Found a nail in my tire.

[clevernickname]

Should I use the tire repair sealant kit, or just inflate with air enough to take it to a tire shop. Right now it's at 20 psi.

Also fun, I accidentally put it on the tire repair setting while trying to put air into my car. Then it wasn't even plugged in properly so just proceeded to spray my whole wheel with that white sealant liquid. So not sure if any sealant left anyway. How bad is it for the wheel too? I tried cleaning it off. Isn't this supposed to turn solid to "plug" something?

Also - is there some special way to inflate tires with tpsm? We tried a normal air compressor we have to tires and it wasn't taking any air.

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[JackBauer]

i would take it to a tire shop. The tire repair sealant can clog up the tpms and then you'll probably have to get it replaced. there is no special way to inflate the tires, mine inflate normally with a regular air compressor. you could also try using tire plugs depending on where the tire got the nail, ive used plugs with success on mine before.

 

[ElAviator72]

When I've been poor and broke, I've tried leaving nails in tires and sealing the hole with fix-a-flat. You might run fine for a couple of thousands of miles, but it always ends with the tire self-destructing on the freeway

 

[Bartly]

Plugs work great for nail holes. I had one on my stock tires last winter the tire shop said no because it was too close to the corner/sidewall even though it was about 1" into the tread away from the corner. Well, a plug fixed it right up. I did move it to the rear for safety sake, lol. Still holding air and let me use up the last 5k of treadlife. I did drive on it with the nail for about a month but got sick of topping off the pressure. Yeah, I'd avoid using that sealant any way I could unless I was stuck in the middle of nowhere without cell service.

 

[jenksdrummer]

Sealant would be ideal if you're on a road trip and have a ways to go, weekend, no known tire shops...etc.

Otherwise, hit autozone or similar and get a tire plug kit and a set of needle-nose pliars, and get after it. That said, a lot of tire shops will repair those for free to get your business later. Some will say they can't fix it, mostly it's BS. They can almost always patch it from the inside.

 

[17LightningGT]

When you get a nail, if you are having it repaired, always have the tire dismounted and have them use the plug/patch. It is the only way to make sure that it holds up safely.

If you use something like this and just patch from the outside, it will work, but IMO its just a temporary fix.

I keep the DIY patch kit in my car as I dont have a spare, and its better than trying to use that sealant junk.


Also keep in mind that whatever you do, once a tire is repaired, most manufacturers void its speed rating. If you do any type of high performance driving or frequently visit the 100+mph portion of your speedometer, your best bet is to replace the whole tire for safety purposes. See the link below for manufacturers rulings on allowable repairs/speed rating after repair.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=225

 

[jimmerheck]

When I was younger, I worked in a service station where I bet I plugged thousands of tires with two types of tire plugs: The leather type shown above for bigger nails and screws, and a rubber string type used with glue for smaller nails and screws. We hardly ever had anyone come back and complain. About 2 y ago, my wifes Acura tire had a nail about 1" in from the edge, the major chains refused to fix it. Went to the local smaller tire shop, they plugged it and didnt even think twice about it. Doesnt leak a bit of air. Then right after that, same thing on my truck, the major chains wouldnt fix it either. Had it plugged at the smaller shop, same thing, no leaks. But these are guys who do this all day, I dont know if I'd recommend plugging it yourself, you may not have the same quality of plug and or skill level. But I'd have them do it again for me... The major chains claim plugging is bad, it needs to be patched, I'm sure there are a lot of folks on the net who claim its hogwash for the normally used tires. Now a track tire, probably an entirely different story.

 

[Norm Peterson]

I've plugged quite a few tires on various cars we've had, and all of the repairs held up just fine all the way to when the tire was worn to the wear bars. Cars weren't driven any less hard after being plugged, and IIRC one plugged tire did see a few track sessions (without incident, and it had seen several thousand street miles previously).


Norm

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