Is it safe....?

[sandy]

Remember Laurence Olivier asking that question to Dusting Hoffman in "Marathon Man"? Well, that was about diamonds and my question is about tire plugs.

This afternoon I added to my "collection" a new 2010 V6 in Black/Black. Drove it home about 20 miles from the dealer and parked next to my 2009 Titanium Gray/Black V6.

Went inside to study the Navigation manual (didn't have that before) and after a few hours went back outside to admire my beautiful new car.

And I see the driver's side front tire is flat as, well, a pancake.

I'll skip over the emotional reaction....called Hyundai Roadside Service and spoke to a rep who didn't even have the 2010 in the system yet and the Vin came up blank. Told them the problem and they skipped any hassle about the paperwork and dispatched help...couldn't have ben nicer.

(The rep I spoke to asked if my Genesis, since it was a Hyundai, was a small, front wheel drive sedan)

25 minutes later help arrives..Because the tire is so flat and the car so low they can't get their 3-ton jack under the frame. The Hyundai Jack in the trunk won't fit either.

However, this is one area in which I am an expert because my '65 Jaguar XKE is even lower to the ground and the way I learned to get a jack under it was to run the front wheels up on some "ramps" I made with 2 x 12's.

This solved the jacking problem for the Genesis as well, they remove the tire and find a one and a half inch screw in the middle of the tread.

The guy says he can plug it for me (costs extra) and he does and so here I am.

Question is, are these plugs safe?

 

[TNTitan]

Yes.

 

[ASHDUMP]

I had a tire with a plug in it that lasted a very long time. I also had a screw in the Genesis front wheel. I brought it to a place that actually took the tire off the rim and "patched" it. Not sure which method is better.

 

[TJPark01]

plugs are usually fine. But I would have the tire patched. The tire is removed from the rim to check for structural damage from the inside. If it's deemed safe a patched is placed from the inside and the tire is placed back on the rim and balanced, mounted, off you go. If you have a Discount Tire/America's Tire near you, they will do it for free.
http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/home.do

 

[JDC]

Yes, tread plugs on a tire with reasonable tread is safe. In the side wall no. On a motorcycle, no all the way around.

 

[MrB0462]

Plugs in the tread are borderline. Plugs in the side wall are a definite no.

Second best choice is to have the hole in the tread repaired by vulcanizing. Done by removing the trie from the rim and as TJPark describes.
Best choice is replacing the tire, but more expensive and vulcanizing may be almost as good.

Dave

 

[HeavyG]

I've had plugs put in the tire tread before with no ill effects. Plugs are OK as long as you have a decent amount of tread on the tire. The big caveat is what made the hole. Items like nails or any else with a smooth side leave a puncture with smooth sides and a plug shouldn't be a problem. Screws can leave a jagged hole, reducing the effectiveness of a plug. You'd have to have the service guy look at it to see if a plug will do the job. Finally, make sure they rebalance your wheel after the plug job.

 

[Javelina]

Any good plug kit comes with a reamer to smooth the hole before inserting the plug. I've put tens of thousands of miles on several plugged tires with zero problems.