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Patching a tire sidewall

3

37chief

Well-known Member
Location
California
I have a new tire on my pickup. It has a slow leak. I air it up every few days. I had time to have it patched today. They found a small hole in the sidewall, just below the thread. They said they can't patch a side wall. Since I have road hazard repair on my tire, the shop said I can have a new tire. That will be 24.00 to mount, and another road hazard guarantee for 28.00. So for 52.00 I can be back on the road again. I thought I would ask you guys what you thought about patching a sidewall, with a very slow leak. Stan
 
Buy the new tire. The patch will never hold on a sidewall. The constant flexing will cause failure.Soon or later....But it WILL fail.Yes its hard to scrap a new tire,but "$#!+ happens".
 
We've had side wall leaks and brought them in to get patched. Nobody will patch them. Kinda seems a little silly, but in today's world, it would not be unlikely that they get sued when the tire bursts.
 
I don't think you have a lot of choice. Nobody will fix a sidewall. I can't even get someone to fix the sidewall on the front tire of a small garden tractor. The guy said if it failed at freeway speed they would be liable. Figure that one out.

I don't know what gives with tires anyway. Used to be if the hole was anywhere where there was tread they would patch it. Now a lot of places will only patch a 3" wide strip down the center.
 
Patch on a side wall will not hold up long. I have how ever put a patch on then put a tube in and run them till you have nothing left of them but of course you need a radial type tube
 
I have both patched and put tubes in them with success. Good luck though getting a tire repair shop to do either. Not saying it won't fail, but I have not had one to fail and I have done 2 or 3 and no problems with them. I even plugged one for temp use till I could purchase a tire. I have always heard they will not hold, but funny no one will say they patched and had one fail (might ask just to see what they base this on). BTW, that would be last road hazard I would purchase, as what good is a guarantee if you have to pay. I always figured that to be the case, much like extended warranties.
 
I talked to my wife's boss about your tire. He has sold and repaired tires for decades. He says replace the tire a patch will fail, maybe not right away but it will fail. He also told me that no tire shop with any sense will mess with a sidewall leak do to liability issues.

Rick
 
I think you are getting cheated...I had a 60,000 mile car tire separate at less than 3000 miles and it didn't cost me a thing to get a new tire,get it mounted, and the road hazard was switched over to the new tire..Another time I had quite a few more miles and it was only $25 total...I do realize that your truck probably has expensive tires..

Several times Wally World wouldn't patch a tire for me but one of the local tire shops will if its not too far up the sidewall....Wally World has gotten very picky on what they will patch..It has to have so much tread left or they won't do it.....I pretty much stay out of there..
 
Carquest sells a good tire sealant. I like it better than the green slime. I have even used it to help balance a tire. Might be worth a try
 
Just curious if anyone has experience with a failed patch on a sidewall? I have seen this question asked many times, and the answer is always that they will fail, and I have been told the same many times, and replaced a lot of otherwise good tires at the recommendation of the shop (that also sells tires ironically), but is the reason due to trying and having failed tires, or just rumor or old wives tales? Not trying to defend or say it is ok, and the ones I have tried was for something I drove myself, usually driven short trip locally, and usually patched and put a tube in so double the protection, and no issues. I have seen failed patches under the tread as well, but usually not a blowout. I'd like to hear from those with experiences with sidewall failures.
 
The patch does not stay in place on the side wall due to the way the side walls flex I have tried it in the past and they do not stay in place but I have put a patch on the side wall then a tube and run them till they could not be run any longer
 
Tube will cost you that much by the time you buy it, mount and balance, better off replacing.
 
I've patched sidewalls before as long as there is no structural damage, just a hole. I have not had one fail. I've also done the tube route with no trouble.
 
I have patched some before when I was a lot poorer. I also patched plenty of side wall tears on the dirt car but those almost always had tubes.

They make a special patch that goes on a sidewall and it comes in different sizes. The last ones I bought were made in Germany. I think they are intended for agricultural use but they go on a certain way and are designed to flex with the sidewall.

For a highway tire it would be best to go the most conservative route and replace it.
 
I have had same experiences with patch and tube and wore the tire out. Worth it if the tire is a good tire and a lot of good miles left on it.
 
I got into that with Discount Tire!

Will never darken the door of that place again!

Lie #1: Nail an inch from the edge of the tread not repairable.

Lie #2: Said it had been run flat, it went flat sitting in the garage overnight.

No money in doing repairs. No sales commission for repairing tires. But they were sure ready to sell me a new one!

