bauerjab

Does anyone know the effect of inserting a tire plug on the integrity of a steel belted radial tire. The tire plug was inserted to plug a hole caused by a nail.

In particular, what, if any, effect does this have on the tire if the car is driven 100-140 mph.

Thanks

craigg

When I got my Boxster S a while ago, it had S02s. When I wore those babies out last fall (down to smooth on the inner part of the rears) and switched (to Kumho ECSTAs - very good tire!) I discovered the tire had been plugged, properly, before I got it.

There was no loss of integrity and other than the fact that the plug was there - done from the inside with the mushroom, or umbrella, style plus resin plug through the puncture - I had no problems.

The car had seen 135+ on occasion.

ron mcatee

I had a tire engineer tell me that when a tire is plugged it takes on the characteristics of the lowest rated tire on the market. I would not trust a tire rated as V, Z, etc., at any speed above 70 MPH if it has had a patch or a plug. As heat buils up in that tire casing, it tends to expand and could fail at high or very high speeds. You can do what you want, but I tend to go on the side of caution. If the hole was very big or close to the sidewall, I always replace the tire. Safety first .