What would you do?

[tatoweb]

2022 Plaid. 7,000 miles on these tires. Discount Tire says there’s 5/32 left.

Obviously, no big name tire shop would plug it so I did it at a mom and pop one.

I have 2 questions:

1) how safe is it to have a plugged tire on a 1020hp 170mph car?.

2) if a replacement is a must, should I replace both rears or just the bad one?.

Thanks.

 

[uscbucsfan]

4/32 is what Tesla says to replace at...so you should replace anyway.

 

[DerbyDave]

Replace tires in pairs, particularly if replacing one tire with a new one, while the other tire is worn out.
To me, patching a tire on a performance car is like putting Regular gas in your high performance ICE car that requires Premium gas -- just sell the car and get a Prius.

 

[Sam1]

2022 Plaid. 7,000 miles on these tires. Discount Tire says there’s 5/32 left.

Obviously, no big name tire shop would plug it so I did it at a mom and pop one.

I have 2 questions:

1) how safe is it to have a plugged tire on a 1020hp 170mph car?.

2) if a replacement is a must, should I replace both rears or just the bad one?.

Thanks.

I have zero issues running plugged tires as long as they have a mushroom plug installed properly (ground down mating surface and chemically vulcanized). But...the picture you have there shows damage on the corner of the tread block; I would not even consider using that tire if it was repaired.

<edit> one of the many reasons the big shops won't repair that is that it's too close to the corner where you can't ensure a flat mating surface between the plug and tire. A distortion in the surface can easily cause the plug to come loose and start leaking. Another reason is because the corner tread and the sidewall are what flex the most on a tire, any flexing will result in the same scenario of the plug coming loose.

 

[karkrazy]

That location… too dangerous to risk a blowout. With all that weight and pressure on the tires (40+ psi), a catastrophic blowout may be just that… catastrophic.
Replace the tires and get road hazard protection.

 

[fholbert]

2022 Plaid. 7,000 miles on these tires. Discount Tire says there’s 5/32 left.

Obviously, no big name tire shop would plug it so I did it at a mom and pop one.

I have 2 questions:

1) how safe is it to have a plugged tire on a 1020hp 170mph car?.

2) if a replacement is a must, should I replace both rears or just the bad one?.

Thanks.

Assuming you don’t plan doing 170 mph... Tires don’t explode with a bad plug, they slowly air.

Check back in a week or two and let us know if it’s holding air.

I‘d replace the tire in pairs, if it needs to be replaced.

 

[Sam1]

Tires don’t explode with a bad plug, they slowly air.

You're technically correct, they won't explode. They will just disintegrate at a speed of which you cannot imagine.

If you want to wrap your brain around something... a quick calculation says this tire size is doing 33 revolutions per second at 175mph. Even at 100mph, the tire is going through 19 revolutions per second.

After thinking about that, how safe do you feel about that 'slow air leak' ?

 

[ucmndd]

You're technically correct, they won't explode. They will just disintegrate at a speed of which you cannot imagine.

Honest question, when is the last time any of y’all have seen a modern steel belted tire “disintegrate at a speed of which you cannot imagine” as the result of a pluggable puncture?

I will say, in the specific case OP is asking about, that looks like a pretty big gouge from a piece of metal and I’m kinda surprised it was pluggable at all. Thats probably not something I’d be comfortable with long term. A nail or screw in the same place? Bring it on.

Would I go 175 mph on it? No. Would I think twice about using it as a normal road car tire for a few more thousand miles? No.

 

[ucmndd]

4/32 is what Tesla says to replace at...so you should replace anyway.

Replacing otherwise good summer tires at 4/32 is absolutely absurd and wasteful.

 

[fholbert]

After thinking about that, how safe do you feel about that 'slow air leak' ?

I’ve had 5 or 6 run flats at 70 to 80 mph in my life. It destroys the tire but control has never been an issue. With TPMS, one should never have a run flat unless they ignore the displayed warnings.

Inconvenience is an issue, not safety.

