Question:
I have a nail puncture in my tire tread. A friend advocates a
do-it-yourself kit which lets you fix the puncture without taking the
tire off the rim. To do it, you ream out the hole, line it with glue,
and stuff a rubber cord into the hole with a special tool, afterwards
cutting off the excess cord. This sounds easy and cheap, but is it as
good as having a garage do it?
I presume that a garage would take the tire off the rim and plug the
hole from the inside, which sounds less likely to fail later.
I'd welcome any advice.
Answer:
As of yet I have not done this. I do plan to buy one of the puncture
kits for emergencies, but I think it is still advisable to have the
garage do it in some circumstances, like mine.
I have an 87 Supra Turbo with Goodyear VR50 Eagle tires (about $200 @).
I have had a few puntures from nails, screws, etc. since we have a lot
of construction going on in our area and I work at a lab with lots of
machinery around. The tire/wheel combo is very sensitive to balance,
being of 16" dia. The Goodyear dealer does the fix for about $5. which
includes the critcal wheel re-balancing (you're adding some unbalanced
weight with the punture sealing plug). If the tire is relatively new,
he does it free! The fix takes about 15 minutes while I enjoy the dealer's
coffee and donuts (free) and watch Oprah on his TV!
Similar goes with oil changes. The Goodyear dealer changes the oil
and filter and lubes the car for less than $20 and rotates the tires
for free ('cause they came from his store). Although it takes a little
longer than Jiffy Lube, it is less expensive and I get the rotation
too.
