Truck tire sidewall patch???

[N80]

I got a tiny locust thorn stuck in one of my brand new all-terrain tires on my pickup. It was causing a very very slow leak. My wife took the truck to Discount Tire where I bought them. I did not buy the road hazard warranty. They would not even look at it and told her that they could not do anything with tires with sidewall damage. (I wonder what they would have done if I did have the road hazard warranty?). Anyway, without asking me my wife took the truck to our local small town tire place, you all know the one....in an old gas station, old tires piled up all around it, 75 years of oil and grease everywhere. They put a plug patch in the side wall. It no longer leaks.

I had always heard not to put a plug patch in a sidewall.

These are load range E tires and I tow anywhere from 5000-7000 pounds fairly regularly although I rarely inflate them to the maximum of 80 pounds.

What do you guys think about this? If it is a true safety issue I guess no harm is done since they only charged her $14 and I'll have to replace the tire anyway. Question is, would you guys drive and tow with a sidewall plug patch? If not, I've got to get a new $200 tire.

 

[fishheadbob]

I would make sure there was air in my spare, then give it a try.
I had 2 sidewall punctures on factory run flat tires with no road hazard. High dollar replacements were purchased for about $750 for 4, I bought the road hazard guarantee on the replacements. I managed to puncture one of those - yeah I know. Where have I been driving - and after only a minor tussle the Goodyear store replaced it without screwing around with pro-rating or anything.

 

[CobyRupert]

I had always heard not to put a plug patch in a sidewall. -Yep

Question is, would you guys drive and tow with a sidewall plug patch? If not, I've got to get a new $200 tire.

-Nope.

If it blows, there's no steel bands there to limit /contain the blow out.

I think the sidewall of a tire does the majority of the flexing. (Not sure, but is this where heat build up is greatest or on the tread?) Either way, I wouldn't trust a plug that gets flexed 500 times a mile.
Personally, I'd trust a patch more , if I had to. I'd think spending the $200 is worth not being stuck on the side of the road ....or highway. ...but if you're comfortable with it blowing and have a spare, give it a try.

 

[TractorNH]

The general rule is to not patch a tire outside of the tread because the tread area is stronger due to the belts and the sidewall is not as reinforced. I had a place tell me they wouldn't do it when I had a nail in a tire right at the edge of the tread. I bought the kit and did it myself and it was fine. The place that did fix it has set themselves up for a big liability if you're towing and you have a blowout and cause an accident. There's just no way to say the tire rating hasn't been compromised.

With your tire I wouldn't have done a plug, I would take it to a REAL tire place, like one that does truck and heavy equipment tires and see if you can convince them to fix it for you the right way which is to take the tire off the rim and put a glued on patch on the inside. The process of doing a tire plug essentially made the hole bigger to be able to plug it. Since it was a slow leak it shouldn't have been an issue to have them do an internal patch since you could argue the thorn didn't fully puncture the tire.

I'm not sure I'd trust the tire for heavy towing now with the plug in it and I'd be worried about it blowing out. If they're brand new I'd just go ahead and get a replacement as much as that sucks to have to do it. You don't want a blowout while towing a heavy trailer.

 

[TractorNH]

-Nope.
I think the sidewall of a tire does the majority of the flexing. (Not sure, but is this where heat build up is greatest or on the tread?)

Heat is caused by the flexing of the sidewall. This is why you need a properly inflated tire. If it's underinflated then the tire flexes more and generates more heat as you're going down the road. Get too much heat and the rubber gets weak and causes a major blowout.

 

[CobyRupert]

Heat is caused by the flexing of the sidewall. This is why you need a properly inflated tire. If it's underinflated then the tire flexes more and generates more heat as you're going down the road. Get too much heat and the rubber gets weak and causes a major blowout.

Ah, thank you, this is what I thought. Even a properly inflated tire has sidewall flex (heat) every rotation. You can see where the rubber gets weak on old tires, where cracking usually starts on the sidewall where the tire flexes.

 

[woody]

I would take that tire and have a good patch put on the inside and use it as a spare.

 

[fidowanttobe]

Patching inside sidewalls is tricky too. Seems there is so much flex that the patch tears or lets go. Plugs have come a long way and I have (KOW), had good luck with them. But, depends on your travels and tows. I know, I hate those expensive "spares" too.

 

[KennyG]

When I damaged a sidewall on a front tractor tire, the local shop said they would put a patch on it, only because it was an off road tire. They also qualified it by saying that they would do it if I wanted to waste my money because it would fail because of sidewall flex. I bought a new tire.

 

[N80]

I've plugged many a punctured tread myself. Even a track/race tire. But never a sidewall. I think I'll bite the bullet and get a new tire. Having a sudden blowout while going 70mph with 7000# behind me just sounds too dangerous. If it were a car that just got basic use I might try it. Or if this was my farm truck I wouldn't care either....it rarely sees pavement.

