I was drilling into the floor of my trunk, and hit the sidewall of 1970's vintage Sears brand original spare tire. Probably 30 years old. Anyway, I pulled it out, put in a tubleless tire plug, and let it sit for 24 hours with 35psi in it. It seems to be holding, but is it safe to put back in as a spare tire?
safe to put in for a spare for looks only...i don't think you would want to use a tire that old, without a plug.. ...frank...
trouble with sidewalls is the lack of reinforcement. once that tire starts squishing around with weight on it, the hole will distort and the plug will fail. Replace with known good unit.
definitely not. my wife just got a 5" screw through the sidewall. had a little over 4000 on the tire. no road hazard on it. had to buy a new tire.
That's right. Unless you are planning on using it for show only. I don't know about the regulations down there but up here it is actually against DOT regulations to do this. The sidewall in a tire flexes and if there were a plug in there it could eventually work its way out, possibly leading to disaster, and Murphy's law would have it on the freeway.
That is what I thought, but someone told me to plug it, it should be ok. Thought I would ask the EXPERTS (read, "done it before, it didn't work") at the Maverick-Comet Forum! It is the stock 14" tire, possibly the original spare. I could swap it with a new/used tire for $10. And be safe.
The number one reason to not put a plug in the sidewall is once a side wall tears it continues to do so. Sometimes it ends up the plug comes out others times the tire lets loose and comes apart when your cruising on the highway. They do make a sidewall patch plug that is reinforced and is patched from the inside yet still has plug to help fill the gap. Personally I wouldn't chance it.
$10.00 bucks versus a bad wreck! a no brainer, you can try coker tire in chattanooga they might have a new one just like it. never plug a side wall, break down the tire and at the very least put a patch then put a tube in it if you plan to use it as a road tire.also wheel vintiques may have a tire like that also.
there is also more pressure on the side wall than that of the tread....the sidewall supports the weight of the car and it flexs in turns i saw a jeep guy use it for a gash to the sidewall in a BFG 33 inch mud tire....gash was about 3 inches long and it worked....but he was driving down the road one day and it let loose....flipped the jeep over...he was in the hospital for 2 weeks think first good luck
"I could swap it with a new/used tire for $10. And be safe." here i go again ..."$10 tire and safe" do not go in the same sentence...your friend frank...
Pep Boys - 25 bux http://www.pepboys.com/tires_wheels/economy/cornell_535.html (hmmm.. does "25 bux" and "safe" go together?)
Remember, this is the spare on the stock 14" rim (195/75r14). I will hopefully never drive on it, and if it only has half the tread (for $10) then if I ever do need it, it should be safer than driving on those donuts the new cars come with. At least it will be rated for higher than 45mph max, since it is a real tire. I will not be racing on it, just getting home or to the tire shop. I don't see an issue with "$10 and Safety" since this would be a newer version of the same tires I was drag racing with just 6 months ago, and those were crispy 30 year old, dry-rotted tires. I put those under serious (and stupid) abuse, and never got rid of them until I threw a belt (not off, just put the tire out of round and made the car shake and shimmy). Then I replaced all 4 except the one in the trunk. I would not even think twice to spend $25 or $30 for a reliable spare. Reliable=holds air for over a year.
