Small Stick Punctured Sidewall

[burbguy82]

Locking up your rear brakes and a sudden loss of pressure is not the same thing.

Sudden loss of pressure on front - car pulls suddenly to the left or right, and you lose half your grip to recover. You may loose control and drop off the shoulder, or into oncoming traffic. The car could flip if the shoulder is soft.

Sudden loss of pressure on rear - rear drops a few inches and the car will wiggle but you'll still have all your steering and braking grip on the front.

I am not going to go back and forth on this.

My opinion is what it is. (Based on 4 tires). You are free to have yours. I know what happens to a car, when you lose traction in the rear, and you hit your brakes......you spin.

I hope the OP has success either way, and there is no issues with his tires.

In truth......either one is bad and can be survivable without incident,.......

what really matters is the driver and their reaction.

 

[Bailes1992]

Appreciate what you guys are saying about plugging it but I'm not going to go down that route. For starters I have no idea how long that stick is, I tried to pull it out and it just crumbled. For all I know there could be another 6" sat inside the tyre. Also, in the UK all tyre plugs have to conform with BS AU 159 to be road legal. BS AU 159 specifically states repairs must only be made to the centre 3/4 of the tyre tread area. You could get into trouble with the police for having defective tyres and points added to your licence if caught with an unapproved repair or your car could fail it's annual inspection.

Consideration must also be given to the fact I drive this often in the early hours of the morning or late at night in all weathers and I don't want to increase the chances of having a puncture and having to change a wheel in heavy rain on the side of the motorway at 5am on a Monday.

£140 for a new tyre is peace of mind that the issue is dealt with correctly.

Amazed at how much more grip the tyre currently has though. It's very sticky!

 

[Astro14]

I'm gonna be honest I'd try to plug it. It's at the very top of the wall and it seems to have gone in at enough of an angle to where it didn't go into the cables and that tire has a rather meaty upper wall so there's material for the plug to bond well to. Plug it deep, at worst air slowly leaks out but I've never had that happen to any plug I've done let alone a failure. They don't blow out like an 18 wheeler retread like some people imagine in their heads and start freaking out. Genuinely try to plug it. Use a good rope plug and lots of adhesive. I would only give up on plugging it if you can feel the cables but I'm fairly sure you won't though. A non rotted stick is strong enough to puncture thick tire rubber but steel cables is likely too much for it unless it's at a very high speed.

Edit: Before someone replies yes it's bad to plug a wall when 99% of the time the puncture is within the thin area of the wall. This looks like a 1% scenario. If the stick went in a half inch below where it did I'd junk the tire too. But the upper wall on this particular A/T almost off road looking tire is rather thick looking so plugging the thick upper most part of the wall isn't a crazy idea. Plugging a wall where there's hardly any material is obviously a bad idea.

I would not. Absolutely would not.

That part of the tire flexes and the plug will fail, it’s just a matter of time. This is the wall. This is where the material is getting thinner. You will create a stress riser.

You will get no warning when it does fail.

 

[Astro14]

So much is said about sidewall damage and it repairability.

The tire did not blow up when the stick made penetration.

I would give it a shot, with any increase in air pressure to lessen the flexing of the tire, maybe 10 psi more. And keep it on the front.

You’re right, it didn’t blow up when the stick went in.

But, you have now damaged the structure of the tire, and as it flexes, the weakness will continue to expand, until the tire does fail.

I would not leave a component on a car, knowing it has a short life until failure.

Fix it now and control the expense, control the timing, rather than waiting for this thing to blow, and it will blow, with no control over the timing or location.

 

[Sequoiasoon]

Good choice on replacing. Now into the next discussion of how much tread depth and difference from others, AWD, differentials etc. Ready.....GO.

Just kidding of course.

 

[Sam_Julier]

Replace the tire. Period.

 

[spasm3]

For me , it's a new tire.

 

[burbguy82]

You’re right, it didn’t blow up when the stick went in.

But, you have now damaged the structure of the tire, and as it flexes, the weakness will continue to expand, until the tire does fail.

I would not leave a component on a car, knowing it has a short life until failure.

Fix it now and control the expense, control the timing, rather than waiting for this thing to blow, and it will blow, with no control over the timing or location.

I am not a tire expert, but it looks to me to be in a thick part, maybe not in the sidewall.

Of course a sidewall deal in a no go.

 

[vavavroom]

No way I'd plug it. Something happens and I kill a family of four because of a blowout and I am unlucky enough to survive is not a scenario I would risk.

 

[Bailes1992]

Thought some of you might like an update.

Still can't work out how a fairly soft stick went in the tyre sideways and come out several inches away in a totally different direction.

My Wife has been nagging me to email Toyo as she doesn't think the A/T tyres are fit for purpose but can't explain to her how silly that would be

 

[Lubener]

That's one sharp stick. Time for a new tire. That one may be good for a spare only.

 

[Mainia]

I'm gonna be honest I'd try to plug it. It's at the very top of the wall and it seems to have gone in at enough of an angle to where it didn't go into the cables and that tire has a rather meaty upper wall so there's material for the plug to bond well to. Plug it deep, at worst air slowly leaks out but I've never had that happen to any plug I've done let alone a failure. They don't blow out like an 18 wheeler retread like some people imagine in their heads and start freaking out. Genuinely try to plug it. Use a good rope plug and lots of adhesive. I would only give up on plugging it if you can feel the cables but I'm fairly sure you won't though. A non rotted stick is strong enough to puncture thick tire rubber but steel cables is likely too much for it unless it's at a very high speed.

Edit: Before someone replies yes it's bad to plug a wall when 99% of the time the puncture is within the thin area of the wall. This looks like a 1% scenario. If the stick went in a half inch below where it did I'd junk the tire too. But the upper wall on this particular A/T almost off road looking tire is rather thick looking so plugging the thick upper most part of the wall isn't a crazy idea. Plugging a wall where there's hardly any material is obviously a bad idea.

I have plugged there with no issues twice on a common car, that doens't get high G forces. My Hyundai tuner car, nope, too much high sidewall load to risk it.

 

[daves87rs]

Glad it was a new tire.

 

[userfriendly]

A sharp stick will go through the tread of a thousand dollar 16 ply 11R24.5 logging truck tire.
Buy a new tire and be thankful that you got off cheap.