Tire removel problems - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Adam · 03-07-2004, 03:44 PM

So I walk into the garage a few days ago and the right rear tire is lookin alittle low. Under closer inspection I find the culprit. It's a small nail that is shoved up into the tread. Well, I'm going to take off the wheel and take it into a local tire place next week(not a porsche dealer). Anyway, I really like my wheels and they are in perfect shape so I was just wondering, is there any chance of damage to my rim by taking it to a local tire place to plug the hole in my tire? I would be livid if there was any scratches on my rim! I have heard(from my dad) that some places have "touchless" tire removel systems. Is that the best way to go? Also, is having a hole patched in my tire going to compromise the integrity of my tire at all? Thank you.

PorscheBoy · 03-07-2004, 08:13 PM

1 thing I have to stress Adam is that only ZR rated tires can be put safely on the the boxster because of high speeds... I would never want to drive on a patched or plugged tire at 100 mph plus... I also had a nail in one of my rear 18" P-zero with only 1K miles on it... I bought a new one... I am sure it can be done though...

Jay

Tool Pants · 03-08-2004, 02:57 AM

I have has flat repairs on both sets of tires over the years. This topic is always debated.

They remove your tire and inspect it. Since you were not driving on a flat it should be good and the nail is in the tread. It goes by different names, but my tire shop calls it a stem patch. It is put in from the inside of the tire. It is not the plugs you see at auto parts place that are inserted from the outside.

Make sure that they have the machine that does not touch your wheels or they can get scratched. Find out who the local Boxster 996 owners go to.

Adam · 03-08-2004, 05:51 PM

So, if they fix the leak, my tire won't blow out if I'm doing 130mph sometime will it? That could be bad. I'm thinking my 18" pilot sport rear tire costs about 4 hundo, so I really don't want to replace it with 5k on it. Thanks for the tip TP; I'll make sure I go touchless. BTW, no one has porsches in my area. Just a couple really. Oh, I don't think this matters, but I think I did drive the car when the tire was low, but definately not flat. The nail is doing a pretty good job of holding the air in still.