Tack in SUV tire help

[Dave Lehnert]

Over the weekend I found a very small tack stuck in my front tire. it was on the side but up in the tread area.
I pulled it out and thought I was home free because it went in more at 90 degrees, did not hear any air hissing. But a check with some soapy water shows it is leaking air. I pulled the tack out over 30 hours ago and the tire still does not look low on air. So it is a very, very slow leak.
Tire shops now days wont plug a tire at all and not do a patch on the side.

So what would you do?
I thought about just a can of Fix -A Flat to plug things up. But what about the air pressure sensor? The can says it is safe to use.
Do they use inner tube in car tires?
Seems silly to buy a new tire for such a small leak.

[Bert Kemp]

I would put a plug in it myself. Tire shops now adays won't just sell and mount 1 tire, they'll give you all kinds of reasons why you have to replace all 4 tires most of it is especially if your tire are fairly new or have light tread wear. Don't believe it when they tell you oh you can't plug a sidewall either, I've plugged sidewall before and they held up for years. It is better to patch a sidewall but a plug will work.GO PATS

[Steve Rozmiarek]

Take it to a mom and pop tire place. The reason they fight patching a sidewall is that they have to know that there is a right and wrong way to orient patches, and specific patches for different things. Most busy tire places turn over help faster then they can learn the trade correctly. This results in warranty work, so much easier to sell new tires. Profitable too.

[Tom M King]

If it's in the steel belts, I'd plug it. I keep a plug kit in my truck, and have never had a set of tires on it that I didn't have to plug at least one. I like the kind that has the eye with no slot in it. You push the plug all the way in, pull it back out so the tool is out, and cut the plug. I bought mine from NAPA a long time ago. I use rubber cement as a lubricant for the plug, and a little extra piece of mind. The beauty of plugging one yourself is that you don't even have to take the wheel off the vehicle. That and a 12v compressor on board will get you home, and run until the tire wears out.

[Rick Potter]

If it is in the tread area, they can perhaps fix it. America's tire store fixed one for me that the dealer said needed to be replaced, but since it was actually in the tread area I took it to the shop, and they fixed it free.

[Tom Stenzel]

I was just at the tire shop last week. My wife picked up a 1/4-20 bolt(!) near the edge of the tread. They were able to fix it (fingers crossed).

A while back I picked up a piece of steel at the edge of the tread, the tire shop with the tire manufacture's name on it said it couldn't be fixed. Another local chain shop said no problem, the tire ended up going another 50,000 miles.

-Tom

[Pat Barry]

I asked Discount Tires to fix the same issue on my daughters car. Small nail, in the tread, right near the edge//sidewall. They said NO. Then they checked the records (I should have thought of this). We bought her tires there and I paid for the extended warranty -- Presto - they put a brand new tire on. The guy said with radial tires they are not allowed to plug / repair a leak near the sidewall for insurance reasons. In the bulk tread area its AOK to plug it.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I live where roads are bad and flats are frequent. I have a full tire repair kit in both Jeeps and use them regularly. Because our roads are all 35 mph Max speed limit, I did plug a sidewall, but I rotated it to the spare.

If you buy a flat fix kit, also get a jar of rubber cement to dip the plug in first. It lubricates the plug on the way in and then seals.

As for dealers not replacing one tire on an axle; on some newer cars you must keep the same tread wear on either side of the axle because minute differences in wheel speed can affect the sensor readings. A more worn tire will spin slightly slower than a newer one. It can cause the traction devices on new cars that sense wheel spin to get false readings and try to correct for what it thinks is wheel spin. This happens on my Jeep with SRS, which is a horrible traction thing Jeep came up with. I had a very worn tire on one side and a new one on the other and it made the brakes lock on one side at low speed because it sensed that one wheel was losing traction.

[Jason Roehl]

Malcolm, you got that backwards--a more worn tire will spin faster than a newer tire--the circumference on the older tire is smaller, so it must turn more times to cover the same distance. But, yes, it can mess with ABS and traction control systems. On solid-axle vehicles (like the rear axle in a truck), a difference in tire size from side to side can lead to increased wear of the differential, axle shafts, bearings and associated parts.

