Can this be patched or need a new tire?

[Exranger]

Are you near a Les Schwab? They’ll take off the tire, patch it inside correctly and put it back on for free! A plug should be considered temporary solution.
Good luck it does not look bad.

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[Automan21]

U can plug or patch that, not an issue. Now if it was the sidewall that can still be patched but I’d use it for a spare not an everyday permanent thing.

 

[Bilbo_B]

I'm in the patch it camp. I've done several of these but it's really your option. As an example about ten years ago I went to a local brand name tire dealer with a very similar puncture and after the guy said that it was too close to the sidewall and couldn't be fixed, he quoted me a price for 4 new tires. I said thanks but that I was going to get a second opinion. Went next door to Walmart, got the plug kit and got ~ 30K more miles out of those tires.

 

[Maverick2023]

They patch for free at discount tire. I'm gonna have them do it instead.

 

[rclee]

I recommend the Patch (or Boot) repair. I had one of those mushroom plugs done by a shop. They were resurfacing the road and I hit one of the exposed pipes (manhole or gas pipe) and the plug blew right out, it was flat in seconds. That is why I go with the patch.

 

[Old Fart]

My shop did internal patches, don't know what Sam's will do.

 

[thescher]

Yea definitely can be fixed but if you need just one tire or even looking for winter or cheap alternatives these guys are great. I have purchased whole sets & just individuals from them for years. Pick your tread level & if it's on the website they have them. Also will ship to your door for free!!!!!!! You can filter & sort by sets of 2 & 4 which is really helpful!! https://www.champtires.com/search-r...5&rim_size=17&search_form_submit=Search+Tires

 

[Paulyz]

Got a nail today out of no where. Thank god for a full size spare. Should I get it plug or buy a used steelies tire?

Plug, or patch on inside of tire.

 

[NedF]

It’s funny to see there are definitely 2 camps - plug or patch. I have probably plugged (tread punctures only) over a dozen tires (personal and family vehicles) in my 45 years of driving and none of them ever failed. You have to make sure you use the round rasp tool to prep the hole before punching through the plug then cut off the excess as close to the tread as possible so that it does not get pulled out in a turn or in a case of tire slipping (skid or burn out) until the small piece sticking out wears off.

 

[Jman79]

Use the Internal Patch Plug Assembly, which is the only fix considered permanent. Tire needs to be removed from the rim and rebalanced afterward. This is the only tubeless repair legal up here in the People's Republic of Vermont. This is what they did to fix my flat I got on the Maverick first week I had it. It was free as I took to the tire store I buy all my tires from.

It is by far much better than the T-Handle bacon strip fix but more expensive as you need to take it to a tire shop.

The other alternative is the mushroom plug. That one you can do by yourself but the kit will cost you around 75 bucks or so. This one is NOT considered permanent and illegal up here.

Hope this helps.

I think you're the second person mentioning VT on that. But my searches couldn't turn up anything official looking in terms of the law. Was hoping to find what states it's legal and not.

I looked up and HF carries plug kits locally in VT. I'm guessing their lawyers wouldn't allow them to if it was illegal. I also don't think they'd take the risk of carrying them for just non-road vehicles, because corporate lawyer love CYA.

I'm interested because I plug my tires and keep a kit for roadside. Many times it's much safer for on-road repair than a spare swap in traffic. But I do like to keep up with the law.

Any help with citation to official law on this? I'm trying to figure out if this is just something lobbied by those who gain from doing away with cheap tire repair.

In our current environment even experts are bent to change their recommendation due to over zealous lawyers. I could see tire shops changing their recommendation because insurance companies sue them looking for any reason not to pay themselves. Seems like in all the discussions regarding this I've seen there are hundreds of accounts of tire patches working for remaining life of the tire and not one report of critical failure. I wish there was a study with real numbers to cite.

 

[MarcoG]

I think you can get away with plugging it. Rule of thumb is a tire plug has to be at least 1/2 inch away from the edge of the tire. That looks pretty close to that 1/2 inch.

If you do plug it, I would recommend running that tire in the rear, it is less likely to "pull out" the plug compared to running that plugged tire in the front.

Good advise on putting that on the rear. However, that's an easy plug. It's closer to 2.5 inches from the edge. Easy easy choice on that one.

 

[EONR24]

Good advise on putting that on the rear. However, that's an easy plug. It's closer to 2.5 inches from the edge. Easy easy choice on that one.

Yeah I would plug it for sure. Looking at again it definitely is more than a half inch from the sidewall, probably close to two inches like you said. As others have mentioned, plugging and patching from the inside is probably the best you could just plug it from the top too.

 

[Bob The Builder]

I think you're the second person mentioning VT on that. But my searches couldn't turn up anything official looking in terms of the law. Was hoping to find what states it's legal and not.

I looked up and HF carries plug kits locally in VT. I'm guessing their lawyers wouldn't allow them to if it was illegal. I also don't think they'd take the risk of carrying them for just non-road vehicles, because corporate lawyer love CYA.

I'm interested because I plug my tires and keep a kit for roadside. Many times it's much safer for on-road repair than a spare swap in traffic. But I do like to keep up with the law.

Any help with citation to official law on this? I'm trying to figure out if this is just something lobbied by those who gain from doing away with cheap tire repair.

In our current environment even experts are bent to change their recommendation due to over zealous lawyers. I could see tire shops changing their recommendation because insurance companies sue them looking for any reason not to pay themselves. Seems like in all the discussions regarding this I've seen there are hundreds of accounts of tire patches working for remaining life of the tire and not one report of critical failure. I wish there was a study with real numbers to cite.

When I brought the tire in to have it plugged, they told me they were not allowed by law to just plug it with a bacon strip but to do the Patch Plug method. I took that to mean State law as I know it is not Federal law and municipalities are not allowed to pass laws of this manner. I also know they were not trying to bilko me out of extra money as they did it for free.

You have brought up some interesting points that I will look into.

The State is very slow about updating web sites with the latest changes in rules & regs..

 

[RDRahn]

Got a nail today out of no where. Thank god for a full size spare. Should I get it plug or buy a used steelies tire?

I had two(!) nails/screws in different tires back in December. Unfortunately, I was told they were too close to edge of time for repair - so now I am running on two original tires and two replacements (not OEM, just something I found for low $$).

Not really happy about that expense, when I probably had about 20-30,000 left on the originals.
The one I had looks pretty close to what you are showing.

 

[Maverick2023]

i think the nail or screw on mine is smaller. According to the tire guy its patchable.

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