Tires are so wasteful

[BoomStronk]

In my 20's I maintained a small fleet of Ford Econoline E350 vans for the construction company I worked for in the NYC metro area for 10 or so years. They had a lot of leaks/flats from screws, nails and other random metal objects. I also did breaks/rotors, oil and fluids and other basic maintenance.

I don't know how many plugs I've used but probably somewhere around 50 or so.

I even have fancy plug kits in my personal vehicles, lol. I've showed at least a dozen younger people how do it and like helping people on the side of the road.

You're doing the lords work, mate. Teaching younguns how to avoid being taken for a ride by some bullshit company is next to godliness imo

 

[Romulas]

You're doing the lords work, mate. Teaching younguns how to avoid being taken for a ride by some bullshit company is next to godliness imo

An elderly man in my neighborhood showed my Dad, who then showed me when I was 16. He passed away 10 or so years ago from dementia. We refer to him as "St. Nick" and say a prayer for him every time we use a plug! I actually saw his wife 2 days ago walking to town. She's in her 80s. I should probably tell her. She'll get a kick out of it.

 

[Deleted member 592570]

It was probably the bolts that broke, not the nuts. I broke one before because I suspect the tire shop either cross threaded it, or way over-torqued it.

Guys who over torque anything should be subject to summary execution.

I can't fucking stand idiots who over torque shit.

 

[GSP_37]

Maybe AI can come up with some internet tire trading system where people with a certain exact tire model with similar wear can trade them instead of replacing two or four at a time.

 

[mozfonky]

Maybe AI can come up with some internet tire trading system where people with a certain exact tire model with similar wear can trade them instead of replacing two or four at a time.

no one has to replace all four unless all four are worn down. Believe what those assholes tell you and you'll stay broke. Almost always some bullshit dealing with car people. Just too much money at stake and too much ignorance on everyone's part to be otherwise. Much of the time, even great mechanics have been wrong about a diagnosis or a repair. Cars are pretty complex and human nature likes to jump to conclusions as well as turn a profit.

One thing for sure, once you spend the money, wrong or right, they won't give it back.

 

[Otto!]

This is a movie about a tire that kills people. It’s actually better than Sharknado.

 

[Doughie99]

Sounds to me like the garage just wanted to sell you 2 new tires. They WANT to scare customers on a safety basis and sell hundreds of dollars of new tires. But do what makes you feel comfortable.

If the screw is in the tread just have it patched. As long as it's not IN the sidewall. Also you CAN just buy one new tire. I've driven many cars on 1 new tire, just be aware if it and perhaps take it easy in the rain especially under braking (differential braking on that axle, just be aware of it).

I've also raced in outdoor National kart championships for 8 years and we raced on full slicks (ZERO tread) in ALL weather including heavy rain so I admit I'm v likely far more comfortable and accepting of sub-optimal tire mixes.

 

[Legumes]

Sounds to me like the garage just wanted to sell you 2 new tires. They WANT to scare customers on a safety basis and sell hundreds of dollars of new tires. But do what makes you feel comfortable.

While I'm sure some want to sell tires, this is also a liablity issue for shops. That's also a factor in why you typically will not see a shop using those push-in string plugs. With those, you're not removing the tire to inspect it, so you're taking a gamble. Customers like to lie about whether or not they've driven on a flat tire. They'll tell you "No, I came out after work and found it that way in the parking lot" despite driving 30+ miles with it flat as a pancake with the car bouncing and shaking like a fucking 1800's wagon going over a cobblestone road. Driving on a deflated tire damages it far more than any tiny screw or nail ever could.

Inspect those tires if you've driven on them any distance flat:

 

[William Huggins]

The whole car is screwed now....

 

[Bob Gray]

Where you get your tires? I get them from Leschwab and they just replace them for any reason until a certain set of miles.

 

[traditionally_irreverent]

And the Netflix TV show sucks.

 

[AnGrYcRoW]

Just buy a tire plug kit on Amazon or from harbor freight and plug it yourself after you've plugged it over inflate the tire about 5psi and spray a soap/water solution and check for leaks (bubbles) after that drop a little rubber cement onto the plugged area and deflate the tire to the proper psi and drive around for 10-15min and check again for any leaks either way repeat the sealing process i explained above and the tire should be leak free

This

This happened to my wife a few months back she was in Vancouver for the day, picked up a screw, and he told her she needed two new tires cuz it's too close to the edge, I had her take the other two tires, I'm going to plug it and put the damn things back on

 

[Fedorgasm]

This

This happened to my wife a few months back she was in Vancouver for the day, picked up a screw, and he told her she needed two new tires cuz it's too close to the edge, I had her take the other two tires, I'm going to plug it and put the damn things back on

How are you going to put then back on?

it sucks because most people don't have a way to mount a tire at home. They sell the tool at harbor freight but you have to bolt it to the concrete to make it work, that's typically more hassle than it's worth for the average dude.

 

[Zyklon R]

How are you going to put then back on?

it sucks because most people don't have a way to mount a tire at home. They sell the tool at harbor freight but you have to bolt it to the concrete to make it work, that's typically more hassle than it's worth for the average dude.

Don't have to remove the tire from the wheel when plugging tires

 

[bean88]

I’ve had several tires plugged to avoid having to replace multiple unnecessarily

It is a nice feeling when all 4 are matching and fresh and absolutely soul destroying when one of them gets damaged

 

[chardog]

Thanks man. They say those things are only for short term repairs, just long enough to get you to a tire shop where you can have the whole tire replaced.

But your post caused me to do some googling and apparently they just say that because they don't want to be held liable.

But the Internet is full of people saying they use those plugs and they last for the life of the tire.

it sounds like you haven’t used them before, they last, and they’re cheap

 

[Fedorgasm]

it sounds like you haven’t used them before, they last, and they’re cheap

I plugged it because of the advice in this thread. It slowly leaked so I plugged it again a few weeks later and it's been fine ever since.

 

[Aegon Spengler]

I have a screw in my tire, and it's too close to the sidewall to be patched. So I'm supposed to throw away a perfectly good tire that had another 20k miles of life on it.

But then you're not supposed to just replace one tire. Because now you have uneven tread, so you're actually supposed to replace all your tires at once. Although the more honest tire shops will at least tell you that you can get away with only replacing 2 at a time, both front or both rear, but never just 1 tire at a time.

So because of 1 screw I have to at least throw away 2 good tires?

Seems super wasteful to me. If we were back in the days when they used inner tubes then you could keep your tires until they wear out. Just replace the tubes.

If all the money spent on cars, car parts, car insurance, gas etc went into public transportation you could have a bullet train from wherever you are to where ever you want to be and nobody would be dying in car accidents

Ohhh well

 

[milliniar]

About rubber

 

[Legumes]

Don't have to remove the tire from the wheel when plugging tires

You should if it's actually been driven on while very deflated to inspect for damage(see my first post here, post #68). If you're someone that actually pays attention and inspected the tire once your TPMS light turned on, then yeah, you can get by with just throwing a string plug in it.