Returning from the Rally in Perry Georgia I got a warning on my Tire Minder. I pulled over to the side of the road (4 lane) as I watched the pressure dropped to nothing. Called Coach Net and they sent out a service to replace or repair it. He arrived 90 minutes later with a new knobby truck tire. Once he got the wheel off the nail hole was evident so he plugged it.
Off we went and an hour later we stopped to walk the dog and the alarm started showing a slow leak same tire of course. Luckily the plug was top dead center and I could put my finger on it a verify it's leaking. I was in a big Walmart parking lot with Home Depot right across the road I got a plug kit myself and called the guy who did the repair and he suggested putting Super Glue on a new plug. I did as he said and drove the rest of the way home with no further loss of air.
So has anyone chosen to run it like that or should I replace a 2022 Michelin X Line >$900 tire?
Thanks....
If you did not drive while PSI was more than 10% low/alarm going off you have not harmed the tire.
I would have a tire shop do a proper patch (dismount tire).
Thanks Brett I was able to pull over as soon as it started alarming so I still had reasonable pressure. That sounds like a perfect solution. I wasn't aware of that fix....
Tyson
As long as the puncture was not near the edge of the tread/near the sidewall, an internal patch is preferred to a plug.
I'm not sure which position the tire is currently in, but if it is a steer tire. After having a proper patch done I would move it to the rear. Said another way I wouldn't run the patched tire on the front.
Tom
Yes the good news it's driver side rear tire and the nail was near the center of the tread.
I just called a commercial tire shop near me and got an estimate of $55.00 to remove and do a proper patch on the inside!
Yea....
Thanks to all....
I would assume your tire shop will use a Plug-n-Patch similar to this for a proper fix.
Ya, really depends on diameter of the hole, angle of the hole, etc. Any truck tire shop should be VERY experienced at determining the proper patch.
How old is the tire? Even if fairly new, I would buy a new tire since I would rather not have to deal with a blowout down the road on the coach.
I had similar problem when pulling into Las Vegas. I had a lag bolt go through the tag tire and I am thinking before that the lag bolt went through the tag tire, it took out a big chuck of the drive tire. I had the number for Wendy with National Tire Concierge Services. I became a member and she had a tire company at my coach within 2 hours of my first call to her. I got 2 new tires at less then what FMCA had them listed for.
Call Wendy at National Tire Concierge Services. NTCS | NTCS - North America Fleet Management Services (https://nationaltireconciergeservices.com/)
I run patched tires all the time in my jeep for tens of thousands of miles. I'd probably do the same with my coach if an experienced shop felt good about where the puncture was.
For me plugs are temporary only. A patch will prevent air/nitrogen getting to the inner plies and causing separation. I mentioned Temporary, and im much more liberal with there use off-road. I got a stick through the sidewall of the dodge last month and ran around our small town for a week waiting for a replacement tire. This picture is a great example on were a plug is not permissible. I have seen dedicated off-road buggies with I swear 50 plugs to fill the same hole. So wish I had taken a picture. Just crazy. And yes I have added plugs till they stop leaking. I carry a box of 50 with me off-road. Radial tire sidewall are also constructed differently than Bias tires and will literally unzip when failing. Plugs are temporary till repaired. They also have a new product called Glue treads that im looking forward to testing because I can't imagine they could work. Temp Outside sidewall repair??? GlueTread (https://www.gluetread.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoqkQs9KpBva8Sq_JdGC0AQfpU9wKD07nytS_JNvLE4f63KfSaY_)
If we are talking my truck, I would have patched since I carry a spare tire, jack and impact. On coach, I don't want to be sitting on the side of the road with no cell service, having to connect my starlink in order to make a call for a service truck to come find me and replace the tire.
In this instance since the tire ran with a plug, how do we know that the tire shop is going to be able to tell if there was no unseen damage to the tire? This tire is carrying way more weight that my pickup or a jeep.