Evening all, took my Vectra in for a service this week and was informed afterwards that there was a nail/screw in o/s/r tyre. Tyre had not lost any pressure and dealership said tyre couldn't be repaired because of where the nail was.
I've had a look at the tyre and can only see what appears to be a small nail embedded in the main tread (not sidewall) and, judging by its condition, appears to have been there for some time. I usually do around 350 miles a week so potentially could have been driving around with this thing since the last service in Jan 05.
My tyres are about £125 each and this one has plenty of tread left so I'm loath to replace it but what kind of risks am I taking by doing nothing?
Thanks
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I would suggest you take your tyre to a tyre centre and ask their advice, rather than rely on the word of your dealership. I understand that, in some cases, even holes in the sidewall can be repaired, so it seems very likely that your problem can be solved.
I wouldn't advise you to continue running around with the nail in the tyre now that you know about it.
Good Luck!
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The nail / screw will enventually make the hole in the tyre oval. When that happens it could fall out at the drop of a hat and the tyre would suffer sudden air loss.
or
The head of the nail / screw could wear down, just leaving the shank in the tyre. Again the tyre could suffer sudden air loss.
or
The nail / screw could end up damaging the plys of the tyre and you could have a blowout.
Do the sensible thing and get it repaired. If not for your own safety, then for the safety of other road users.
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Entirely agree (boom boom) - other people's safety is at risk.
But apply Murphy's law. The tyre will burst when it will cause the biggest nuisance, ie when you are late for a meeting, in the rain, and when it's dark. You have to change the wheel while your boss/wife/kids/MiL is screaming at you, and the traffic is going past soaking your suit, shoes, etc.
The tyre is part worn, so say you've had £60 from it already. Get a new tyre today, and you've only spent the equiv a tank of petrol, but you've avoided the inevitable aggravation, and possibly a nasty accident that affects others.
£60 seems cheap at the price....
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If it was mine, I'd inflate the tyre to its max pressure stated on the sidewall and brush on a weak solution of washing up liquid and warm water, if there is no air escape, then the nail probably hasn't burst the tyre. I'd then pull the nail out with pliars and test again for leaks, if no leaks, it was probably just stuck in the tread, if it leaks, take it to a tyre shop. Good luck!
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I had a similar problem when visiting my daughter in Leicester. Noticed a screw in the tyre tread and took car to a chain of tyre fitters who on pulling out the screw found the tyre to be punctured.
They refused to repair saying too close to sidewall but could not replace due to unusual type of tyre. After driving to Sunderland at 50mph on space saver I checked my handbook which specifically allowed repair of punctures more than 2.5cm from sidewall, this was 4cm away.
Went to Hi-Q who were quite happy to carry out a repair.
The moral, always get a second opinion.
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I picked up a bolt in the rear tyre on my car, one garage said it needed a new tyre, another said they could repair it.
I know who will be getting my business in future...
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I usually do around 350 miles a week so potentially could have been driving around with this thing since the last service in Jan 05.
I would contemplate adding 'check tyres' to your monthly todo list.
This is a problem with services so far apart in time.
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Just because it is in the handbook does not mean it is either legal or sensible! In France they were still repairing punctures until fairly recently using the method outlawed in the UK 20 years ago!
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pmh (was peter)
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im afraid you have all missed a most important point with this tyre...............
The nail although in the middle of the tread will have punctured the casing of the tyre this will now allow moisture into the casing and rot the cords,the garage is correct to call the tyre scrap they may well have saved your life as it was a rusty nail they found and not a recent shiny one as you have admitted.The worst case scenario is that on your 350 mile jaunt the moisture that has built up in the casing where the nail has penetrated will boil due to kinetic heat build up and cause the tyre to seperate and blow out.,not nice as you can imagine.
As already suggested scrap the tyre buy a new one and given your mileage visually chech your treads every sunday morning when you are washing it.
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\"a little man in a big world/\"
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What complete drivel! Do you have to run over a nice new nail or screw for the tyre to be repairable? THe nail could have been lying in the road for years, in which case surprise it will be rusty, won't affect the cords though. Take it to a decent tyre dealer, which from my experience won't be a big chain and ask them to remove it & check. I'll reckon it quite likely it can be repaired. I've even had high performance tyres repaired with a mushroom plug.
Also in 31 years of motoring I've only had a couple of tyres explode and both were on a car that had obviously sat in a field on flat tyres for a while, on the second one failing we checked the rest & changed them all & had full refund by cheque a few weeks later. Punctures in tubeless tyres mean the tyre goes down slowly only tubes deflate catastrophically hence one of the reasons they aren't used anymore.
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Mine cost £8 to fix, using one of those mushroom plug things. Good local tyre fitter, not a big chain.
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What complete drivel! Do you have to run over a nice new nail or screw for the tyre to be repairable? THe nail could have been lying in the road for years, in which case surprise it will be rusty, won't affect the cords though. Take it to a decent tyre dealer, which from my experience won't be a big chain and ask them to remove it & check. I'll reckon it quite likely it can be repaired. I've even had high performance tyres repaired with a mushroom plug. Also in 31 years of motoring I've only had a couple of tyres explode and both were on a car that had obviously sat in a field on flat tyres for a while, on the second one failing we checked the rest & changed them all & had full refund by cheque a few weeks later. Punctures in tubeless tyres mean the tyre goes down slowly only tubes deflate catastrophically hence one of the reasons they aren't used anymore.
by the mans own knowledge the nail could have been in the tyre since january 2005, thats 13 months ago since the tyre was last physically checked. That equates to a maximum mileage of 350 MILESx54 WEEKS = which is 18,900 miles therefore as the tread wears down so the nail is pushed further into the carcase of the tyre if this has penetrated the cords then trust me as having run a tyre bay for 5 years i do know what i am talking about the cords will go rusty and the tread will part company as it heats up this is why a hot vulcanised repair as soon as the tyre is damaged is preferable to a cold mushroom plug repair.
