My local garage identified what appears to be a (small?) nail in the tyre tread and suggested a visit to see a tyre fitter to have it removed. The tyre fitter says leave it alone as the tyre isn't leaking. Who is right? What would you guy's recommend? As the tyre is fairly new I certainly don't want to continue with it in and cause damage to the tyre.

 

The proper repair is to remove the tire from the rim, remove the nail, and place a vulcanizing patch from the inside, then resinstall the tire.

Find another shop.

 

I'd get it taken care of too, just the way whiteXKR said. Many times when something punctures a tire and stays in place it doesn't leak for a while. Then after a some time, it works itself a little loose and you get a slow leak (best case and most often the case) or a possible blow-out and ruined tire (worst case).

 

Where is the nail? If it's on the tread it is repairable, but if it's over towards the edge of the tread where there is a lot of flexing most tire places won't repair it. I got some brand new tires about three months ago and two months later one of them had a slow leak. I found the nail, and wouldn't you know it, it was towards the edge where tire shops say it is "unrepairable". I didn't want to have to replace a brand new tire, so I got a tire repair kit and plugged it myself. The kits have two tools in them; one is a reamer to enlarge the hole and roughen up the edges, and the other is a T-handle with what looks kinda like a screwdriver blade on it. However, the tip of the screwdriver is really an "eye" with an opening on the end. You plug the tire by inserting a string that's covered with tar-like stuff through the eye on the T-handle tool. Then you coat the string with rubber cement and jam it into the tire. At this point you don't want to shove the string completely into the tire. You want the two ends sticking out. Then, you'll pull the T-handle tool out of the tire and since the end of the "eye" is split, the string will slide out of it and the tire will be plugged.

I found some instructions on youtube. It's much easier to understand with a video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq3dDoYRlQg

 

These are not my words, but reflect my belief on this subject:

Tires have changed, and in the last few years we have been seeing ever increasing numbers of low profile, high performance tires. Many tire manufacturers do NOT permit the use of a plug to repair their tires. We have been instructed to use a "Patch/Plug assembly that is bonded to the inside of the tire. There are a number of reasons for using these. One is, the tire is taken apart, and examined for damage that often occurs when it gets run while low on air pressure. If you just slam a plug in a tire, you are assuming the tire is actually still OK, when in fact it might not be. A second reason is while the plug may seal the leak, it may not seal every layer of the tire. This can allow the air to force inbetween the layers of the tire, and litterally tear it apart from the inside. One of the most common failures that we see are seperated belts, this often happens because a plug didn't seal the entire depth of the failure. So in short, do plugs work "most of the the time" YES, they do. Do plugs fail to work, and actually cause problems? Yes it happens. Do you want a repair that is correct and will be trouble free 100% of the time? Use a patch/plug mounted from inside the tire.

That said, I have driven thousands of miles on plugs done at home without incident. Take your choice, but know the risks.

 

On the tire I plugged a few weeks ago, the nail was near the edge of the tread. It was far enough over that I know the tire shop wasn't going to patch it from the inside. I'm willing to take the chance on that tire. I've probably plugged 6 or 7 tires in the 29 years that I've been driving and I've never had a problem with any of them. I really like this new plug that I used because it included a bottle of rubber cement with it. I covered the little string with rubber cement before inserting it, and I'm sure that helps it seal the hole much better.

Also, from a physics perspective, the thing about separated belts didn't make any sense to me. There would be no pressure differential between belts.

 

This is exactly what happened to me. Get it taken care of before you ruin a million dollar tire.

 

Nails have simply got to be removed. The easiest repair is to pull the nail, ream out the hole and insert a plug with the tire on the car. Sometimes little air is even expended in this 2 minute job--and the shop often won't even charge me.

Fixing leaky tires are one of the new rackets. Many nationwide tire stores only pull the wheel/tire, dismount the tire, patche the hole from the inside, remount and rebalance the tire. It all comes at a cost. Heaven help you if you have a stem mounted air pressure sensor, as they're going to charge you a big surcharge in case they hurt your sensor when mounting and remounting the tire. And, they won't begin do do a patch anywhere toward the edge of the tire or fix a leaky tire that has less than X/32's of tread. They're just being a little conservative in the liability department--and starting to get a little too greedy in the cost department.

Walmart is putting blue thread locker on the oil pan plug and the oil filters to show if anyone has removed them between oil changes. I guess they're not wanting to pickup the cost of replacement engines with customers draining and then replacing the oil.

 

Ok, here is a lesson I learned about tires. I had just bought my jag and the only thing wrong with the tires was they were very worn out. So, I decided to take the jag out onto highway 62 and see just how fast it would go. (Not Recommended) To make a long story short, the left rear tire exploded and I left highway 62 going 85 miles per hour. You know, you don't realize just how fast 85 miles per hour is until trees are shooting by your side window as you fly threw the forest screaming like a little girl...but i digress. The repair of the jaguar was in the thousands of dollars. The price for new tires would have been a few hundred.... fix your tire bro.

 

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. I have today had the nail removed - it turned out to be only a small part of a nail - and all is well. no charge from the garage who did it is an added bonus!

 

well done Rayg

 

Any puncture of a speed-rated tire immediately removes its speed rating.

Any puncture within the outer 25% of the tread area is considered non-repairable for on-road usage.

Rasp & plunge (from the outside of the tire) repairs are for lawn mower tires, etc. If you ever see such a repair being performed at an auto/truck/tire repair facility, take your business elsewhere.

Provided that the puncture is in the safe area of the tire, and you don't push the tire above the basic speed rating of your tire type have it fixed - properly. That means marking the tire's position to the rim (to avoid rebalancing) removing the tire from the rim, inspecting the inside of the tire for damage (how long was it run flat/low on air?) reaming the hole so the steel cord inside doesn't hacksaw the repair stem, and using an approved patch that also protrudes through the tread, thereby also sealing the cords of the tire in order to not allow water/debris to enter the body of the tire and cause further damage down the road.

There's a little more to it than patching an inflatable doll. Isn't your safety, and that of your family/friends/neighbors and other peeps worth more than a couple extra bucks?