SandyBeach

I went to have the slow leak in my tire looked at and found not one, but two nails. The tech at Wal-Mart told me they were too close to the side wall and could not be repaired. The patch could damage the side wall and cause a blowout. Do you guys agree? The tire only has 20,000 miles on it. Can a tube be installed? If not, I guess I'll replace all four since the stock tires aren't the best available.

ChevyMgr

The top one looks too close to the sidewall, but I could be wrong. The bottom one looks like a rock, this I could be wrong about also. If you tried to fix the one in the top picture, it may not hold due to the natural rolling of the tire edge during turns. If enough air escapes before you realize it is leaking, the side wall would overheat making a blow out possible. I would replace it. A tube is not a viable option either IMO.

an08HHR

check out this http://www.dunloptires.com/care/repair.html it shows area of a tire that can be repaired. Hope it helps. Have to remember, your life depends on condition of your tires.

Smoke Wagon

I have repaired more than 200 tires back in my days...

both could have been repaired....IF...they were not in the same tire.
Putting a radial patch in a tire is no problem, if they are within the tread cap area. Many tire manufactures use a molded line inside the tire to indicate the tread cap area.
But you never want to have TWO patches in one tire.

lastly...do NOT put a tube inside a wheel/tire that are not designed for tubes.

replace the tire.

SandyBeach

I see Sam's Club has most of the top tires in our size from $100 t0 $150 each. I just didn't plan on spend $600 on tires right now.

I do need to replace all four, right? They measured the tread at 6/32 so I might get another 10,000 miles out of them. I know I need to buy two so I suspect I should go ahead and get all four, right?

jx3

Replacing 2 would be fine, as long as they are on the same end (but I know you know that ).

But if you're that close to needing the additional 2, you might as well only make one trip to the shop........if you're pocket book will allow.

tireman1554

We have the Firestone/Ford fiasco to thatnk for that. Since all that, NHTSA, UTQG, RMA, and tire makers have gone back to the drawing boards and decided what is safe and what is not. Certainly that tire COULD be repaired safely and probably with no problems EVER. Problem is RMA has set guidlines for tire repair facilities to go by. If the repaired tire does fail and all of the guidlines where in fact followed, there would be no repercussions on that facility. Think that sucks. Check out what Michelin has to say about where to put your new tires when replacing only two http://www.michelinman.com/tire-care/how-to-buy/

Smoke Wagon

you will find many arguments as to where to put two new tires.
we used to use logic, not science.
two new tires on the DRIVE axle.

as for the Ford/Firestone fiasco..Firestone took the hit for Ford.
The Radial ATX(tire in question during the Explorer roll-over debacle) was one of the longest lasting OE tires we ever encountered. it is almost unheard of to have a mid-size SUV get 60k+ miles from a all-terrain tire, let alone any OE tire. Explorers would go through brakes like nobody's business, but the majority of Explorer owners wanted the same ATX installed when they purchased new tires.

Unfortunately, as Tireman mentioned above, the aforementioned debacle changed the tire maintenance industry as we know it.

as for what to do with your existing tires, and whether or not you should purchase 4, or two or 1?...you can buy 2 now...and 2 more later...just skip one rotation cycle. Or...buy 4 new ones now. You probably weren't prepared financially to buy 4 new tires now...but unfortunately, flat tires are the number 2 most common thing to go wrong with cars....overheating is #1.

Very rarily do people get full tread-life from their tires...most 4-tire purchases are made when either
1)they get a irrepairable flat
2)there is a driveability problem
3)they are selling the car/preparing for a state inspection.
4)one or more of their tires is ready for replacement anyway

if you have 6/32's of treadlife remaining...that's about 50% of the tire's life...the chances of you making it all the way down to the wear-bars(2/32's) are pretty slim...the less tread depth remaining typically means the more likely you will encounter a flat...it's natural...the less tread, the less distance a nail/object has to travel to puncture the tire.

SandyBeach

One more question! Whether I replace 2 or 4, would I be wise to ask for the old good tires back in case this happens again? Will the tire dealer do that? I have room in my garage. I could retain one and offer the other two to others in my situation.

pitbull76

I would see if the shop will give you anything for the used tire(s). I had a similar situation with one of our cars where my wife didn't notice the flat, and ruined one tire. The other tire on that axle was in good shape, so the shop gave us a significant amount of money to sell them that used tire. I'm sure if I wouldn't have asked, I would have gotten nothing for it.