[Mike Lassiter]

As to "plugging" the hole - plugs are faster than breaking down the tire to patch from the inside and they will be a lasting repair if done correctly. If it is a steel belted tire you have to use a "rope type" plug not a rubber plug because as the steel plys flex as the tire rotates they will eventually cut a rubber plug into and likely fail. The rope type is very sticky and stringy and will stay in. I have a good deal of tire experience in semi tires and have been to a 3 day class at Bandag retreading center for the maximizing of tire and casing life ( mainly applies to trucking ) and there are acceptable repairs that can be made in the crown area that will not compromise the repair. The sidewall is a very tricky area to repair and there is a lot of liability for shops also to consider. While knowledgeable and semi knowledgeable people often disregard the advise of some that really KNOW what they are talking about, you must also consider things from the shops side. If they try to repair your tire in a likely to fail area and you end up with a blowout or accident that seems the tire failure caused - then someone expects the shop to cover the damages. Simple solution for them is to NOT do them and risk law suites.
I did monthly "scrap out tire analysis" for over 4 years as Fleet Maintenance Supervisor of all tires that were unable to be recapped or failed and root cause of failures for each was done at the tire dealer with a Bandag rep, and dealer rep, myself and sometimes tire manufactures rep there and all inspecting them and some tires where returned from the recapping center as refused to be repaired or recapped due to many different reasons. Punctures in the crown area ( corner of tread and sidewall area) are repairable, but often had to be vulcanized and not just "patched" with a rubber patch for long term durability.
Understand your single tire is not exactly the same thing as a company trying to maximize tire casing life instead of buying new tires ( $100's difference each time between recapping a tire and new one) but you want the same thing. You want it to stop the leak and last the life of the tire. IMO - if it is still in the tread area of the crown I would plug it myself and keep and eye on it for a few weeks to see if it continues to hold pressure without loss. I too have the tools to plug tires and it is quick and easy to do and doesn't require pulling the wheel off the vehicle or breaking the tire down from the rim. So it is a easy repair - but needs to be done correctly.

The correct way for heavy truck tires to be repaired when patched is to plug the punctured hole with a special plug then a patch is placed over that inside the tire. The plug seals the punctured hole through the plies and keeps moisture out of the hole. This keeps the steel plies from getting wet from rain or snow and rusting which in time can cause the tire to fail from the steel plies rusting inside the tire and then possibly causing the tire to blow out later.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Malcolm, you got that backwards--a more worn tire will spin faster than a newer tire--the circumference on the older tire is smaller, so it must turn more times to cover the same distance. But, yes, it can mess with ABS and traction control systems. On solid-axle vehicles (like the rear axle in a truck), a difference in tire size from side to side can lead to increased wear of the differential, axle shafts, bearings and associated parts.

Put was early and I hadn't had my coffee! :-)

[Rick Potter]

About my having America's Tire fix my flat, it was a pretty new car, with 3,000 miles on it. They do it for free, even if you didn't buy it there, and had nothing to gain. I also told them about the dealer wanting to put a new one on. They inspected it, and put a vulcanized patch on the inside. While there, I checked on the price of a new one....$220 ( it's a super mileage tire on a hybrid).

After they were finished with the free fix, I then asked if I could buy the extended warranty on all the tires. Since they only had 3K on them, it was ok, and I paid about $100 for the extended warranty on all four. Free replacement for the useable life of the tire.

There is construction near my house, and I figure it is good insurance, given the price of the tires, and the fact that this was my second flat. The first one, I had fixed at the manufacturer's store for $28.

I highly recommend America's Tire, called Discount tire in AZ. Don't know about other areas.

[Jason Roehl]

Put was early and I hadn't had my coffee! :-)

A completely understandable reason. I was done with mine, hence the catch.

P.S. If you are a Sam's Club member, they will repair your tires for free, if it's repairable by their standards.

[Dave Lehnert]

It has been over two days now and I have still have the same PSI in my tire. Another soap test shows it is still leaking but slower than before.