How hard can I drive with tire repair/plug close to sidewall?
 

Hey, all.


Happened to pick up a nail with my 275-wide Yokohama V601. It is pretty close to the inner sidewall, but the tire shop was able to repair it.

It holds air well during my daily commute.


The question is: is it unsafe to drive with this tire on autocross, track, or even spiritedly in the canyons?



https://i.imgur.com/ICm13cm.jpg

i wouldnt even drive that on the streets lol but thats is just me most tire shops wont even repair that due to location

Yep, for me the tire is pretty much done once repaired. I don't drive as hard afterwards.

I agree that that's a huge grey area if the single hole as you said it is much closer to the tread than the sidewall and if it's patched from the inside and not simply plugged. I wouldn't track it but I'd drive it hard if its patched inside and the hole is farther away from the sidewall in that pic.

Thanks for the advice. Seems like tracking is off the table until I get some new rubber.


The puncture is 1/2 inch from the shoulder, so I further wonder if canyon carving is off the table too?

I'm surprised that was repaired. You should replace regardless.

no reputable shop here would fix that.

if you're going to do any canyon carving after that repair, make sure you have full coverage and the deductible amount in your bank. your odds of needing it just went up exponentially.

I can't see the photo at work, but you said 1/2" from shoulder.

What you can do with this tire safely has to do with damage caused by the nail and what kind of repair was performed. Now I am playing devil's advocate here, because that is not a good place for tire damage. But if it was a skinny nail with a clean puncture and you didn't drive on it too much, then theoretically it would not change the internal structure of the tire. Hot patch from inside and you might have a close-to-new repair. More likely is a big nail worked in at an angle and you drove on it, tearing the shoulder a bit. I would not stress the tire.

UPDATE:


While the the patch in this location (1/2" from rib of sidewall) held the air very well initially, after 4 sort-of-quick canyon runs I noticed that I am losing about 1.5 PSI in that tire. The soapy water test confirmed that the patch has a very minor leak, probably from all the shoulder and sidewall stretching loosening up the patch.


I ordered a new pair of rears and will have them installed next week, but a series of donuts and burnouts to kill off the rear tires have reassured me that the risk of the imminent failure on the patched tire is small to none--rather, it is important to monitor TPMS screen and see if you're well below the recommended tire pressure.

Interesting. If the tire was patched properly and didn’t leak, I wouldn’t think twice about driving it on the road in a spirited fashion. But clearly that’s a personal decision, I could see someone not wanting to take the chance.

Are you guys’ concern that a patch would not be as good as a plug?

Geoff

Steelman plug/patch would work fine. I wouldn't think twice about using it in a spirited fashion as long as there isn't anything else wrong with the tire carcass or sidewall.

Credit to OP for keeping an eye on it!

I suspect tire shop had some wrinkles in the hot patch and could not get it to lay perfectly flat into the inside corner. After a bit of stress probably leaked through the wrinkles. If the intention was always to drive this tire hard, better to replace it.

Unsafe to repair.

UPDATE II:

I had the troubled tired replaced but asked the tech to show me what's inside the old tire. See image below. Looks like the plug the other shop used wasn't as flush with the tire due to tire flexing. Not sure what the darker stuff is (probably an adhesive), but some chunks of it were falling off.
https://i.imgur.com/TMB35Ml.jpg