Rear Tire...Nail/Tread wear

[audiobliss]

I managed to get a nail lodged in the sidewall of my tire Friday night. Yes, that's right, the sidewall. And not necessarily close to the tread, either. Don't ask me how.

It's a long (long, long, long), skinny (skinny, skinny) finishing nail, I guess. It's in all the way through, but it doesn't seem to be leaking around the nail much at all, though I haven't checked the pressure to confirm that.

Dad had me take off the tire and put on the spare, and I was put in just a slightly awkward position. He says, "Look at the tread on that tire! You been spinning your tires that much?" I suppress a grin as much as I can and say, "I wouldn't have thought so."

Pic of the tire/wheel removed:

Close-up of the nail in the sidewall:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...3/ee370a1f.jpg
Pic of the inside of the wheel. I thought it looked cool from this side!
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...4/ee370a00.jpg
Here's looking down the center of the tread:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...a/ee3709a1.jpg
Here you can see some of the outside tread on the left, and the center tread in the center:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...8/ee370994.jpg
Here's a pic of the center tread again:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...1/ee370977.jpg
Here's a (bad) pic of the tread on the front tire for comparison sake...though you can't probably make out anything with it:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...a/ee37095b.jpg
And here's a pic of the Jeep with the spare tire. Boy that looks stupid!
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...1/ee370941.jpg

[audiobliss]

:( Why'd only the first picture show up?

[brettw22]

Was there a question that you wanted an answer to or just wanted to snap some pics and share?

[BlueMDPicker]

And here's a pic of the Jeep with the spare tire. Boy that looks stupid!

I think you should get three more to match it and call it good! :p

[audiobliss]

Yeah, I had no question. I just wanted to use up some bandwidth. ;)

Though, it would be nice to get y'all's opinion on patching a hole in the sidewall. Everybody we called said they wouldn't do it. Except for one of Dad's customers, from whom we bought the tire. He said he'd look at it and see what he could do. Anybody ever had a tire patched on the sidewall?

[audiobliss]

I think you should get three more to match it and call it good! :p

ROFL! Well, I couldn't go over 55mph, and I'd hafta change them every 50 miles, but boy I bet I could break 'em loose much easier! :p

[faster100]

patch on the inside would do fine.. hate to say a plug on a side wall but it would suffice..

[Fireman32]

I would never patch the sidewall to dangerous IMO. If that patch fails while doing 70mph down the highway you could be in a world of hurt. I used to work in a garage and nobody i knew would take the risk of patching a sidewall. I say suck it up and get a new tire.

[brettw22]

There isn't a tire company in the world that would tell you it's a good idea to patch a compromised sidewall. You want to risk it, go for it, but I bet you'd be pissed if you found out how bad of an idea that was driving down the freeway at 70.

[brettw22]

Good feedback fireman.........lol

[faster100]

never said it was safe at 70+.. however as tiny a nail that is the tire's not gonna tear apart from it.. They wont touch it for insurance reasons, if it blew for what ever reason they would be blamed for patching it.. I worked at a shop also for 7 years and had a tire shop next to us that we traded services with, Its all the liability

I agree though, get a new tire... unless your broke and wont be on the highway at 70 or 80+ and i still think it would be ok.. But it's not worth the risk of course

[audiobliss]

I bet you'd be pissed if you found out how bad of an idea that was driving down the freeway at 70.

I'm fairly sure I know 'how bad of an idea' it is. How in world could a tiny, tiny, tiny hole in the sidewall lead to a blowout?! Sure, if the patch came loose, as would be likely with all the flexing the sidewall will be doing, it would start losing air like it would now if I pulled out the nail. But I really don't see how such a small hole could in any way make a blowout more likely.

[audiobliss]

Oh, we can definitely get a new tire, and will depending on the advice the tire shop provides. But yes, I will definitely be doing 80+!

But you're right, Saturday we called at least 10 shops, and none of them would touch repairing a sidewall. All because of insurance reasons. But, like I said, all I can see happening is ending up somewhere with a flat tire, not a blowout.

[brettw22]

Think of an airplane and a small compromised rivet. Same theory applies.

[faster100]

Only the pressure of the plane is 1000 times the pressure psi of the tire and at the altitude..

It wont explode.. and the pressure inside would most likely hold the patch in place..

[Fireman32]

Oh, we can definitely get a new tire, and will depending on the advice the tire shop provides. But yes, I will definitely be doing 80+!

But you're right, Saturday we called at least 10 shops, and none of them would touch repairing a sidewall. All because of insurance reasons. But, like I said, all I can see happening is ending up somewhere with a flat tire, not a blowout.

Hopefully a flat tire is the worst that will happen but why take the chance. Even though its a small pinhole it has still weakend the sidewall and you have the chance of a blowout. Dont want to read another thread that your tire blew and wound upside down in a ditch.

[BlueMDPicker]

Psst... pull the nail out and see what happens. It may not have completely penetrated the sidewall. ;)

[brettw22]

I have nothin vested either way. Repair it or don't............have fun.

[faster100]

exactly, everyone has opinions.. it could last for years or fail.. no one really knows.. :)

[audiobliss]

Psst... pull the nail out and see what happens. It may not have completely penetrated the sidewall. ;)

First thing Dad did. It's about 6 inches long, so it's all the way through.

Thanks for the input, fellas. Makes sense that a blowout just might be possible, though I still think unlikely. Considering the safety compromise, and the wear already inflicted on the tire (only had it on the Jeep 8 months tops), I would be he'll just replace it. Anyhoo, he just left for the tire shop.

[BlueMDPicker]

You must have been following Ron-P too closely with his new "nails" feature on the Mini. :)

Good luck with the tire issue. I still think four mini spares would set you apart from the crowd.

[dorokusai]

I would just leave it in and go on an off-road trip into the mountains.

[sucks2beme]

Well, there's always the innertube fix!:p
I had one in a front tire about 12 years ago on a used car. Discovered it when we tried to break it free from the rim, and it caught us by surprize.
I have patched a lot of tires in the tread, but as cheap as I am, I never tried the sidewall. Just go for the new tire and play it safe. You know it will only fail
after patching in the middle of the night under the worse weather conditions.

[audiobliss]

Well, I just finished putting on a used Goodyear Wrangler tire. Has a bit more tread than the old tire, and it has no holes! :p

Guess I'm golden for a while longer.

[schwarcw]

Good move Michael! Better safe than sorry!

[F1nut]

So you're running a Goodyear on one side and a Bridgestone on the other? It's never a good idea to mix brands of tires on the same axle.

[sucks2beme]

Well, I just finished putting on a used Goodyear Wrangler tire. Has a bit more tread than the old tire, and it has no holes! :p

Guess I'm golden for a while longer.

Good!!! always drop the cash on tires and brakes.
When I was 16(long, long ago) I had 2 re-treads on the back of a Chevy Belair. One let go at 11:00 P.M at night at over 70mph. It was like a bomb going off. The rim was mangled. Lucky I wasn't.