If you care to get in touch with a remould company such as colway remoulds they will tell you that they will reject any tyre for remould proccessing if the casing has been penetrated by a foreign object as when they buff the tread off the cords will indeed be rusty and is unsuitable as anything but scrap.
With regards to tubes the reason they were phased out is that modern radial tyres with stiffer sidewalls negated the use of tubes and the last car i remember using them were lada riva"s and their "lassa" tubes
I dont doubt that the tyre cannot be repaired but as i have tried to explain it is not a foregone conclusion and i beleive the dealer was erring on the side of caution and saying the tyre was scrap,could you imagine if tommorrow the tyre blew out and the casing was inspected by the authorities and they said the tyre had seperated where a plug repair had been done by the dealer?
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\"a little man in a big world/\"
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Update folks - went down to my trusted local independent tyre dealer today - I have used this place for the past 8 years or so.
They took the wheel off and saw the same rusty small nail I saw. It wasn't leaking air but did when they pulled it out with a pair of pliers. Said there was no reason at all why it couldn't be repaired so did so with one of those rubber mushroom bungs - cost £14. Tyre fitter said it was as good as new and too good to scrap.
Thanks for all your input.
PS - To add to the debate above, the nail was rusty and had clearly "lost its head" so it probably had been in there for ages and was no doubt getting progressively further into the tyre which would have ultimately caused a blowout at some stage - no doubt on the outside lane of the M4. However, once I knew it was there I got it checked out straight away. And, no, I haven't been driving the car in the interim 2 days either!
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>>Tyre fitter said it was as good as new and too good to scrap.
Only problem is they cannot see tyre on the inside,As mentioned damage has already occured,and cannot be fixed. It does seem to be,and no reflection on your post Marc, some drivers do not realise the damage caused and dismiss as*I cannot see it tyre is perfectly OK*-bit they miss is tyre is only point of contact with road,so anything that deeply enters a tyre should in my oppinion be replaced..
you also mentioned it leaked air after being pulled out,says the damage is done!
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Steve
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But they see the inside of the tyre when they repair it. The tyre comes off the wheel, they drill the hole out to make it uniform, the mushroom stalk is pushed through the hole from the inside and the cap is sealed on the inside - presumably via some sort of glue or vulcanising.
The nail hadn't punctured the tyre as it hadn't reached that far. Only with all the waggling of the pliers, to pull it out, did it finally burst through.
These type of repairs must be OK or else they would surely be outlawed.
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>>But they see the inside of the tyre when they repair it.
Missed my point,I did not mean inside of tyre in that once removed from wheel you can,I meant between tread and internal section of tyre.
just replaced a tyre with screw in tread,ie puncture, tyre cost £55 plus-but was worth it to replace due to peace of mind while driving,tyre 13 months old
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Steve
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However, once I knew it was there I got it checked out straight away. And, no, I haven't been driving the car in the interim 2 days either!
This is absolutely the right thing to do - once you *know* it's there, you can't ignore it. The most likely problem is the tyre would eventually start to deflate gradually - if it did that on a long journey then the tyre would overheat and blowout.
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My tyres are about £125 each and this one has plenty of tread left so I'm loath to replace it but
what kind of risks am I taking by doing nothing?
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Two years ago I went to the funeral of my best friends son.
I read the official police report of the road accident.
They found a nail in the tyre of the brand new car.
The driver, his brother would not have been aware of it and is no way to blame.
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Marc
p.s. One of the sons in the car was Marc.
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Hmmmm,
When you consider that the tyres are the things that keep your car on the road and that the actual contact area is less than 15cmsq, then I would say the answer is obvious.............
£125 for peace of mind !!!!!!!
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If I was 100% happy the puncture was very very recent I might risk the repair. But if the time the nail had been sat there was an unknown quantity - NO WAY.
Having been involved in a 'fatal' where a puncture had been repaired I am well aware the unseen damage that can be caused by moisture creeping and rotting the metal cords. The end result was that the tyre blew on a bend and cased the collision.
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Fullchat
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A few years ago I had the misfortune to have a nail or something similar go into one of my rear tyres.
I removed the wheel from the car as the tyre had deflated, and put the spare on. I took it to the tyre centre at the weekend and they took the tyre off, looked at it, and told me the damage was really too close to the sidewall to be repaired. Would I like a quotation for a new tyre?
I replied that I would think about it but, in the meantime, would they possibly be willing to just repair my tyre and I'd keep it as a spare. This they agreed to do.
When I got home I put that wheel back onto my car. I have to say it then did another 30,000 miles without any further trouble whatsoever. It was only subsequently replaced, along with the other rear tyre of a similar age, when the tread wore down.
I think people worry too much!
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I kind of get the impression that people in the backroom are not in favour of car tyre puncture repairs in any shape or form.
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I kind of get the impression that people in the backroom are not in favour of car tyre puncture repairs in any shape or form.
I've had several punctures repaired by more than one method and never had a problem.
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L\'escargot.
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same here
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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I kind of get the impression that people in the backroom are not in favour of car tyre puncture repairs in any shape or form.
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The only blow out I have experienced was due to a previous repair of a small nail hole in the middle of the tread.
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