Patrick

I run patched tires on the street. I wouldn't even consider it on the track.

I have experience with blowouts. I had a sidewall failure right at the apex of turn 11 at Gingerman. I had a Kinesis wheel separate at the kink at Mid-Ohio. Nether resulted in significant damage to the car, but that was luck.

IPSC

What caused the failures in your two tires?

IPSC

Patrick

Sidewall failure in one case (there was no autopsy). The wheel separated in the other due to failure of the fasteners that hold the halves together. I was told it was a defect in the fit of the two halves of the wheel that caused excess stress on the fasteners.

Mark in Baltimore

All of this discussion begs the question: has anyone had a tire failure from a plugged and patched tire? I've seen lots of people run tires to the cords, myself included, which, IMO, is a far more dangerous scenario than a plugged and patched tire.

Bill935K3

At my buisness we have installed thousands on inside patches on tread area nail/screw holes. Most on tractor tires but also lots on over the road stuff. Have never had one fail that I'm aware of. (good clean-prep and best quality glues etc are key!)
Plugs are another story. They never work in 6-10 ply rear tractor tires due to rough ground (over rocks) flexing and torque loads and I hate them in LT-truck trailer tires. They do work fairly well on real heavy ply truck and trailer tires.
With our own vehicals our policy is if nessisary plug it to get through the day (meet commitments) then ALWAYS dismount cut it off flush on the inside and patch.

paradisenb

I don't think I would be too concerned about doing an inside patch and driving only on the street with this tire. However, I do not drive at speed on the street, I save that for the track. I would not use this tire on the track. I think there is a lot more stress and flexing going on. I would constantly be thinking about it.

kurt M

I was thinking the same thing. There was a recent thread where many folks were chiming in about cording out being the indicator of end of service life. You are an Idiot to patch a tire but a Man to run them for all they are worth and then some. I guess you have to think about the construction of a tire and what the hole and repair does or does not do to the construction. Some of the manufactures have even said inside patching is OK. It is easy to say just don't do it but there again I see that most folks will obsess about some safety items and ignore or dismiss others that are important the guy next to them. Balance the resources to the risks. Given the pick of the two I would rather run on a newer “T” patched tire than a non patched but nearly corded tire. My best desire would be fresh one run 4 day old heat cycled scrubs for each run but that is not gonna happen so I compromise and drive on my used tires untill they grease.

Follow the rules of the group you drive with and do what makes you feel confident in your equpment. You are safer when you trust your gear and do so for good reasons.

FixedWing

I have:



This is a wheel I bought used in the USA. It blew in Turkey at 200 km/h. After it blew, I discovered a patch inside.

I believe the tyre blew because it had been holed which then allowed it to run low on air damaging the sidewall. The owner had patched it, put air in it and gone on his merry way. Eventually, the tyre blew

So my theory is that it isn't the hole that causes the problem (so long as it is a clean nail hole and patched properly from the inside), but rather running the tyre low on air.

So I don't think it is a big deal to patch a tyre if it you know the history of the tyre and that it wasn't run low. But if it was run low, then I wouldn't consider it.

Stephen

Tom W

I've raced on patched tires without any problems at all. The race tire shops have said an inside patch for a puncture is not a concern (for a puncture in the tread, not the sidewall). Not a plug, a patch.

As it was in the tread area and not the sidewall, I would have no qualms at all about having it patched and running it in DE.

Renn 951

Paul at Radial Tire told me they patch race tires all the time and never had a problem.

Mark in Baltimore

Thanks for the responses so far.

TD in DC

I never patch tires because I cannot afford the weight penalty.

I used to be fanatical about not running patched tires. It still bothers me. However, economic reality has forced me to reexamine my values and principles.

mhm993

My wrench says one patch on the tread is OK, but any damage at all on the sidewall from driving on it flat makes the tire trash.

IPSC

This is what gives me pause and is the first of evidence of a potential problem. I had not even considered this possibility.

What was the time period from the puncture and repair (if you know) till the failure. Also What happened when your tire failed?

Thanks for posting this by the way,

IPSC

shustermeister

I've run DE's with properly patched tires before. Made damn sure that the tire held air properly, checked pressures after each run, visual inspections throughout the day as well. First few runs at gradually increasing speeds. I ran into no problems. This was with the plug/patch combo, professionally installed and we made sure that the original puncture did not damage the belts inside the tread.
Was this the smartest decision in the world? Probably not, but the newer patches and adhesives are good when installed properly. In an ideal world when the money tree in my backyard is shedding $100 bills to spend on multiple sets of tires, I would have just trashed the tire.
I'm pretty sure I'll get some flames in reply here, so take your best shot!