Nail in tire - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

steve00s · 06-06-2007, 07:44 AM

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 · 06-06-2007, 09:02 AM

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 · 06-06-2007, 09:24 AM

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 · 06-06-2007, 10:06 AM

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 · 06-06-2007, 10:16 AM

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 · 06-06-2007, 10:45 AM

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.