Repairing a puncture - good idea or bad ?

[olly]

Notice over the last few weeks that the Cerb was loosing about 6psi over a 2 week period in 1 of the rear tyres. Took the wheel off & there was a nail right in the middle of the tyre.

Took it down to the local Tyre Web & they said it was perfectly fine to fix it rather than replace it (which is what I have had done).

A couple of friends have viewed this as 8100dy stupid, other have been a little sceptical, where as other think it's absolutely fine.....

Any opinions gratefully received !

[hobo]

I am sure the people who have repaired it know what they are doing, but me personally would put a new one on.

Last thing you want is something like that in the back of your mind, when giving it some.

[Plotloss]

Fine on the tread of the tyre, sidewall repairs are a no no though.

[raceboy]

Perfectly fine, I've got a plug in one of my rears, and racedad has had the boots on his Alpina plugged before, I'd keep an eye on it, and probably replace the rear pair a little earlier than normal but it should be fine

[Tripps]

Most decent tyre companies have guidelines from the manufacturs on the wall indicating they can and cannot do. With our lawyer-friendly society I'd imagine they err on the side of caution, rather than suffer a "my tyre blew out on the motorway and I crashed after you repaired it" lawsuit.

Mind you, Kwik Fit and the like will try and flog you expensive tyres given half a chance rather than repair them, even when they don't stock tyres anything like the ones you have on.

[olly]

Ok, my worries have been put to rest..... Thanks !

Will keep an eye on it, but I think general consensus is it should be fine - that what I like to hear !

[gary judd]

hi
should be no probs with a nail I have done track days in my cerb after puncture repair

gar

[SlowRider]

I rang Goodyear for advice on a similar issue. They were very knowledgable and helpful. Might be worth a phone call to the manufacturer.

[jam1et]

I was trying to make the same decision last week. After conflicting advice on here I went and spoke to a local tyre specialist. He assured me 100% that its ok to repair (even for track use!) provided they follow the correct guidelines. They have a special measure that indicates the limits within which they can make a repair (e.g. different tyres have different limits as to how close to the sidewall you can make a repair).

He also said that if there was the slightest chance of it failing, no one would repair them as the legal repercussions could be very costly. The modern 'mushroom' method of repair is considerably different (safer) to what was used a few years ago.

In the end I had mine repaired for about 12 quid. It would have cost £200+ to replace because the tread was quite worn - having unequal tyre wear on the fronts is not advisable so both would need replacing.

>> Edited by jam1et on Thursday 30th September 10:48

[swilly]

No.

A repaired tyre cant be as strong as an undamaged tyre.

Undamaged tyres go pop sometimes.

On a Ford Fiesta maybe, but on a Cerb.

I wouldn't under any cirumstances.

[FlipFlopGriff]

I wouldn't chance it for £150 or so. It would play on my mind everytime the car was driven so for the cost of a new one to be given the piece of mind and reduce the potential likelihood of damage if it did blow I think is a small price to pay.
FFG

[BT52]

swilly said:

No. A repaired tyre cant be as strong as an undamaged tyre. Undamaged tyres go pop sometimes. On a Ford Fiesta maybe, but on a Cerb. I wouldn't under any cirumstances.

Nope, a repaired tyre is fine and no more likely to fail than a brand new one.
Get it fixed for £10 and forget about it

Mark

(PS anyone who is sceptical and would rather replace them, can you please give them to me rather than throw them away)

>> Edited by BT52 on Thursday 30th September 16:07

[WilliamBall]

swilly said:

No. A repaired tyre cant be as strong as an undamaged tyre.

Nope...the rubber in the tread area does nothing for the actual 'strength' of the tyre - it's not like a balloon! The strength comes from the metal/fabric/whatever chords within the carcass. If these are damaged, then the tyre should not/cannot be repaired (and this will be in the repairers guidelines), but if the carcass is undamaged then there's no problems.

On a tubeless tyre, the tread is under compression when the tyre is inflated so it 'holds' nails and other objects in. The sidewalls, on the other hand, aren't. Tubeless tyres don't go 'pop' from damaged in the tread area, only sidewall damage. Tubed tyres are a different kettle of fish, and the tubes are in tension and they can go pop like a balloon.

Imagine the tyre in the tread area as 3 components. The tread on the outside make it stick to the road. It makes precious little difference to the strength of the tyre (think about it, you wear maybe 10cm of it off in normal use anyway), and as for a hole in it....so what....it's got bl**dy great grooves and channels in it for the tread.

The carcass (metal/fabric/whatever weave) gives the tyre its strength. Like any fabric from a string vest to a close weave, so long as the object goes between the 'holes' in the weave then the strength isn't compromised. If the weave is cut though, then yes, the strength is compromosed. So, damage to the weave means repair is a no-no, but without damage, there's no problem.

Of course a string vest or a weave doesn't hold much air in, so there's a layer of rubber on the inside. If this is punctured then air gets out. But all it's doing is keeping the air in! It's not giving strength to the tyre, so a repair that stops the air getting out again is fine.

It isn't like putting a sticking plaster on a balloon! More like putting a plug in a bath.

I've had tyres repaired in the tread area and with no damage to the carcass weave many times with no problems...track days and all.

and the worst case scenario, if the repair fails you go back to a slow puncture - you don't get a blow-out.

WB

all in my humble opinion yadda yadda yadda for any lawyers out there...don't follow my advice...I may not know what I'm talking about...I'm not qualified to offer advice...make your own mind up etc etc

[jam1et]

swilly said:

No. A repaired tyre cant be as strong as an undamaged tyre. Undamaged tyres go pop sometimes. On a Ford Fiesta maybe, but on a Cerb. I wouldn't under any cirumstances.

Do you think garages would do it if there was the remotest chance of it failing resulting in injury or death?
This is from Goodyear's website:

"Tyre repairs should be made by a trained tyre professional. Proper repair procedure will include dismounting the tyre from the wheel for a thorough inspection to check for damage, and the use of a patch and plug to repair any punctures that fall within the limits and guidelines for repair."

Surely if a reputable tyre manufacturer says its ok then I'd be inclined to agree. If there was any doubt about repair rather than replacement, surely as a tyre manufacturer they would be only to pleased to point it out.

Provided the tyre is repaired to British Standard 159 there wont be any problems.

>> Edited by jam1et on Friday 1st October 11:22