Repair or replace tire

LPSISRL · Tue Oct 14, 2014 5:37 pm

Hey, I just had my first flat on my Kizzy. Right rear. It was not a blowout and it went down when parked. I found a small nail in the groove nearest the outside of the tire so it is not in the sidewall. I just bought these Continentals from Tire Rack a few months ago so they have less than 7500 miles on them. They come with Road Hazard so I was checking out the small print. Turns out that Continentals have a primary replacement coverage rather then repair. However, you have to pay shipping, mounting, etc. The repair reimbursement is $25. At this point, I don't see any benefit in replacing such a new tire that is easily fixed.

Any thoughts on this?
Thanks!

Tue Oct 14, 2014 5:53 pm

Given it's rather new, I'd get it professionally fixed with a patch-and-plug. Tire plugs like the one in my DIY write-up aren't the best solutions to flats as they compromise tire integrity somewhat and don't do anything from the inside. See how much a tire shop will charge to get the puncture professionally fixed. While a replacement sounds appealing for the relatively low cost, I agree that it's rather wasteful for a repairable tire in good condition.
Here's more info in case you have not seen it yet on the best type of tire repairs.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/ ... ?techid=77

LPSISRL · Tue Oct 14, 2014 7:40 pm

Thanks for the link. I didn't know that about patching tires. Never too old to learn.

Tue Oct 14, 2014 8:12 pm

LPSISRL wrote:Thanks for the link. I didn't know that about patching tires. Never too old to learn.

Yeah, but given that the tire needs to come off of the wheel for patch work, it's really a pro's job.

KansasKid · Tue Oct 14, 2014 8:18 pm

If anyone tries to give you any grief about plugging your tire, I would suggest taking it to another tire place. My fiancee-at-the-time ran over a bracket that had two MASSIVE bolts sticking out of it about 2 inches apart from one another. I took it to 2.5 tire places that all told me they wouldn't patch it because the holes from the bolts were too close to one another (the 1/2 a tire place being the one I called instead of showing them the tire). I was trying to save money for a wedding at the time, and I didn't want to replace just the tire(s) because they all had about 15K miles on them at the time.

Eventually I took it to an NTB that was right across the street from the third place I showed my tire. They fixed it right up, and I was able to take a 700+ mile trip on the patches that they gave me with no problems. The tires are the OEM Dunlops, with 19K-ish miles on them, so they are pretty worn out now, just in time for winter...

Anyways, I took in just the wheel to get it patched up and put the wheel back on myself, so they only charged me like $15-20/plug and I can't remember if they charged me for labor or not.

What's the group consensus on replacing tires of AWD Kizashi's? I hear the general rule of thumb for AWD vehicles is that you're supposed to replace all the tires at the same time, but I'm not entirely sure how necessary that is.

Tue Oct 14, 2014 8:43 pm

KansasKid wrote:
What's the group consensus on replacing tires of AWD Kizashi's? I hear the general rule of thumb for AWD vehicles is that you're supposed to replace all the tires at the same time, but I'm not entirely sure how necessary that is.

It's best to replace all the tires at the same time and have all the tires be the same tire. Basically, all 4 need to be the same tire of the same condition.
This is for the sake of protecting the transfer case from eventual damage caused by uneven and/or mismatched tires.
I was told this firsthand by a Subaru tech when I owned an AWD Impreza. It should be no different for a Kizashi. I like to stick with this even for my FWD Kizashi and recently replaced all 4 tires at the same time.

I also want to add that this is also important when getting snow tires, regardless of drivetrain. There's not much point getting only snow tires on one axle given snow tires do more than grip in acceleration. They are also paramount in snow and ice braking performance.

murcod · Wed Oct 15, 2014 12:10 am

It cost me around $20 last time I had a repair done. That was me taking the wheel in off the vehicle and them fitting a mushroom style plug from the inside. I then refitted the wheel on the vehicle myself.

If it's only a small nail you shouldn't have any problems. It's certainly a huge waste trashing the tyre and sounds like it will end up costing your more money (and time) if you go down that path?

LPSISRL · Wed Oct 15, 2014 3:02 pm

Bad news. There is sidewall damage that does not look related to the nail. There was also a stick jammed into one of the treads near the sidewall but it did not puncture. Not sure how the sidewall was damaged. Maybe hit a concrete chunk or something. Good news: I ordered a new tire from tirerack.com yesterday after 5:00 PM and I should receive it today. Not bad for ground shipping. Now let's see how it goes for the rest of the process and getting credit for the tire I bought as per the road hazard.

twoqttsdad · Wed Oct 15, 2014 6:26 pm

FYI.

A plug and patch combo is recommended by the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA). A plug by itself is considered unacceptable.
I've done many plug only repairs on my car in my younger days with no issues though. Multiple plugs in a tire, right next to each other! Even in the shoulder area! (Kid not knowing any better and on a budget.)
Any reputable tire shop will dismount the tire and inspect the inner casing for any damage or deformation to the liner, then apply a plug patch if conditions permit, including patches that do not overlap. The idea of spending $ to replace a new tire sucks, but people do what they have to do to survive, whether or not to spend the money to do it right.

http://www.rma.org/tire-safety/tire-repair/

KansasKid · Wed Oct 15, 2014 7:34 pm

Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me twoqttsdad; the plugs that the shop installed were supposed to be the plug&patch kind. I wasn't around when they actually fixed it, so I just have to assume that's what they used. The other tire places mentioned that the patches would overlap, but I'm pretty sure the patches are just barely touching, not necessarily overlapping. And replacing one tire wouldn't have been so bad, but as KuroNekko said, you're supposed to replace all 4 on AWD vehicles. It was the notion that I had to replace all 4 tires that was a bit difficult to stomach.

Sorry to hear about the sidewall situation LPSISRL, but it sounds like you were able to get it taken care of. I'm guessing you have a FWD SLS?