Tire was plugged should l get it patched?

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Mar 14, 2003
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I had a nail (see attached pic) in my Bridgestone Ecopia and l presumed that the tire shop l took it to would patch it. When they were done in a few minutes without removing the tire l asked how they did it and they said they plugged it.

Shame on me for not asking first. Lesson learned.

Anyways, l have heard bad things about plugged tires. Can l still get it patched after it has been plugged? Only 16k miles on this set of tires with a fair amount of tread left.

What are my options in this situation?
 

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I live in a rural area where it is terribly inconvenient to get to a tire shop. I have plugged many tires with the little plug kits sold at Dollar stores or Wal Mart. Never have had a problem with them.
 
Coincidentally, I just plugged a Goodyear Assurance dead center of the tread after a trip to the dump today.
Light came on close to home. Pressure was down to 28 from 32 psi, so not worried about the sidewalls at all.
Many plugs over the decades, never a problem.
 
Plugs are illegal in California for on road stuff.
Sorry to hear that.... From what I can see, this may be in reference to bill AB 949 ? If so, that only applies to someone that installs USED tires on a vehicle. If you plug a tire on your vehicle, you're fine: "does not apply to tire repairs, tire rotations, tire balancing, or a tire mounted on a wheel or rim that is temporarily removed from a vehicle and reinstalled on the same vehicle".

Either way, there's 49 other states (and countries around the globe) that don't disallow tires to be plugged. Personally, I have my tires patched nowadays but in the past, tires got plugged.
 
I really dont understand this fear of tire plugs. Worst that can happen is you get another flat which is what you had in the first place. Seems tire industry just doing CYA or trying to sell more tires. I have plugged many tires without issue.
 
Due to litigations today, I am surprised that the shop even plugged the tire.
I've never had issues with plugging tires. ATMOF, in 50 yrs, I've never had a "proper" plug fail in the life of the tire.
However(many years ago), I tried to plug tires where the hole was just a little bit too large for even 2 plugs and ended up removing the tire and putting in a "proper" patch. I do keep a plug kit in all of my vehicles just in case...
 
Right, I totally agree. I wasn't implying that it was a design flaw. It was my poor judgement at that time. Thanks for pointing this out. (y)
 
Unless it is a Ferrari or Hell Cat Dodge when you will run over 100 mph in an instant the plug will be fine.
 
Update: The plugged tire has developed a slow leak. It is losing about 1 PSI a day compared to the other three tires.

My plan is to take it to a reputable tire shop and see if they can properly patch it.

Any other recommendations or suggestions before l get it fixed again?
 
No reputable shop will repair it. Find a mom and pop shop and hope they are able to fix it.

Inspect the tire and look for another puncture?

FYI I have at least a million miles on plugged tires. It’s how my dad taught me when I was 14 years old and I personally plugged like 30 tire repairs myself for the first half of my life. I wasn’t aware that it was an improper repair until I learned that later in life. I never had a single leak or problem on plugged tires. That being said, I now always use the plug / patch method from the inside now. Reason being is that it’s a proper repair and I’m a family guy now. I do the safest repair that’s not likely to fail and kill my family.
 
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