Took it to a local shop, repaired for $15.
 
The only way I'd ever run a tire that had a sidewall repair is if I put the plug in myself and use it ONLY as a spare. There is too much sidewall flex for a tire to be repaired and have a consistent repair where it wouldn't fail or leak.
 
Grandpa used to have the patches that you clamped and lit with a match and stood back and watched the show. new patches with chemical glue don't hold. You could patch it and use it as a spare. I haven't tried these but I have seen a patch plug in one used on a truck before.
 
I don't know what it would hurt to attempt to repair the sidewall of a very small three rib tire. It's obvious it's an off road tire. The tires are pretty heavy compared to the light weight of the tractor. I don't think the sidewall would flex at all. Anyway it was a brand new tire I just bought two weeks prior and they were a difficult size to find. I wasn't going to attempt to buy another so right now I have four plugs in the hole and slime in the tire. It stays up for a couple years and starts leaking.
 
I have picked up a few tires for free that had holes in the side wall and used them on the farm for tractors etc. Some of which are so good one could patch and then put a tube in and use on the road
 
I have mounted and balanced many semi loads of tires. Those prices quoted are a rip off. Every car and pickup tire that went out of our door had a road hazard warentee. They cost us 2.00 for every tire.
 
This is part of the reason I purchased a Harbor Freight tire changer, and on steel rims I do my own repairs. I would like to do more, but most everything now has aluminum rims, and the changer scars them up pretty badly. Many tire shops are simply about the profit, not pleasing the customer. The will tell you it is about the liability, and I can somewhat understand that, but what I see more is they want to sell tires, and even when purchasing new tires you have to make sure to price them out the door. I called around looking for a set for my wifes truck a few years back, and I was very glad, as they insisted on replacing no only the valve stems, pressure sensors, charging for every item, making the set well over $700!. Found a small tire shop that did not try to sell me all the extras and got out the door for way less. But the small guys nail you too, as I carried in a set of tires that I had mounted myself (bought online), and simply wanted them balanced. The guy did not even have to put the car on the lift, or turn a lug nut, but nailed me for the same price for balancing - $40, and he was finished in less than 10 minutes. I should have made him put the car on the lift and mount them.
 
Agreed. I'd find a new tire place. The mounting should be free under warranty and unless these are $300-$400 tires the road hazard price is way too high.
 

What costs more? A new tire or a blowout that ruins the rim and the possibility of a wreck with a bus load of nuns and orphans.
 
You said it was a pin hole so its a very small hole. Why not just tube it if its a pin hole and be done with it?
 
All the manufactures say no sidewall patches. Now there seems to be a BIG discrepancy as to what a side wall is ! According to Walmart it goes clear up into the tread over an inch or more ? They use some goofy gauge made by their legal team. We just had one that was over an inch up from the sidewall edge of the tread into the tread area. Had to go to a local shop and it was not a problem.
 
(quoted from post at 09:16:26 06/08/16) You said it was a pin hole so its a very small hole. Why not just tube it if its a pin hole and be done with it?
Click to expand...

With a tube or simple inside patch without a "plug". The belts are expose people to water, salt, oil, manure etc and deteriate .
 
I think Walmart has laws that no body else has heard of. They tried telling me they could put tires on my car because they were oversize ( car had originals on it) saying it was a federal law. I went to our local tire shop that has been in business longer than Walmart been around. I told them what Walmart said and they said there is no federal law its one of Walmarts stupid laws. Since then I buy very little stuff from walmart.
 
I wouldn't plug it either, I put a set of new Goodyears on my daughters car, month or two later she's got a big nail about 3/4 inch from the edge of the tread. I plugged it, ordered a new tire and she was only to drive the mile and a half to school and back. It's a frickn tire, it isn't worth getting my daughter or anybody else hurt if something goes wrong because I think I'm smarter than a tire engineer.
 
(quoted from post at 13:38:50 06/08/16) I wouldn't plug it either, I put a set of new Goodyears on my daughters car, month or two later she's got a big nail about 3/4 inch from the edge of the tread. I plugged it, ordered a new tire and she was only to drive the mile and a half to school and back. It's a frickn tire, it isn't worth getting my daughter or anybody else hurt if something goes wrong because I think I'm smarter than a tire engineer.
Click to expand...

1000 "likes" for this post.
 
If its a small hole like nail you could plug it and use a plug with glue and than tube it. As far as flexing the tread flexes just as much as the side walls. The whole tire flexes every time it rotates and hits the pavement.
 
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