Nail in tire

[steve00s]

The other day I ran over a nail which is now embedded in my tire. It has lost no air so will take into tire shop for them to remove and plug any leak. My question is that I will be doing my first DE in a couple of weeks and wondered if that imperfection in the tire will increase the likelihood of tire failure. Normally I wouldn't worry but don't know the effect at sustained high speed. They are Falken Azenis RT-615's. Replace or no big deal??

[dharrisonwu]

Replace.

Anytime your tire is punctured and repaired, its structural integrity is compromised. In fact, once it's punctured, any tire manufacturer's warranty becomes void.

[Ronzi]

I have had nails stuck in tires that did not go through the inner liner, thus no loss of air. Maybe you'll be lucky, too.

[drburton]

Just pulled a big screw out of my tire last week, but it was right in the tread block so it didn't go all the way through, no air loss.

Start praying the nail is short.

Otherwise, one of the big issues for me in my first DE was to trust the car at high speeds. I think that trust would fly out the window with a repaired tire. If you did puncture the tire I would get it replaced before the DE.

[rock88hard]

i was just gonna start a thread for this and Bang! whatdaya know anyway i'm due for new tires in about 5,000 miles, but got a nail in the rear and won't be taking any DE. i will sadly, no longer cruise at 120mph until a get a new one, but i was wondering if it will sustain being plugged that long under normal driving conditions (under 80mph.. maybe). i'm guessing that i will need to replace by fall anyway. i don't know anything about tires at all so i'm at your mercy... i'm pretty sure i know what the dealership would say

[steve00s]

Under normal driving conditions the repair should hold up just fine. Over the years I have had many nails and screws removed from tires and have never had a problem. The issue (as drburton states below) really is trust and piece of mind, especially when you are going 140mph down a long straightaway. I'll probably replace both rear tires as they are at about half of their useful life and use the old ones for autocross.

Funny I just got a screw in mine the other week. The PO had a few flats too. I'm wondering if the wider tires have more propensity for picking up nails/screws since... well, they are wider. Never heard of a car with so many flats before.


Anyways I got a patch and a plug for mine. I doubt I'd lose any air at high speed, but I don't trust em as much as an unmolested tire. I haven't done a top speed run since. Guess I'll have to rip em up at low speed

[MNBoxster]

Hi,

As mentioned the Tire is definitely compromised. It should not be run past 70MPH for safety's sake (I wouldn't run it at all personally, that's part of the Price you pay).

A Passenger car Tire is different in that Heat Management is not so much an issue - Less Grip = Less Heat Generated. The NHTSA states that the only way to properly repair a punctured Tire is with a Plug and a Patch - http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/ncap/Tires/images/brochure.pdf . Yet many Tire Repair Shops will use a Plug only.

The problem for this in a Performance Tire is that you increase the Mass in a specific area (the Plug and Patch) which consequently absorbs more Heat (and releases Heat more slowly). This can lead to a Temp related Blow-out.

It's a B*tch having to replace a Tire before it's due, but that's part of the game. The cost of a new Tire pales in comparison to the costs of bent Sheet Metal, and bent People...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[steve00s]

I decided to e-mail the tire manfacturer (Falken) and to their credit and my total shock I had a response back in less than one hour. Here is what they said:

"If all of the following below was completed by a competent tire professional, then the repair should be fine for the life of the tread.

The tire was thoroughly inspected prior to the repair, with the tire showing no signs of run low or run flat.
The puncture was ¼” diameter or smaller and in or near the center area of the tread.
The tire was properly repaired using a plug patch combination

Please note that the Tire should now be de-rated by one speed rating. So if you have a “W” (168 mph) speed rated tire- it should now be considered a “V” (149 mph). This maximum would be for the vehicle, even if the other three tires had the W rating or higher."

Falken Tire Corporation
Tim Widener - Product Engineer
Technical & Warranty assistance
email: TWidener@falkentire.com

[RandallNeighbour]

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

The cost of a new Tire pales in comparison to the costs of bent Sheet Metal, and bent People...

Bendy people! Do you mean like this guy?

[blinkwatt]

I just got back from Big-O to get one screw and one nail removed from one tire. I was expecting the tire to be punctured,I was lucky,neither was long enough to puncture. Just take it in,you never know.

[greenandtan]

I got a screw in my rear right tire. We'll see what happens. Not affecting anything other than a guy saying, "Nice car, you got a screw in the tire!" Yeah, I know, sheesh--It ain't flat!

[Adam]

Originally Posted by greenandtan

I got a screw in my rear right tire. We'll see what happens. Not affecting anything other than a guy saying, "Nice car, you got a screw in the tire!" Yeah, I know, sheesh--It ain't flat!

You brought a 3 and a half year old thread back from the dead so you could tell us you have a nail in your tire and you're not going to do anything about it.

[spennybenny]

For the cars with traction control, is it NECESSARY to replace both rear tires? The tires have just about 1500 miles on them and I got the one in the rear plugged due to a nail. I would like to get it replaced but may not be able to afford both

[BYprodriver]

Originally Posted by spennybenny

For the cars with traction control, is it NECESSARY to replace both rear tires? The tires have just about 1500 miles on them and I got the one in the rear plugged due to a nail. I would like to get it replaced but may not be able to afford both

Like the info from Falken says as long as the puncture is properly repaired with a patch on the inside the tire is fine.

[jmatta]

Don't try to plug/patch a tire if the nail/screw has punctured completely...you may end up with a tire like mine. Thank goodness it's a street car; I would never track a car with a repaired tire for this obvious consequence. Drove on it only a short distance knowing the tire was going in the trash anyway...thank goodness it didn't ruin my wheel (just got really dirty).

[Adam]

I've driven tens of thousands of miles on plugged tires with no issues, as have millions of other people. I don't see how a plug caused that kind of failure. It looks like you drove on it for quite a distance while it was flat causing the sidewall to separate.

[thstone]

A tire properly patched/plugged should be fine to drive at legal speeds for everyday driving (not over 75mph) for the remaining life of the tire. Millions of people have done this without any problems.

However, if you want to go faster than 75mph or take corners faster than someone would in a minivan, (and definitely if you're heading to a track), you should replace the tire.

Its about that simple.

[jmatta]

It looks like you drove on it for quite a distance

Only until I could get safely off a two lane gravel shouldered highway, with cars passing me at 70mph!

Didn't matter, the tire was toast. My point is the patch/plug obviously did not hold, even though it was performed by a very high end shop.

[jaykay]

I had a nail right in the centre of one of my PS2 rears (ouch!!!). It was probably in there for a day before I felt like I was loosing some feel in the back end. I patched it at place that prepares track cars and they had no quams about it. I tried a dealer and was told that they don't do patches; only replace. He said personally he would patch it if he was me. I thought I would be okay for DE stuff based on what heard at that time