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Found out my 4Runner had two nails in the tire. The dealer patched the tire.

Is a patch safe enough and tough enough to use on a tow vehicle. I use this vehicle to pull around my boat (which weighs in at about 5,000 pounds total) --- If I really need new tires, I'll get them... but if the patch is sufficient I'd prefer not to spend the money.

Thanks for the advice...

 

This comes from esperience, I managed a Goodyear store for 4 years and have patched a few hundred tires in my time. I left there in 1990, so I'm sure that technology has changed some.

But....

Basically it comes down to a few factors.

1) How badly was the tire damaged when it was punctured. There can be an appreciable difference in damage caused by a nail, screw, bolt, hanger, bungee cord, pair of scissors, etc.... You wouldn't believe some of the stuff I've seen sticking thru tires.

2) How close to the sidewall the damaged area is. If it's anywhere within about an inch of the edge of the tread area, I'd replace it. Most good tire shops won't risk making a repair anywhere close to the sidewall of the tire.

3) What kind of job the guy does repairing it, and if he used a good patch/cement. If you don't get the typical "zit farmin' oxygen theif" that's so commonly busting tires nowdays, you've got a chance. If the guy making the repair actually cares/knows what he's doing, the repaired area can be virtually as good as the rest of the tire. Would be if I did it.

Hope that helps...

 

1> Two nails. They could've been there for months. Was having the tires rotated and balanced and the guy noticed them. Pressure was just fine (and I hadn't filled it up in at least a month.) --- I assume that means they didn't tear up the tires too much.

2> Pretty close to center.

3> Absolutely no idea. My experience with this dealer is that their mechanics do a pretty good job. Helluva lot better than Audi

I think I'll risk it. Those big tires ain't cheap. Question, though... if the seal were to fail, would it be more likely to slowly/gently let air out, or would it blow?

 

and the tire was patched or plugged or whatever the h*ll they did (done at a tire shop, not dealer)... and i'm still LOL'ing at the "zit farming oxygen thief" terminology, Brad! I hope my tech wasn't in that category... they "told" me i could expect the tire to be as good as new... but then again, one can "expect" anything, can't we?

 

The tire "blowing" is nearly always caused by the "un-building" of the tire due to heat. Let me splain... Tires are built using very high temperatures, which makes all those cool components adhere and live coexist while rolling down the road. ALMOST any time that a tire has a catastrophic failure it's due to the tire loosing air, getting hot, and basically "un-building" itself at speed. There are exceptions with defects etc... but, in 99 out of 100 tires inspected after the mysterious "blowout", you can find a puncture which preceeded the failure. As the tire looses air, the sidewall squashes down where the tread meets the ground. Obviously if the tire is sitting still at that time, the area squashed is contained to one area of the tire. But, if the car is rolling, there is a wave or accordian effect. As the tire basically squashes and unsquashes, it is causing a large amount of friction and building heat. The tire will eventually reach a temperature, where it will "unbuild" or suffer a catastrophic failure.

Sorry for the babbling explanation, but it's important to understand what's going on in the tire. Basis the above, if you are aware that your tire is loosing air, and are able to stop before it builds too much heat, no worries. In your case, with both being nails, and near the center of the tire, I prolly wouldn't worry about it.

To be safe, do this....

Keep a watch on the tire for a few weeks. Every 2 days or so, throw a guage on it. ALWAYS when the tire is cold. If possible, try to take readings at basically the same ambient temp outside. In the morning before heading out to work would be perfect. If the patches didn't take well, you'll undoubtedly see some pressure loss over a 2 week period. Then, I'd sh!tcan the tire. If not, then "go back to" a weekly pressure check. (ya right) I only laugh about the weekly check because even those of us who have been in the industry, still get lax and forget to check our tires. Also, ALWAYS check the tires before using the vehicle for any heavy service, hauling, or towing, etc.. Most people forget about that stuff, and that's why you always see trailers sitting on the side of the highway with a wasted tire. Who checks the trailer tires before they take off.... not many. I'm sure that this weekend, you'll see plenty of holiday travelers on the side of the road with flats on trailers and motorhomes, it's just standard operating proceedure unfortunately.

Hope that helps you.

 

is performing the repair. That's becuase he probably does alot of patches. (Not to mention handling all those Oxy-50 patches on his grill)
The guys at a tire store will usually be upfront with the quality of a repair. If the repair was questionable, I'd always let the customer know what it was, and give them their options. Some repairs you just DON'T make. Most tire guys are aware of this, and in todays letigious society, they're all scared to do an iffy repair anyway. You should be fine. But like I told Dloftis, keep a close watch on it for a couple weeks and make sure that it's not losing air. Check the air every 2-3 days when the tire is cold. Once you're past a couple weeks, should be no worries at all. If you have any more questions/tires probs, feel free to e-mail me. :-)

 

Re: You're odds go way up having it done in a tire shop. Even if Zit Boy>>

 

okay... i'll watch it and do the pressure check every day... thanks! :-)

 

I'm normally pretty bad about checking air on tires on my vehicles... but I'm pretty **** when it comes to towing. When you have a <4,000 pound tow vehicle pulling a tandem-axle trailer that totals about 4,750 pounds, it's already pushing safety limits. I check wiring, hookup, and brakes every hour or so on the road... and I always check all 10 (4 on trailer, 4 on tow vehicle, one spare for each) before leaving.

Thanks for the advice. I'll be towing the boat tomorrow, but I'll watch the pressure closely.

 

Yer welcome..