Kiddo called pulling into the lot at school yesterday with rapidly deflating tire. Got down to about 5 psi according to TPMS as he pulled in, side walls look fine. Big tires, 35x12.5/22. He's in an electrician school (he's al apprentice) with very tight tolerances for attendance so I told him head to class and I'll come out around closing time. I got there and found a large blunt tip bolt, 5/16" or so width stuck in the tread maybe 3" from the edge of the tread. Tire was flat so I just plugged it and aired it up. It's holding but that hole was pretty good sized and I'm kind of surprised the plug held. Today he took the back roads to work in order to keep speeds slow and he's planning to head to the tire store tomorrow. These tires aren't something they're gonna have in stock so if they can't fix it he'll have to order a tire, definitely can't afford a new full set to switch up to something they have. When I was a kid I drove all over the place with plugged tires but I also did a lot of other dumb stuff so just because I survived doesn't mean it's ok for me to recommend him doing the same. What say the green screen?
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Can they put a patch in it? That’s a pretty big hole for a plug. -
As long as the hole isn’t in the sidewall AND the tire tech knows how to do the job correctly, it should be fine. I would avoid running it on low pressure in off-road situations however.Comment
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We'll find out tomorrow when he takes it in to the shop, shops were closed yesterday and he couldn't miss work today. It's a legit hole, like almost could stick a pencil through probably.Originally posted by M16 View PostComment
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Last time I plugged a tire to get out of a bind, Discount Tire wouldn’t touch it. I assume this was from liability reasons on their end. That said, I did drive probably 60 miles slowly to get home on the plugged tire with no issues. I don’t trust DIY plugs on a truck, so I bought a new tire ASAP. A proper patch/plug applied from the inside (by a tire shop) is a different story. I’ll plug ATV tires etc, but the there is too much at risk for me to trust one long term on the truck.Comment
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It can be fixed, but you might have to take it to an EZ tire shop....Comment
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I driven tens of thousands of miles on plugged motorcycle tires. A plug will be fine if it holds air. A patch is $10 at most neighborhood tire shops. Use a plug for now but get it patched later.Comment
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I've got a plug in a tire right now with about 12k on the plug.
I've probably driven 30k+ on plugs in my life and never had an issue. That's not to say that you can't have an issue, but I've had more issues with good tires than I have with plugged ones.Comment
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My daily driver has a plug in it. It put it in myself when discount tried to hold me hostage for a new tire. Been a year and a half and at least 30k milesComment
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It frightens me to think of the tires on the road I'm sharing with down here...there's a tire shop on every other corner in the rgv.
That tire would end its life completely bald down here...would likely plug & patch.
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Yes it will be fine. I've used two plugs before on some tires and driven them for many miles.Comment
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Ditto. I can't begin to estimate the number of miles i've driven on plugged tires. Double plugged a couple w/o issue. Good luck.Originally posted by tx_basser View PostComment
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I wouldn't worry about it if it's not losing air.Comment
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Plug and patch.
walmart will do it for yaComment
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I've been driving 45 years on plugged tires. I've never had one fail. I've plugged holes that same size and never had one leak or fail, sometime using two plugs to fill the hole. I've only had one tire patched in my life and it was from a 1/2 in piece of rebar and a double plug wouldn't fill the hole.
As said above, the hole can't be in or close to the sidewall though. If it is, a patch probably won't work either.
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