearly free. They've got the tools to do it quickly, the materials cost is pennies and it's great for building customer loyalty (I've been buying my tires from them for the past 13 years because they replaced a valve stem on my first car for free).

If you've got a nail in the side of the tire, yeah, it's got to be replaced. But in the treads should be easily patchable, provided that you haven't been driving it when the tire is way low.

:^: Discount Tire is pretty rad, they're the only B&M store that I've found (besides like Costco or Sam's) that is close to Tire Rack on pricing.

rockmonkey

I've seen tires plugged for anything from $8-20, and it's doable as long as it's not along the outside edge or the tire isn't super ready to be replaced already. Go to a place like Pep-Boys, Midas, valvoline, or any local shop that does oil changes and the like and they will usually be able to plug it pretty quick for you and charge you very little and it's good to go probably for the remained of the tires normal life.

Deadfall

Discount Tires here (in Colorado) will fix a nail puncture for free, so I'm thirding them.