I had a flat today from a nail. had it patched, but now i'm worried that the structural integrity of the tire may be compromised. any thoughts? should i have just replaced it?

 

Same thing happened to me last week. I asked the dude that patched it whether it affected the speed rating of the tire and he told me that my tire shouldn't be considered 'z' rated after being patched.

 

Mingster - This is an iffy situation. It really depends on where the nail was and whether it did significant damage to the cords. Did they repair it by putting a patch over the hole from the inside and then rebalance the wheel or simply use a plug? Plugs tend to cause more separation and damage the integrity of the tire.

Hopefully it was a small nail, did little damage, and they repaired it with a patch from the inside. If the nail was near the side wall and/or was large, I would not chance it at high speeds.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

I had a rear patched, and on my receipt there was a disclaimer stating that any speed rated tire should not be considered speed rated after being patched. I'm sure this is the cover the repair shop. I've had lapses of memory and drove as if I never read the disclaimer, with no ill effects. If the nail was large enough and hit the wrong spot, it could have done damage and not be noticable when repaired.

 

After patching a tire the you cannot call it it a "Z" rated tire. I manage a shop & have done many tire repairs using a plug/ patch style repair from the inside of the tire. The plug fills the hole & patch does it's normal duty. I have repaired my tire of my Yamaha R1 this way & didn't have any trouble. Be aware that the shop that repaired your tire will not stand behind the repair if used under the normal "Z" rated conditions, But if done right you won't have any problems.

 

Topic: Does a patch compromise the tire's integrity?

Actually it is the hole not the patch that may affect integrity .. I have patched performance tires numerous times and then used them at speed or at the track with no problem.

As long as the damage is not too large or too close to the sidewall it should not be a big concern.

 

Would you tell someone to go out and run 150MPH on a tire you just patched? If he has a blowout and crashes, guess who his lawyer is comming after. I always had confidence in tires after they were patched, but the little voice just wouldn't let me run high speed on my bikes after a patch job. Something about losing one of two tires at high speed makes my as?h?l? pucker. Probably not much better on four.

 

Call me an idiot, but... i have had a rear patch in my S2000 since about 2000 miles. I hit close to 130mph on the track and didn't have any problems.

just my experience.

Scot

 

You know, I think it all has to do with the amount of damage. Usually a nail hole that has been plugged seems to hold up very well.

My S2K had two plugs in it and I ran it that way for 3K miles and then toasted the tires at a reacetrack before I replaced the tires. There was never an incident where I noticed any problems whatsoever. I ran them way over 100mp h numerous times.

I bought a plug kit since I seemed to attract nails on my cars. I have also plugged the tires of a few friend's cars. Never have we had any problem associated to the plug. I've must of done this on 6 cars now. I'm a believer in plugs for nail punctures.

Sidewall damage? Throw the tires away. Nail puncture? Pull out the nail and plug it. That's what I think.