I was wondering if anyone has gotten a nail stuck into the tread part of the run flat tire? I got one the other day and the dealer told me that they cannot fix it, and I would have to buy a new tire! That sounds a little strange to me as my friend has a 2003 Corvette with run flat tires. He also got a nail stuck in it and the dealer put a plug in it as well as a patch on the inside of the tire. Does this procedure sound right? I can’t believe every time that we “run flat owners” get a stupid nail we will have to spend $250.00 or so every single time.

 

I got a nail last week. I took it in and they said it did not penetrate deep enough. They removed it and check for leaks. None were there. So it did not cost me a thing!

 

I got a nail in my MCS run flat, took it to a local tire shop and they patched it - that was 10,000 miles ago and have had no problems.

 

Local tire shop like Big O or discount?

 

Neither - they are a GoodYear distributor but sell all brands. They've been in business for 25 years and seemed to know what they are doing.

 

thanks for the info. everyone

 

Plugging can be done as long as the tire has not actually run without air pressure, and the puncture is in the tread, not the sidewall

Dan

 

Picked up a nail a year ago on 16" runflats. Drove 5 miles home, plugged it with the rubber strip type plugs. filled it with air and it's been good ever since.

 

Alex is correct. Finding someone who will believe that you did not run on low air (15psi for Bridgestones) can be another problem.

I find it very disingenuous of tire companies advertising that you can drive 50 miles at 50 mph and not telling you the tire must be replaced if you do.

 

+1 for Alex. The concern is if it's actually been run flat. Mine never went below 28psi but nobody would touch it and to be fair why should they believe me. Eventually found a small shop who plugged it for £8.
It's not that they can't be repaired more to do with they don't want to do it.

And let's be honest it's a good excuse for selling a £200 replacement.

 

I put a rod through my run flat. I stopped at a Firestone dealer and the owner said "You can patch some run flats and others the manufacturer does not allow". Then he went out and looked at my tire, wrote down the info, looked it up on the computer and said "Yep, we can patch it". While his guy patched it the owner showed me the computer saying he could patch it and then pulled one up that they were not allowed to patch. He even had a set of 4 run flats for my MINI but advised me to just patch what I had and I could get another 4-5000 out of them.

 

This was my experience as well. Had a nail in the middle of the tread, took it to discount tire. Told me some can be repaired, others can not. He looked mine up on the computer, mine was a 'can not'. After reading thru this thread, sounds like I should have taken it to another tire dealer.

 

Indeed.
The issue is not that RFT tires can not be patched (assuming no sidewall damage, as usual with regular tires). They can be.

Rather, many chain stores choose not to do so as a matter of policy. Partly for CYA legal reasons, partly because they use this tactic to (successfully) sell more tires.

Even 1 of my 2 favorite local independents chooses not to repair RFTs, but for business reasons. As he points out, RFTs are a PITA to dismount/re-mount, and the usual $20-35 people expect to pay for nail patching is just not worth the bother. He charges more to mount and balance RFTs for that reason as well.

Simple solution - if you have a nail hole in the thread of any tire, RFT or not, call ahead before you go to a local tire store.

a

 

My experience: dealer will only replace the tire....too expensive. I found small shop that plugged it for $23 and i had no problems...sound fix!

 

I had a nail in our old 07 MCS and put a plug in it myself with no problems. Did the same on a couple of Harleys too.

 

A plug without a patch can blow out.

 

If I have one go flat, I'll call AAA to come get me! I don't want to ruin one of those expensive wheels!