Closed, move along

[LTC8K6]

IIRC, there is a lot of pressure on the sidewall all the time. The sidewall is constantly flexing under the load as the tire rolls.

 

[Gillbot]

the sidewall is much weaker than the tread and is subject to much more stress. the risk is the side of the tire ripping open like a zipper while you're driving.

edit to clarify - failed plug in tread = flat, usually. pailed plug in sidewall = possible wreck, rollover, et al, plus whatever havoc your debris wreaks after the tire shreds on the interstate.

Basically, blowout risk. Don't do it.

If you MUST, I would patch it from the inside.

 

[chazdraves]

For those still interested, the tire did just fine. I checked the pressure before I left this morning and there was no change. I talked to some of the other carriers who assured me I'm not the first. Also, none of them has had a dangerous blowout as a result.

That said, this is not to contradict the sound advice given in this thread. For the sake of liability, I would never recommend this solution to anyone - ever. I just wanted to mention that so far it's holding.

Thanks again, all!
- Chaz

 

[bommy261]

while your tire rotates, it flattens out on the road and expands when no weight in on it. At 80MPH your side wall expands and contracts probably 15 or more times a second. At what point does it seem that placing a plug on that part of your tire seem like a good idea?

 

[Arkaign]

while your tire rotates, it flattens out on the road and expands when no weight in on it. At 80MPH your side wall expands and contracts probably 15 or more times a second. At what point does it seem that placing a plug on that part of your tire seem like a good idea?

At the point in which he's not planning on driving anywhere remotely close to 80mph? Hah, I thought that was clear.

At low speeds of 35 and below, losing the tire is gonna be pretty uneventful.

Cliffs : sub 40mph, slow moving traffic = meh, not the best idea, but not that bad. 40mph+, and with higher traffic speeds = expect failure

 

[kaerflog]

I think you are just looking for a few people to tell you what you want to hear and that OK to have the repair on the sidewall.
You know its WRONG but you're looking for validation for it to be OK.

 

[Doppel]

It's fine to repair the sidewall. It's basically a myth that it can't be repaired and the nice thing about repairing it is that unlike the tread it doesn't make contact with anything later, so the repair is probably going to hold. I trusted my first, second, and now finally my current third family to sidewall repairs. The first two families unfortunately were lost in fiery crashes that I somehow survived and the accident findings were tire failure, but I think that was just bad luck. Approved materials to repair the sidewall include tire plugs, resin-dipped duct tape (must be 3M brand, not knock-off), and bees wax but *only* the stuff from African killer bee-hives. It's simply not safe to repair without that particular kind.

 

[Tsavo]

Chance at ending your life vs spending $50 on a new tire?

Some people are really bad at risk evaluation.

 

[Arkaign]

Hahaha people are so dramatic. It's like they've never had flat tires before. Driving slow on shitty tires is no biggie. Tires aren't filled with explosives and gasoline guys

 

[alkemyst]

Hahaha people are so dramatic. It's like they've never had flat tires before. Driving slow on shitty tires is no biggie. Tires aren't filled with explosives and gasoline guys

Driving slow on shitty tires is normal to you?

You do realize that even at 40mph a front tire suddenly blowing out is enough to send the vehicle spinning right?

I'd rather not have some pauper come crashing into me on my commute and this happens all the time down here.

"BOOM" and you see some rusted out Civic full of illegals go caraveening across three lanes of traffic, crashing into cars like a pinball machine.

The suck is it's usually other's dying and no one in the Rustbucket Express...

 

[Arkaign]

Driving slow on shitty tires is normal to you?

You do realize that even at 40mph a front tire suddenly blowing out is enough to send the vehicle spinning right?

I'd rather not have some pauper come crashing into me on my commute and this happens all the time down here.

"BOOM" and you see some rusted out Civic full of illegals go caraveening across three lanes of traffic, crashing into cars like a pinball machine.

The suck is it's usually other's dying and no one in the Rustbucket Express...

Hahaha

OP's tire is rear, and if we're to take his word, it's rural duty and I specifically advised only low-speed use until it can be replaced.

Still, I think all of the hysteria over this has been pretty funny. If you lose control of a car doing 35mph when a rear tire goes flat, you probably shouldn't have a driver's license to begin with. Of course, trying to drive down the freeway at 70mph with a sidewall-patched tire would be total lunacy, I'd even advise against 45mph honestly.

People lose tires all the time just due to road debris. Most of the time it's no big deal, but the greater the speed and the shittier the driver the worse things can get in a hurry.

 

[chazdraves]

Oh dear, I suppose the dam had to break at some point.

Day 2 and the tire's just fine.

For what it's worth, I'm not looking for approval, I'm looking for experience from others that have done it. If you care to respond, please read the whole thread. As cited above, this is a mail car on a rural route that is mostly in-town (despite the "rural" denotation). Small town, low speeds, open roads.

More to the point, this issue is resolved, and I thank Arkaign for the time he's spent in this thread. The tire is holding just fine, and I'm minding my behavior to ensure that any possible failure will be a safe failure.

Regards,
- Chaz

 

[Fenixgoon]

it amazes me how much people hate to pay for tires, but it's one of the most important parts on the car. they connect you/the car and the ground.

 

[alkemyst]

Mail car as in USPS mail? I certainly hope you didn't try to take care of this on your own if that's the case.

An accident from a government vehicle will cost us all a lot more than a $30 tire.

 

[BUTCH1]

Driving slow on shitty tires is normal to you?

You do realize that even at 40mph a front tire suddenly blowing out is enough to send the vehicle spinning right?

I'd rather not have some pauper come crashing into me on my commute and this happens all the time down here.

"BOOM" and you see some rusted out Civic full of illegals go caraveening across three lanes of traffic, crashing into cars like a pinball machine.

The suck is it's usually other's dying and no one in the Rustbucket Express...

Since we have NO vehicle inspection here in FL I also see a lot of WTF are you still driving that around!. OP, your better off buying a used tire if $$ is tight than relying on a sidewall repair..

 

[alkemyst]

Since we have NO vehicle inspection here in FL I also see a lot of WTF are you still driving that around!. OP, your better off buying a used tire if $$ is tight than relying on a sidewall repair..

QFT, and add that to the fact that they say about 2 in 3 driving have no insurance down here and it's like playing Russian Roulette.

Un/underinsured motorist coverage FTW!