Of course I picked up a small screw in the first few hundred miles of my Aston ownership! I generally lean toward replacing a sports car's tire for something like this, but I don't plan to track this car (don't have the head room for a helmet) and if it's not to close to the sidewall, I'd rather pay $20 for a patch than $375 for a new tire (existing tires are 6/32 on rear and 7/32nd on front, RE050As). Tire is not flat currently and doesn't look like screw head hits ground when driving, so it's not an issue to drive it to a tire shop when they open tomorrow or I can always just pull the wheel off.

Thoughts? I guess I know some people are generally against any patching, especially a sports car, but I'm also curious if this is too close to the sidewall anyway?

ETA: I looked for a used tire already and don't see any that haven't already also been patched, unless I mismatch tire brands which I prefer not to do. I'm sure the dealer would tell me I need 4 new tires for $2k .

 

I would patch it, they may have to take the tire off the rim and get it from the inside. If you can I would just take the rim, that way they can't mess up the car. Jack points etc.

 

I've had good luck with patching, however when I had a screw in the same location as you have, the local tire place would not patch it due to the amount of flex the tire experiences near the sidewall (their words).

So heads up thst you might face similar constraints.

 

Get a good patch/plug and you should be fine. I've used repaired tires on track without issue. So long as it's done right and you're not abusing the tire (read: normal street driving) it probably won't be an issue.

 

Plus one

The key is a patch that is also a plug. The plug part of the patch is pulled through the hole in the tire.
This seals inside the hole along with a patch behind the hole.
Suggest you rebalance the tire after repair

 

Agree with above.

Of course, you could always use this as an excuse to get something better than the truly awful OEM tires ;-)

 

I've always patched tires - no problem - the only exception was once too close to the side wall. When I picked up my 2015 GT it had a nail - still leaked air so I filled with Nitrogen thinking it was a contact with the wheel leak - turns out there were two nails, they assumed only one.

When I got my V12S - same thing - a leak right away - they patched it last week, lost 5 lbs a week. It was a pin hole.

 

I would bet there is a 95% chance no one will patch it. The reason is its too close to the flex points on the tire. (i have been highly recommended in NOT doing patches at all, due to something as small as a rock can pop a side of a patch making it leak again) But its also possible they wont plug it either for being so close.

Those are Bridgestones------ are they original ones---- it might be time to replace anyway due to age? Just guessing and not knowing what year your car is without researching posts to see when you got it.


NEW TIRES------ you can go with Michelin PS4's (one of the best) for likely around 1k -1300 depending on where you bought them. A member just posted the other day he got a set of new PS4's for 1k installed.

Or the Continental Extremecontact Sport (their new one and also one of the best) for around 1k-1200 installed. If buying from Tirerack your likely to save 30-50 per tire over the Michelins. This is what I bought, and am extremely pleased, and while having not tried the PS4s, I had numerous sets of PSS's on other cars and originally on my DB9.

So there are your options----- PLUG and your likely fine, but if tires are 6yrs or older I would replace with new , then get good ones, not the Bridgestone junk.

Hope this helps buddy

 

Patching the sidewall area is a tough call. Center tread no problem. The picture shows close to both. Have a reliable person show you the inside of the tire and the puncture. It will help in your decision or explain why they might not be willing to patch it for liability reasons. Sidewalls take a beating and the weakend damaged area will be affected over time. In any case be safe.... you and your car are worth the cost of a new tire if needed!

 

Thanks for the fast comments. I popped the wheel off (and removed center cap as well ; ) and will get a local shop opinion and patch/plug if I can. For street use, on a 2014 car, I'd prefer to get some more life out of these tires.

Redpants video helped, but the underside sills on the newer vantages changed a little so I had to look up jack points in the manual (I just got this car a couple weeks ago). Why can't manufactures just put a big yellow circle on all the acceptable jack points? At least my low profile floor jack could slide underneath without ramps.

 

A little too close for comfort for me, especially as the tire starts to roll under high G's...

 

First car I've owned that I had to watch a YouTube vid to jack it up. Thanks redpants

 

If you haven't seen this, worth reading through - not using the correct jack points (especially if having someone else do the work) can be catastrophic....

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...firestone.html

 

I plugged a 370 rear tire in the same spot and tracked it several times after without even thinking about it. The worst thing that will happen is you'll pull the plug and get a leak, it's not like the tire is going to fall off the rim

 

No tire place is going to fix that because it is too close to the tire wall.
However, you can just plug it yourself. I think their limits are 1.5" from the sidewall.
I have plugged tires before and autox and track them - no issues at all if it is plugged right.
As others have said, ideally, you might want to dismount and then patch it with a plug to get the best out of both worlds...then have at it after rebalancing it.