Nail In Tyre

[venomx]

Hi!

I had my MOT and Service today. All went well except it failed on the horn, which they then fixed.

However there is a nail in the passenger side tyre ( which I was unaware of )

I'm taking it down to Britannia tyres tomorrow, how much should I expect to pay ? 

[CPN]

5 minutes ago, venomx said:

Hi!

I had my MOT and Service today. All went well except it failed on the horn, which they then fixed.

However, there is a nail in the passenger side tyre (which I was unaware of)

I'm taking it down to Britannia tyres tomorrow, how much should I expect to pay? 

I had the exact same thing in one of my tyres recently. Luckily, it was in the "meat" of the tread and so was easily repaired. How much did I pay? Well, being a loyal customer of my local main dealer, they offer a free puncture repair service for the likes of us and so it was £0.00!😁

[Rhymes with Paris]

Last year had the same and paid £20 which I think is the going rate around here.

A few months later had another one and a good pal offered to come round with a "sticky string" kit and fix it ,on prising the nail out of the tread with side cut pliars he found that the nail had not punctured the tyre luckily.

These kits are £6-10 on eBay he tells me ,and will do 10 repairs.

I can't use them, but if you are reasonably fit and handy and can use them , sound useful.

Too late for you as you are booked in , but might be of future use.

[TonyHSD]

24 minutes ago, Rhymes with Paris said:

Last year had the same and paid £20 which I think is the going rate around here.

A few months later had another one and a good pal offered to come round with a "sticky string" kit and fix it ,on prising the nail out of the tread with side cut pliars he found that the nail had not punctured the tyre luckily.

These kits are £6-10 on eBay he tells me ,and will do 10 repairs.

I can't use them, but if you are reasonably fit and handy and can use them , sound useful.

Too late for you as you are booked in , but might be of future use.

Great, this is what I use always and never had any issues. You need an 12 v compressor too to add some air after the repair. 

[Catlover]

I got a sticky string kit in my boot, but no portable compressor. Bit useless really. Doh!

[TonyHSD]

19 minutes ago, Catlover said:

I got a sticky string kit in my boot, but no portable compressor. Bit useless really. Doh!

I use the cheapest 12v compressor made by Ring only cost around £12 eBay Amazon and I have a digital tyre pressure gauge by Michelin which is a good one. There are some better compressors out there but for me the gauge is more important and after I top up I always fine tune the pressures to,be as accurate as possible 👍 For the Auris front 2.32 bar and rear 2.22 bar (2-3 tenth of a bar) on top of the recommended to adjust for the night drive when temperatures are lower. 
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ring-RAC610-12v-Car-Tyre-Inflator-Analogue-Gauge-Air-Compressor-Pump-PSI-BAR-/332248652560?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m2548.l6249&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

[Rhymes with Paris]

Tony and Catlover , I have the 12v compressor in the boot but not the sticky string ,Doh ! me too I think.

Even though I can't bend down or get up again if I did , I reckon I will order a kit ,then at least I could ask for help if needed from a friend or even a fellow motorist without putting on them to provide any equipment.

Breakdown cover is all very well , but if local or on driveway a simple solution is my preference.

On the same theme I like to have the good quality ie thick and 4M long jump leads on board to give or receive help.

 

[bathtub tom]

Weren't those sticky string repairs stopped being used by professional tyre places years ago? Presumably they were deemed unsafe and the users didn't want to be sued. I feel much happier with the tyre taken off and a mushroom head fitted inside the tyre. Would you feel safe at 70MPH in a fully loaded car, knowing all that was keeping the air in a tyre was a piece of sticky string?

[Roy124]

Then there is the cost factor in having a garage repair to a worn tyre.  If the tyre is new or down to 1.7mm then no contest, repair the first replace the second. 

Naturally I am discussing repairable tyres, also assuming that new tyres are affordable. 

3 mm is also probably more cost effective to go new, but 4 or 5?  Also worth considering the thread depth remaining of the corresponding tyre. If the puncture is in a 4 mm tyre but the other is 3 mm I think I would change both. Maybe going into winter would be better to go new as well. 

On costs, my regular garage charged £50 to do a 4 tyre swap from winter back to summer; £20 for removing, repairing and refitting one tyre sounds reasonable. 

 

[TonyHSD]

10 hours ago, bathtub tom said:

Weren't those sticky string repairs stopped being used by professional tyre places years ago? Presumably they were deemed unsafe and the users didn't want to be sued. I feel much happier with the tyre taken off and a mushroom head fitted inside the tyre. Would you feel safe at 70MPH in a fully loaded car, knowing all that was keeping the air in a tyre was a piece of sticky string?

Not sure if they ever been used by car garages for repair, perhaps it’s more financial reasons to stop using these than safety. If the repair has been done correctly with one of these strings the tyre will remain safe and useable for its lifetime. Maybe because anyone can buy and try to fix their tyres but not all people are diy oriented or capable and may mess up with the repair and rise safety concerns. I personally use these a lot , they are absolutely great. Never had any issues to date , been using them on many cars and traveled many miles after initial repair., no air loss or structural misshape the tyre therefore I feel safe using these strings. Here I have an example on my second day after fitting new tyres I got a nail in, lockdown just enforced and no way of return to the shop for repair or exchange, so the string was my only and perfect solution. 40k miles later and no issues, plus I rotate tyres front to rear at cross pattern no problems at all, I actually drive on motorways mostly at speeds 60+mph, so far so good👍. I had seen the string repair from inside too and looks like mushroom or knot just not as nicely shaped.. 

