I got a nail in my tire, but it's not leaking. I removed the nail from the tire, it didn't puncture all the way through and is holding air. Should I get the tire patched anyway or just ride on and not worry?

 

If it’s not leaking, leave it be.

 

Correct. The only patch I want if I have to patch a tire is a patch plug, which means there needs to be a hole in the tire. So no reason to make the hole a thru hole if it is not already

 

Best kinda patch/plug.

It's a drag. Buy brand new $$$ tires and within a month you find a nail. It's like the damn thing has super magnetic powers or something.

 

A few years back, on a longer cross country trip (2 weeks) up Hwy 1 to British Columbia and back (Sacramento) a day from returning home I had a severe rear tire failure of my Pilot Super Sports. I was able to perform the double tire change (front to rear, spare on front) but I now had a giant dead rear wheel with a full trunk and a passenger (wife) who would object strenuously at being left on the side of the road. It so happened I had a modified Surco trunk rack on the car (had some extra beach chairs) and it saved my bacon allowing me to put the spare on it. No damage to the trunk at all.
The point is a flat tire is a bummer. This event was the catalyst for me to come up with a real solution. I found it and I am extending the plan to a new vehicle that has "run flat tires" that only go 50 miles when flat. You then get to buy a new tire. Good luck in the middle of Nevada. It happens we like to do road trips off the beaten path. I have found a terrific tire plugger system (yes I have used it and it works great, I would venture to say it actually makes a permanent fix) combined with a cycle 12V inflator.

This is the plugger unit. I recommend trying it out before hitting the road.




Great inflator. USA. Lifetime warranty.

https://bestrestproducts.com/product...combo-w-gauge/



Tire plugger:








Inflator





Ugly but it worked




Here is the modified Surco rack. I added the oak slats to keep stuff from contacting the paint below. It takes about 3-5 minutes to install and one minute to remove.




Close up of the anchor points. I put clear packing tape down on the edge to help prevent marring.

 

Interestingly, I was just researching an alternative to spare patch and pump setup, and came to conclusion that very same mushroom plug gun was best viable solution. Glad to hear it works well in real life scenarios!

Will look into that pump.

 

Thanks for the photos. Trunk racks were de rigueur on all the Brit roadsters long ago and I had one on my TR4 and MGB. But the 165mm tires on my TR4 didn't look anywhere that BIG on it.

-- Chuck

 

Thats how it happens! I got a nail in a set of autocross tires once that had one event on them. Got it patched and it held for the life of the tire but was still crappy to know my brand new tire had a hole in it !