metta

This is probably a silly question. My TPMS came on saying to check all 4 tires. Took my car to Skip's near my house: 3 were at 30 psi, 1 was at 25 psi. We found a screw in that tire. He said they just lift the car, remove the tire, patch it, fill it, and good to go. This is the first tire issue I've had and wanted to be sure having a place like this do the basic repair is fine? Any issues with lifts and Quattro?

Thanks.

uberwgn

The concern is how close the screw is to the edge of the tire.

metta

I'd say it's just slightly off center from the middle. In other words, at least a third (or more) of the way in from the outside of the tire.

gk1

In that case a patch is fine. Just keep an eye on the pressure, but it will likely be fine.

MurrayA4

metta I've repaired 100's actually more like 1k s of tires (retired garage owner) .Given your description I'd use an external tire plug.I'd put my own family in that vehicle and send them on their way..There are inexperienced people who'll tell you that you need to dismount the tire from the wheel and use an internal patch.They don't know what they're talking about.Seek out a competent shop and they'll deal with it.

hollowplayer

isnt patch always better than plugs?

Greystoke

It depends on who is doing the patching and how much attention they are paying to their work. If a patch is not properly installed it will fail just like a plug will, but a patch is definitely better than a plug from a longevity standpoint.

With the FO that close to centerline they should have no issues with a patch. Depending on the tire type and size they could easily get away with just marking tire location, dismount, repair and remount without a new balance. Although I always spun them on the balancer real quick just to be sure it wasn’t bad coming into the shop.

Grey

MurrayA4

I should have been more specific in my recommendation re plugs.Not only is the quality and experience of the installer important but also the type of plug used is important.The fibrous type are fairly temporary but I always used a Japanese product made by Maruni and my experience is that these produce a permanent repair reliably.After a few thousand kms.you'd be hard pressed to find the plug, they sort of blend into the tire material.

shokhead

Never had a plug fail.

MurrayA4

shokhead "Never had a plug fail." Yes that's been my experience.By the way SQ5 - SoCal jeez you've got it rough !