Repairing a tire... completely OT, but hopefully someone can help:)

[BrettS]

About a week ago I got a screw in one of my tires. The head of the screw broke off pretty quickly, but the shaft is still embedded in the tire... the top of the shaft is about even with the lowest indentations in the tread of the tire. (It's in the tread of the tire and not in the sidewall or anything.) Initially I had planned on pulling it out and using a repair kit, but it's been in there for a week now and the tire hasn't lost any air (I just happened to have checked the pressure a day before I picked up the screw and I just checked it again now). I'm not sure if the screw just didn't fully penetrate the tire or if the rubber sealed itself around the screw.

I wasn't too worried about it because I usually stay pretty close to home and I could deal with a flat, but this weekend I'm going on a trip and will be driving nearly 600 miles. Do you think I'm going to be better off giving in and pulling the screw and using the repair kit or do you think that it'll be OK since it hasn't had a problem in the last week (probably 200 miles or so).

Thanks,
Brett

 

[Frunple]

Better safe than sorry!!

(or just make sure you bring the repair kit with you and an air pump!!)

 

[Steve]

Since you asked, NEVER use a cheap diy 'plug' repair kit or canned sealant. Tires are not meant to be plugged. If the screw did go through, the only proper way to repair it is to remove the tire and have it patched from the inside. May be $20 if you don't have road hazard, but don't f around with your families safety.

 

[DavidL]

Pull the screw and fix the leak.

If the hole is in the tread, and NOT the sidewall, there isn't a problem with using a external "rope" repair. Don't oversize the hole any more than the included reem makes, and use plenty of the included glue.

An internal patch is a better fix, however.

 

[electron]

For what it's worth, I had a similar issue right after I purchased my latest car. The tires looked fine, but the monitoring system kept complaining about pressure loss. It wouldn't happen on a frequent basis, so couldn't figure it out. Appearantly, I had something stuck in my tires that doesn't affect driving, but when parked right on top of it, it stretched the rubber to the point where some air could escape. Moral of the story is, things my look fine now, but in certain conditions, it might bite you in the a$$, so I would get it fixed/patched asap.

 

[politics123]

For what it's worth, I had a similar issue right after I purchased my latest car. The tires looked fine, but the monitoring system kept complaining about pressure loss. It wouldn't happen on a frequent basis, so couldn't figure it out. Appearantly, I had something stuck in my tires that doesn't effect driving, but when parked right on top of it, it stretched the rubber to the point where some air could escape. Moral of the story is, things my look fine now, but in certain conditions, it might bite you in the a$$, so I would get it fixed/patched asap.

My Midas charges $10 to patch a tire. Honestly? Your safety is worth far more

 

[rbelshee]

It will take a little time to take it to the local shop and get it fixed, you can sip coffee or water while waiting in the climate controlled office... Otherwise you may end up the side of the road for hours instead of having fun wherever you are going... Even worse would be if the screw is eating away the inside of the tire and you have a blow out on the freeway.

Just like you would pre-wire a few extra outlets just incase, you should have this fixed just incase.

Have a safe trip.

 

[123]

Get it fixed. Depending on the length and angle, it may be possible for the screw to gouge away at the tire's sidewall. There's no acceptable repair for a damaged sidewall and the tire will have to be replaced.

This happneded to me many years ago with a new car. The flat was noticed immediately (air was escaping) but the damage was done. Fortunately, I had road-hazard coverage and the tire was replaced.

 

[123]

Get it fixed. Depending on the length and angle, it may be possible for the screw to gouge away at the tire's sidewall. There's no acceptable repair for a damaged sidewall and the tire will have to be replaced.

This happneded to me many years ago with a new car. The flat was noticed immediately (air was escaping) but the damage was done. Fortunately, I had road-hazard coverage and the tire was replaced.

 

[AutomatedOutlet]

Drive it to the shop, remove the screw, if it leaks, pay the $10.

 

[BrettS]

Now that I'm back from my trip, I just wanted to follow up on this so you guys aren't worried that I'm stranded on the side of the road somewhere

I purchased a kit (something like $5 at Walmart for the tools and three rope patches) and went home and pulled the screw. It definitely went all the way through, so I patched it with my kit. I went to the gas station to refill the tire and discovered that another tire was flat... I inspected that one and found a nail in it, so I went home again, pulled the nail and used one of my other ropes to patch that hole, then back to the gas station to refill that tire.

I took my trip and everything seems to be holding up fine. I'm quite certain that the $10 patch from a tire store would be exactly what I did... while it might be better to pull the tire off the rim and patch it from the inside I can't imagine how anyone could make money by charging $10 to pull the tire, patch it from the inside, remount it and rebalance it.

I don't have too much life left in these tires (and I'm still living in a bit of a construction zone... they're building new townhouses across the street from my townhouse), so I probably won't get them patched from the inside, but if they were newer tires I might consider it.

Thanks for the input,
Brett