While flushing my brake fluid yesterday, i made sure to check my tires over really well to make sure they were OK. i found what appears to be a nail in a tread block of my left rear tire. i have no idea how long it is, or how long it has been there. the tire still has all its air, so it isn't leaking.

now the problem...

i am doing VIR with TZC/THSCC on Feb. 12-13. do i...

1. get the nail removed. get the hole (if it goes through) fixed. put tire back on and use it at track event.

2. get new tire to replace this one and use the new tire along with the older 3 at the track event.

3. put the stock 17's with REo40's back on. use those at track event. get tire repaired and only use it for street driving.

as always, thanks in advance for any help you guys can offer.

sean

 

If the tire is repaired properly it can be used at the track. If I remember correctly plugging the tire is not the correct procedure. There is a special high speed patch that must be used. You might e-mail a tire manufacturer to find out the proper way to repair the tire. I have seen the information some place, but can't rememeber where.

 

Had a similar situation this past weekend. "Plug" or "patch"? The speed shop I use, was prepared to fix the tire, but would not "plug" a high performance tire on a high performance car. So, the tire was removed from the rim and "patch" installed on the inside of the tire.

 

thanks for the info. i will ask around today about the patch versus the plug. it makes sense that the patch would be more robust for track use.

sean

 

i just dropped it off to get the internal patch. the guy has a pretty cool patch system that retains the speed rating. i'll keep those interested updated with how it turns out.

it was a screw btw.

sean

 

so long as the puncture is in the tread - closer to the center the better - it can be safely repaired with a patch and vulcanization compound from the inside. anything even near the sidewall - toss the tire.

ahm

 

it is basically in the middle of the tread and actually in a tread block (as opposed to being in a groove). he said it shouldn't be a problem. i should get it tomorrow.

sean

 

For what it's worth, I would have gone with option 3...better safe than sorry.

It sounds like the solution you've found should work fine, though. Let us know how it works out.

 

well...i may still use option 3. i got the tire back yesterday, and the patch looks good. put about 50 miles on it and it did fine. however, i may still "chicken out" and use the stockers for the track.

anyone have experience running the stockers on the track? good/bad?

sean

 

Four seconds slower and a lot of squelling. It gets to me after half of the session.