Picked up a nail in a $300 tire with less than 2000 miles on them. Shop says they cannot plug because it is to close to the side. Nail has been in there for 3 weeks, so far no air loss.
Should I leave it in there and not deal with it, I dont want it to go flat why I am out on a dirt road, Should I pull it out and see what happens? Or should I just bite the bullet and buy a new tire

 

If it's too close to the sidewall to safely plug/patch there is a good possibility that the sidewall will be weakened over time and could eventually blow out on you.

Chances are since the tire is relatively new and if you haven't lost air yet that you could get some decent mileage out of it. Make sure its rotated to the back so if a blow-out does occur that you can maintain control of the vehicle to slow to a stop easier.

DON'T PULL OUT!!! Reason being that if you do pull it out and plug/patch it'll start leaking for sure. While you drive the sidewalls flex during the tires rotation. The sidewall is 'pinched' when under the wheel and expanded when above the wheel ever so slightly (even if you don't see it) and that expansion and contraction generates heat. Since the sidewall generates the most heat in the tire, the plug/patch will eventually fail due to the expansion/contraction of the sidewall over time, or the heat curling back the edges of a patch.

I say leave'er on and see how long you can go. Maybe buy one as back up in the mean time?

 

I would hope that you refer to rotating it to that back you mean "back of the tailgate"?

dude If you can't afford a new skin right now and all tires are close to each other wear wise, toss it on as a spare. I wouldn't run with it and by no means keep it on your rear set of axles.

 

DON'T PULL OUT!!! And nine months later....... You'll be flat on your ass!

 

Perfect time to get yourself some carry-on, or on-board air.

 

I'd plug it and make it a spare. And if you only have 4 tires right now and cant afford a 5th.. Id still plug it until you can replace it.. the plug MIGHT eventually leak that close to the sidewall, but I can guarantee the tire will throw the nail when you are far away from any air(or help) and you'll be stuck dealing with a fast leak, instead of a slow one from a leaky plug.

 

As far as the shop goes, I bet it was as much liability as anything else. And as far as plugging it, Im just going with murphy's law here.. thats all, if it was ME, I can gaurantee it would lose the nail at the absolute worst possible time. IMO the plug would last longer and a leak slower when it does fail then the nail if its thrown. But hey that just my shadetree experience. Im seen my brother plug tires in really bad locations and they usually always hold... was it the best or safest solution.. no, but it still worked for him and me on ocassion. BUt either way the best solution is to use it as a spare.

 

You're right with the Murphys law... seems to always win in the end, hahaha.

I'd leave it if it were me and get a new one whenever possible, I don't do any highway driving though so it wouldn't bother me at night. Thats probably a bit factor in it all to0 =d

 

Yeah it seems to get me everytime

 

Try another shop. I put a small bolt in one of my stock tires. I went to one shop and they said the bolt was too big and wouldn't patch it but they could sell me a new tire. I said no thanks and took it to another shop about a quarter mile away. They looked at it and said they could patch it, no problem.