Tiny sidewall puncture ... options?

[rharr]

With a hole that small, I'd look at using a Dynaplug.
http://www.dynaplug.com/products.html

FYI,
Not great for motorcycles that run backup tubliss systems, (seen dynaplug at motorcycle shops) The brass tip will poke a hole in the tubliss bladder system on a good impact off road. I have seen it done.

Anyway back to topic, just a PSA for fellow riders.

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[ShadowsPapa]

Got it. Same thing but now you just have a manually actuated pump/gun. No air required its even faster. The only con is a nail is quite small and the smallest mushroom plug is 5x the size. You end up having to file or saw the hole larger to plug it. Counter intuitive. Its the only plug i trust on a motorcycle.

Once we bought that plug gun and those plugs, that's almost all we used. Odd holes we might patch, but the plugs were our go-to fix for a long time.
I ended up with a lot of the shop tools from my former boss - but that wasn't among them. Wish I had thought of it but I never even thought of the tire tools when I got the other stuff.

 

[Bonanza]

https://www.gluetread.com/

How has this not been mentioned yet?!

 

[Minty JL]

No self-respecting shop would deal with that. It gets into a liability thing. Sidewalls flex and get hot.
Years ago before people started suing over every little thing, we'd patch or plug almost anything - but I have seen patches come loose because of the sidewall flexing and heat.
And they'll flex a whole lot more on rocks and off-road.

In our area if a puncture is closer to the edge of the tread than 1" they won't touch it. Get a puncture that's say 3/4" from the edge - they'll either send you on your way or sell you a tire. Been there.

$400? That's what those sell for now? How about checking with sponsor discount tire to see what they'd do.

I know what I'd do but won't say because if anything happens...........

Agreed, replace it. By not doing so you put yourself and others at risk.

 

[TimC]

Patch it and move-on

 

[jac04]

https://www.gluetread.com/

How has this not been mentioned yet?!

I once got a non structural razor-slice in the shoulder tread of an almost new snow tire - there was a decent sized chunk of tread that was just hanging on. Tire Rack wouldn't cover it under the road hazard warranty because it was only cosmetic. I used a rubber toughened super glue to glue the chunk back in place and it has been fine for about 15k miles. Many instant adhesives work really well on rubber.

I like the idea of the GlueTread kit for a quick on-the-trail sidewall repair, but I would never even think about driving on a public road with it.

 

[Blade1668]

Patching "sidewall" punctures and cuts.. damn I've ended up with a few sets of orphan tires that way. A prior set of 33 Mud tires on my XJ I had a month maybe then cut a sidewall and puncture another one off-roading. Wet rubber cuts easy on sharp rocks. Thankfully the Safety Seal kit worked. 6-7 plugs in one tire. My LJ spare for many years was plugged with multiple Safety Seal plugs in sidewall... that one wasn't a accident or off road, some jackass spiked it right after i got new tires. Not a recommended practice but right after buying new tires and at the time my commute was total less than 10 miles. The plugs lasted the life of the 4 on the ground as a spare.

 

[BumbleBee]

On my Wrangler/Rubicon I don't think I ever had a set of tires on that thing that didn't have at least 4-5 safety seals in it, most of them sidewalls. I would run that thing on the trails, and then 75mph on the freeways home. I have always heard that it is dangerous to fix a sidewall, but never saw anything bad come from it. I'm sure someone will find an internet article about their uncle john that was in a terrible accident because of it, but I'm sure if you are buying quality tires, nothing bad will happen.

 

[Lunentucker]

Also facebook marketplace, got 4 Rubicon takeoffs for an excellent price after I got into an accident and jacked up a wheel and tire.

This.
If you were in VA I'd sell you one for $100.

 

[Jteakus]

Buy a pull out spare.
Or, plug hole and mount on spare wheel moving good tire to outboard wheel.

 

[sass JT]

I was looking for a poll button… oh well… I’m with the rest to say plug it and use as a spare unless you can afford to go big

 

[Abc123]

Thanks y'all! I ended up just getting a new one.... discount tire had one for $250. Kept the damaged one....plan on using it as a second spare.

 

[Discount Tire]

@Abc123, I'm glad you were able to get a replacement for a reasonable price. Thank you for your business.

 

[Prescottmojave]

I always buy the warranty from Discount Tire on all of my new vehicles. On my JTM it was $280. Discount has always been excellent and the warranties pay for themselves quickly.

 

[Discount Tire]

@Prescottmojave, thank you for sharing your experience purchasing the Discount Tire Certificates. I was just at our Cottonwood store near you when I had a trailer tire blow out. I was glad to get taken care of with a free replacement.

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