I picked-up a thin nail in my driver's side back run-flat yesterday. It is in the interior sidewall. Don't know how it could happen! I was just cruising down a well travelled two-lane. My tire supplier said it can't be fixed and I need to replace the tire. I have the Goodyear run-flats. Price is $279 plus.

Can a sidewall puncture be patched?

Thanks for all responses!

 

Depends on the size of the nail. I drove on Yokohama non-runflats for 6 months with a very small nail in the tire. I finally replaced them when it only held about 10 psi. Probably the most irresponsible thing I have done in a while. I think with it being a runflat you should have some time, but I am obviously NOT a tire expert. Plus, it really depends on the size of the nail. I don't think I helped you much, sorry.

 

same answer as you did for sidewalls...can't be repaired. *shrug* Such is life and the main reason I opted for the standard all season cheapest to replace tires. $279 for one tire is just silly. I don't care if it's runflat or not.

 

My Dealer recently replaced my 2K mile old runflat.
It had a screw on the thread but the dealer said it was close to the sidewall and it couldn't be patched. Another shop said, it could be patched, but no guarantee. I didn't have to pay for it because I got suckered into buying one of those tire warranty when i bought my car. And I'm glad I did..
If it is on the sidewall, I doubt it can be patched.

 

Second that. Sidewall punctures cannot be patched

 

Thanks for the responses.


Now for the second question...should I put it on the front as it is time for rotating, or on the back?

 

$279 for replacing that tire?!?

One of those tires from TireRack is $157. So for the other ~$100 what do you get?

 

OK, it's probably not the best deal but it is $288 out-the-door including tax, balancing and rotating all tires. This is for next day service. I live in a smaller town and we have community perspective of trying to use local merchants whenever possible.

 

If it makes sense to you, support local merchants. :smile: I would,
especially if they can mount tires without scratching the rim.

 

I live in a small community...the local tire place charged me $20 to mount and balance my Miata tires...but would have charged over $100 more than TireRack. So I bought the tires and had them shipped...Local guy installed them.

The same local place will do run-flats. I think I may do the same for the MINI.

 

$157 is not the final price. Shipping at $25 or so. Then mounting, balancing, federal taxes, old tire disposal fee - man, they sure have a number of ways to squeeze money out you for tires!

 

Why are you replacing it??

Is it even leaking air? That's the most important question. Spray some water on it to see if it bubbles (thus losing air) or if not, just check on it every so often.

Lots of times the nail does not go thru all the way thus, the tire is not leaking.

Or did you realize you had a nail after losing air

 

Back when I was young and dumb (as opposed to today, when I'm seasoned and dumb) I had a sidewall slashed by a coke bottle on my new 31" offroad Michelins. Bandag - the re-tread folks, vulcanized my sidewall, and I got 60,000 from that repair, 'course I nearly went bald with worry that any moment might be my last with the sidewall splitting, but, hey those folks really fixed that tire. Would I recommend it for anyone else? Definately not, but if you are adventurous, and damn near broke like I was at the time, it just might work.

 

My pressure monitor chimed and the light stayed on. Pressure was down 4 lbs from the rest of my tires in a matter of a couple of minutes.


I have replaced the tire. Again, our local tireman did the job...without a scratch...mounted, balanced, rotated and then out-the-door. Was there for about 20 to 30 minutes. Real quick and I watched the whole procedure.

The nail was all the way through. There was about 1/2 an inch on the inside and an inch outside at the sidewall.

Was it expensive? Yes! How much more than tire rack...about $40 after all costs figured-in, but I had next day service in an out-of-the-way location, my local guy got business, I didn't have to stress it and they were careful...no scratches. Funny thing was that when I pulled-in, there was another MCS needing at least two tires getting done. Just worn-out.

Thanks for all the responses and I am happy all worked out well.

 

first off...never, never, never...patch/plug/fix a sidewall puncture. I used to own a garage and that is one thing you can never depend on is a sidewall repair


and second, how in the heck did you get a "local" place to mount your run flat? I had to take mine about 40 miles away to have a set dismounted due to the fact that they need something special to dismount/mount the tires. I watched/helped in the process and those tires are no joke when it comes to taking them off the rim.

 

picked up my new tire mounted from dealer last weekend.
Charges were a bit over $350 (I had tire warranty so paid $0)
$279 isn't that bad.