 

[Sam1]

Honest question, when is the last time any of y’all have seen a modern steel belted tire “disintegrate at a speed of which you cannot imagine” as the result of a pluggable puncture?

I will say, in the specific case OP is asking about, that looks like a pretty big gouge from a piece of metal and I’m kinda surprised it was pluggable at all. Thats probably not something I’d be comfortable with long term. A nail or screw in the same place? Bring it on.

I seen it happen with my own eyes during the 2011 SSCC here in Nevada when two people died going full tilt around 200 mph when they had a blowout going in a straight line.

 

[Sam1]

I’ve had 5 or 6 run flats at 70 to 80 mph in my life. It destroys the tire but control has never been an issue. With TPMS, one should never have a run flat unless they ignore the displayed warnings.

Inconvenience is an issue, not safety.

lol 70 or 80 is not even remotely the same category as 150+ air outs. Not sure why you would compare the two.

 

[ucmndd]

I seen it happen with my own eyes during the 2011 SSCC here in Nevada when two people died going full tilt around 200 mph when they had a blowout going in a straight line.

Said tire was previously punctured and plugged then used in a 200mph high speed run?

200 mph track excursions are not at all what anyone is talking about here.

 

[ucmndd]

lol 70 or 80 is not even remotely the same category as 150+ air outs.

This we definitely agree on.

But this thread is talking about the former in relation to a road car, not the latter.

 

[Sam1]

Said tire was previously punctured and plugged then used in a 200mph high speed run?

200 mph track excursions are not at all what anyone is talking about here.

SSCC is not on a track, this is a public highway race. And no, it wasn't repaired because the SSCC tech would fail you in an inspection for even using the incorrect PSI level in your tires based on your target speed and vehicle weight.

Just an example of how perfectly good tires can vaporize when an issue occurs, you're not the brightest if you think a hole in your tire at 175mph is "not a big deal".

 

[ucmndd]

Just an example of how perfectly good tires can vaporize at 150+ MPH when an issue occurs

FTFY

But again, nobody is talking about 150mph runs here. I sure didn’t get the impression from OP that they’re asking if it’s ok to go 170 mph on these tires. They’re asking if they can keep driving to work and Walmart for the next few thousand miles.

 

[Sam1]

FTFY

But again, nobody is talking about 150mph runs here. I sure didn’t get the impression from OP that they’re asking if it’s ok to go 170 mph on these tires. They’re asking if they can keep driving to work and Walmart for the next few thousand miles.

It is literally question #1 of the OP.

 

[ucmndd]

It is literally question #1 of the OP.

lol, we clearly read different questions.

A car “having” 1000 horsepower or the ability to go 170 mph couldn’t be less consequential to the discussion.

I’m assuming OP is driving a road car, on the road, at appropriate speeds to match those conditions and laws, and have answered the question from that perspective.

You seem to be assuming OP is asking if they can safely go 170 mph on a 75% worn tire with a plugged gash in it, and answered that question. Which, I suppose OP might have actually been asking. But I’m going to go out on a limb and say probably not.

Anyway. Let’s both be right and just answer the questions we heard. Have a good night.

 

[fholbert]

lol 70 or 80 is not even remotely the same category as 150+ air outs. Not sure why you would compare the two.

If the OP is really asking if the tire is safe at 170mph the answer is no. NONE of the OP’s tires are safe at 170mph, not even when new. I do own a set of tires rated at 160mph, they are on my airplane.

 

[tatoweb]

Honest question, when is the last time any of y’all have seen a modern steel belted tire “disintegrate at a speed of which you cannot imagine” as the result of a pluggable puncture?

I will say, in the specific case OP is asking about, that looks like a pretty big gouge from a piece of metal and I’m kinda surprised it was pluggable at all. Thats probably not something I’d be comfortable with long term. A nail or screw in the same place? Bring it on.

Would I go 175 mph on it? No. Would I think twice about using it as a normal road car tire for a few more thousand miles? No.

The tire had a nail in it. The picture shows the plug installed.