So i have a nail stuck on my tire. It's a slow leak. Now i went to a local tire shop to have them fix the issue. The guy at the tire shop said that the nail is too close to the side wall so the nail might have caused more than just a straight hole and that i would need to get a new tire. Now my question is what do ya'll think would i really need to get a new tire or should i go to another tire shop? Also, if i do need a new tire should I get all four new tires or just the one new tire? I bought these back in march dont know how much miles i put on em. They are the Kumho Ecsta AST 215/45/17. Here are some pictures of the nail. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

that is very close to the edge i would just buy a new tire

 

Have them show you if it didn't make a straight hole, I've had one a lot closer to the side wall.

 

Just go to kmart and buy a tire repair kit. Pull the nail and fill the hole. then see if it holds air. If the nail did not go sideways (toward the outer edge) you should be good.

p.s. The tire shop has an unfair bias as to having you buy new tires. imho

 

I would recommend against using those tire repair kits you can buy. They don't always fix the leak, and they don't look like they hold up over time. The nail in your tire looks really close to the outer edge, and being a speed rated tire most people are going to be wary of repairing it. I've plug/patched holes closer to the sidewall then where that nail is, however I don't trust the tires after that. (I'll keep the tire for a spare, but won't use it for daily driving). I would say buy a new tire, you may or may not want to buy 4 new tires. If you have LSD and the tires on the front are different tread depths (I would say about 2/32nds or more difference) then put the new one on the rear. The reason for that is because the LSD just tries to get the 2 tires to both spin at the exact same speed, when one has more tread it spins slower and you can wear out the LSD's clutch's. The only problem you might have with putting a tire with a lot more tread on the rear is the ABS. ABS works on speed as well, and that 1 tire will be moving at a slightly different speed. That may or may not cause problems with the ABS system, I'm not an expert when it comes to that.

As far as the tire shops having an unfair bias toward wanting you to buy new tires, it really depends on the shop. I work at Sam's Club in the Tire and Battery center. Personally I could care less if you buy a new tire from us, I just want you to have a safe tire to drive on. Other people that I work with however will lean towards having you buy a new tire so the shop makes more money. So that part's really hit or miss.

 

That really is kind of risky repairing that one and I manage a shop. It is really a 50/50 type of thing.

 

You may be able to repair it correctly, (patching the tire from the inside, not a plug) if its not too close to the sidewall inside. Not likely though.

The reason that you are not supposed to fix punctures at the side is that the area flexes every time the tire rotates with weight on it. At speed, that can be hundreds of times a second, which can cause the repair to come loose no matter how well done, as it is not designed to do that. I would do as someone else said, fix it, if it holds keep it as a spare. You WILL compromise the speed rating of the tire by doing anything less than a patch, and I doubt that a patch will work in that location. Sorry.

 

Since the tire is on the rim, I'm assuming that they didn't take it off? Is that right? Either way, I'd want to see where the actual puncture is on the inside. As long as there is enough room for the repair plug to sit flat on the inside without bending up on the side, I'd do the repair (worked in a tire shop ma-self).

 

I had the same thing happen to me on my brand new Kumho Esta SPT tires. I got a finishing nail almost in the same spot as u but like a inch in towards the center of the tire. Cost me $35 to get it plugged. Suppose to be some new way of plugging it and then putting a patch on the inside and crap. The guy said it was good as new and has held up to speeds of ~130mph. *knock on wood* Good luck, just be safe.

later

 

Correct, thats a patch, and as long as its done correctly, you preserve the speed rating of the tire. Like the post above said though, there has to be enough room inside the tire for the whole patch to be on the outer part of the tire, not bent up on the sidewall. Yours is borderline, have to see it from the inside.

 

yea they didnt even bother taking the tire off the rim they just said it was too close and to get a new tire so i told em just to put the spare on and i'll see about getting a new one. so should i go to another tire shop and have them take it off and see how bad the nail is in there? cause im really dreading(sp?) getting a new tire cause i dont like to have just one new tire if i need a new tire then i get all four new tires for even wearing of the tread and stuff i'll got to a different shop tomorrow and see the damage on the inside see how that goes, thanks for all the advice learn some new stuff here

 

U could get 2 new tires....

 

Had the same thing happen to me in the same spot and one shop just glanced at it and said "you cant fix it". I took it to another shop and they did fix it. Put a patch on it and its been great for almost 2 months. Think of it this way if they fix it and its ok you just saved your self a bunch of cash. If it doesnt last well you only spent $15 so no big deal.

 

Dude, Plug that tire and be done with it!!!!
So what happens if you go buy 4 new tires and get a hole in one of them, you go buy 4 more!!! I am NOT recommending you do anything unsafe but damn, it's atleast an inch from the inner side wall, PLUG IT and forget it!!!
They do make patch plugs which are both a plug and a patch, but i have found that a plug works just as well in most situations.

 

That's what I would do too. It might work, it might not, being so close to the edge. You might get lucky.

I've plugged ones that were closer to the edge than that with no trouble, and they were good for years afterward.