I agree that an interior patch doesn't sound much better than a plug in terms of reliability because of sidewall flex. What concerns me about the plug is that there is now a larger defect in the sidewall. The plug is not leaking so that is not my worry. It is the sudden rupture of the side wall that scares me. $200 down the drain.

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

[RustyA]

Put the spare tire on the road wheel and make the one with the repaired sidewall your spare rubber at the very least. If they used a patch/plug it is a patch plus a pull through plug which is the preferred method to repair LT 10 ply tires that are damaged within the face of the tread. If the damage is outside the last groove of the tread we refuse to repair them for liability reasons. I would never drive or tow with a repaired sidewall...not worth $200 in my mind.

 

[YLee Kioti]

This thread reminds me of the tundra forums where a 5th wheel overloads the vehicle by a thousand or more and the threads goes for pages on how to 'fix' the springs, air bags etc.

The safest for you and family is to bite the bullet and get a new tire.
Does that suck, yipper sure do!

In the back of your mind you will wonder when it will go and who all will it impact (no pun intended). On coming traffic passengers etc.

Same thought process if ever used for a spare.

use a IR digital thermometer and monitor tire temps and road temps in July or August.

The sidewall is designed to flex and absorb road imperfections within a given set of guidelines.

Hopefully this thread will end with a happy ending.

 

[N80]

Yes, this stinks. I wish my wife had not taken it in and gotten that plug. The initial hole was literally the size of a small needle. If the thorn had been pulled though from the inside it might have even sealed itself. Just such a shame for such a tiny puncture to cause a complete loss of the tire. (It took a week to loose 5 pounds of pressure...tiny hole).

Anyway, I'm going to get a new one. It is a good inch below tread level so fully in the sidewall. It caught the edge of a 'lug' in the sidewall that is so popular these days in off-road tires. I think it is all looks and no real function but it is what it is. If it had a smooth sidewall the thorn never would have gone in.

So, the other thing I need to do is rid my cabin driveway area of honey locust trees. Not an easy task. They grow like weeds.

 

[kc5dlo]

I just replaced 4 tires on one of my vehicles this week. When shopping online for the replacements, I noticed many of the tires i looked at had free 2 year road hazard included in the cost of the tire. Discount tire was one of the places I saw that. Made a mental note because I never purchase the road hazard. Might be worth a shot and see if the tires you purchased have the free 2 year road hazard.

 

[YLee Kioti]

Now I have to go learn about honey locust trees!

Wow those are some respectable size thorn...!

We have huasachi here, thorny trees that go through leather gloves like a hot knife in butter.

Sounds like we all have our country thorns to bear.....heh...heh...

On edit my BFG KO's are approaching replacement age. I do like the looks of those tires with the lugs protruding from the tread down towards the sidewall. Had considered them to be helpful in muddy conditions.

But now you bring a new twist, as much as I use truck to tow trailer into the pasture and still have remnants of thorns all over I'm thinking Hmmm snap what a place to get a flat. Thanks for sharing raises awareness now of my driving out there when cleaning up.

Guess I'll look into a tow bar and take tractor out there to load up trailer.

Hope it works out well for you.

 

[Redbug]

Although I have never used it, instead of plugging next time what if you pumped in some of that liquid flat fixer stuff. There are several brands out there. Put it in...pump the tire up and rotate around. The fibers in the liquid plug the hole.

 

[Jstpssng]

Although I have never used it, instead of plugging next time what if you pumped in some of that liquid flat fixer stuff. There are several brands out there. Put it in...pump the tire up and rotate around. The fibers in the liquid plug the hole.

I wouldn't advise using it if you intend to ever put a different tire on the rim. Tire companies hate it because it makes such a mess; and some will charge you extra to clean up your rim.

 

[QRTRHRS]

I would run a sidewall patched tire in a dually configuration on maybe a one ton if the truck was just for local use. For some sort of over the road situation, nadda. LOL, I can remember way back when the controversy over running bias ply caps on the front.

 

[4570Man]

I’d stick it on the back of my dually. It’s not worth $200 on a single rear wheel truck.

 

[N80]

Now I have to go learn about honey locust trees!

Wow those are some respectable size thorn...!

We have huasachi here, thorny trees that go through leather gloves like a hot knife in butter.

Honey locust is difficult to deal with. It puts up shoots from the root structure and it sends out roots way further than the reach of the branches. If you cut one down you can put brush killer on the stump and it will not grow up from the stump but it will still send up shoots from the root.

The thorns can be huge but the smaller ones are the sharpest. The cattle farmer next door gets frequent punctures in his tractor front tires and has even had puncture in the rears of one of his large ag tractors. The thorns will go right through the bottom of your boot too.

They do attract deer with their large sweet pods. I've seen deer gathered around them on a windy day waiting for the pods to fall.