First two pics from March 2020 third one from June 2021. 

 

[bathtub tom]

I wouldn't expect any responsible tyre place to repair a puncture that close to the edge and I wonder if it may be illegal. Perhaps a professional here would care to comment?

[Roy124]

5 minutes ago, bathtub tom said:

I wouldn't expect any responsible tyre place to repair a puncture that close to the edge and I wonder if it may be illegal. Perhaps a professional here would care to comment?

I guess you think the nail might have damaged the side wall when the tyre deflated.  A garage would have to assume a completely flat tyre that had been driven on and thus caused unseen damage. 

OTOH it might have just been a slow puncture, nail removed and repaired; a decision an owner could make.  I am not commenting on Tony's case. 

I have had a couple of dodgy repairs once with buckled steel wheels. First was a front wheel buckle and rear wheel blow out at speed from a pothole. The buckled wheel did not deflate and a tyre depot (Turkish Cypriot) adjusted it with a sledge hammer. 

The second was another buckled wheel.  I went to the scrap yard and got a good wheel.  I took it to my local garage and he put my good tyre on the good wheel.  He also adjusted my damaged wheel, also with a sledge hammer and put the tyre from the scrap yard on it!  I junked it. 

[mrpj]

https://www.national.co.uk/information/puncture-repairs

Looking at those pictures I would suggest a "legal" repair is not possible.

etyres have a printable gauge for determining whether a repair is possible.

[Rhymes with Paris]

Just a thought on the possible motivation of tyre retailers to declare tyres or repairs illegal or not suitable.

Tyre off at a fast fit type place ,fitter pulls nail ,says will repair with mushroom type plug.

Then takes a circular file and files out the nail hole vigorously ,then declares the hole that he has just made is too large to repair, and a new tyre will "have" to be purchased.

Dishonest sales technique or incompetent ?

Does anyone know if ultraseal is still sold ?

It was a precaution against small punctures or leaks before they happened rather than unremovable gunk repair, if I remember right.

 

[Roy124]

mrpj, 

From that link, £19 per tyre for repair and balance with new valve. 

I note also the advice 'how do you know you have a puncture'. 

I confess I had an offside rear puncture in a diesel Fiesta.  I drove upto 6 miles and in retrospect the handling was a bit off. As it was an old diesel, 100k+, I didn't really hear anything. At least the rubber didn't depart the wheel. 

[Roy124]

Rhymes, same doubts when the garage says we had to replace X. 

Any half competent dodgy workshop will have a bin full of X to show the punter 😆

[bathtub tom]

Found this:

British Standard Tyre Repair Rules

• Tyre repairs for cars and vans are only permitted in the central 60% to 70% of the tyres nominal width (known as ‘Area T’), with this percentage differing as shown below, depending on the size of the tyre.

Repairable Percentage Area (‘Area T’) based on Nominal Section Width
Up to and including 155mm	60%
Between 155mm and 200mm	65%
Above 200mm	70%

Example - Tyre size 205/55R16;

 Nominal section width = 205mm

70% of this width = 144mm

This tyre is repairable within 72mm of either side of the tyre centre line.

[TonyHSD]

1 hour ago, bathtub tom said:

Found this:

British Standard Tyre Repair Rules

• Tyre repairs for cars and vans are only permitted in the central 60% to 70% of the tyres nominal width (known as ‘Area T’), with this percentage differing as shown below, depending on the size of the tyre.

Repairable Percentage Area (‘Area T’) based on Nominal Section Width
Up to and including 155mm	60%
Between 155mm and 200mm	65%
Above 200mm	70%

Example - Tyre size 205/55R16;

 Nominal section width = 205mm

70% of this width = 144mm

This tyre is repairable within 72mm of either side of the tyre centre line.

Thanks for the information about the tyre puncture repairs. 👍 I agree with that as explained I only showed these pictures as reference and how does repair strips actually work., I just don’t have another pictures to show with repair done within the acceptable area. I am not worrying about my car tyres and safety and I am positive that my repair was successful and safe to be used again. Here I have picture just taken off the car today and even after 1.5 years and 40k miles traveled mostly on motorways at high speed there is absolutely nothing out of usual about my tyre. I also monitor the air pressure, tyre roundness and shape plus visual inspection on daily basis and if I see that this particular tyre has developed any damage and it’s unsafe will be replaced without any delays. will also make  sure to take picture of the repair from inside once the tyres are ready for replacement at some point after another 15-20k miles.Thanks again for your information and comments 👌👍

[Ralph H]

Thanks didn’t know these kits existed just ordered one for £7 as I’ve already got a compressor in the boot 👍

[MikeSh]

I have a mountain bike with tubeless tyres. Per normal MTB practice these are run with liquid sealant inside to deal with most small holes, typically from thorns, etc. For larger holes I carry a 'sticky string' kit (again normal recommendation) which can deal with damage up to a few mm, with the aid of the sealant already in the tyre.

I've never had to use the kit, but the recommendation is that it's temporary - get you home or a few days - though many people keep going on them for months.

But that's on a pedal bike. For a car I think I'd treat sticky string like a space saver spare - 50 miles/50 mph max.

[venomx]

They said due to the angle of the nail the tyre needed replacing and they fitted a brand new tyre ( same brand as the current ones, " Landsail " ) for £67 total. The value of the car is no more than £1,800 so wouldn't make sense for an expensive tyre.