Tires question

I don't understand why he/she's saying that you need to replace it just because it's had a puncture? That's a new one to me - back in the old days, we'd get lots of punctures, get them fixed and keep collecting patches.

Unless of course it was damaged by having been driven on while flat?

 

I am with @alanclarkeau. Unless your next puncture is the "unrepairable" type, I would just keep driving and repairing until you have to change all 4 tires. If the "patch" was done correctly, it is a permanent fix good for the life of the tire. If you have one of that unrepairable puncture, such as on the sidewall or too large a hole to patch, then you have some choice. If other tires still have plenty of treads, you could just change one tire of the same brand and model if you can find one, but a tire of similar characteristics will be OK. You will be able to find a make and model of tire you need from an online shop if you can't find it in a local shop, but most tire shops can special order any tire you want. But most tire shops recommend at least a pair of the same type of tires with similar tread on an axile. But if you do this then your tire rotation may become off, for a new set of tires will be on the rear, and your old tires will stay in front. You always have less treads on the front by changing only two tires at a time. Since most tire place gives you a better price when you buy a set of four tires, at some point, you will probably better off changing all four.

Edit: One additional point, if you are experiencing so many punctures, it may be worth buying road hazards insurance on the tire purchase, it usually costs ~$15/tire, but it will cover free repair and if it is not repairable, then they will give you prorated discount on new tire purchase. Maybe worth looking into if you have a good tire shop nearby.

 

I'm pleased with the Michelin Defenders from Costco. Good wear and mpg. They have approx. 45,000 miles now
with probably 20,000 left.

 

Agree on not to change the tires just for punctures. I replaced my tires at 70k, about 2 years ago, and that winter in the first 3-4 months on the new tires, I had 4 punctures in 3 tires (bad luck I guess). I had a 2nd unrepairable one in one tire, but BJ's replaced it free under warranty. In the 20 months since, never had any more punctures, never even had to add air to the tires outside of normal maintenance, and finally just replaced them again after 70k more miles - probably 50k miles with no additional punctures.

 

You probably don't need to change them but you may want to. Personally I love the feel of fresh tires. The last 1/4 life of tires they are noisy, prone to flats and do not instill confidence. Prius tires are not expensive so it may be not be necessary but its still a low cost purchase. Being able to buy cheap tires is one of the great things about these cars.

 

If you do decide to buy new tires, don't you want to put exact match tires on the same axle? In other words, change two tires minimum. Not so much a problem between axles on 2WD (FWD or RWD), but I would want to match tires at least on the front (driving) axle. Even on AWD vehicles, I believe the wisdom is exact match tires on all 4. You've got speed sensors on all four wheels that feed into Anti-Lock Braking, Traction Control and Stability Control that expect similar tire properties for the algorithms to work.

 

Yes, I generally do them in pairs too - per axle. But - depends on the situation.

 

A cursory search seems to point to the recommendation that you can have multiple patches as long as they are at least 16 inches apart. And there seems to be a rule of thumb that you don't want to have more than 3 patches per tire. I can see that's because if you have more than 4 patches, chances are they are within 16 inches. So, your mechanic may not be giving you totally off-the-wall advice. It seems it is unsafe to be trying to patch holes that are too close to the previous patch.

How many times can a car tire be patched? - motorbeast.org

Most dealers’ advice is that tires shall not be patched more than three times, having one patch per one-third of the tire. There is, however, no officially set limit as to how many times you may patch up your tire as long as a few industry rules are observed;

• Patches shall not overlap.

It is not safe to patch over a previously repaired area. If damage occurs in the same place, you may consider replacing the tire altogether for your safety on the road. While not overlapping, patches should not be done too close and if there are too many leaks close together, it may be time to replace the tire.​

Other sources with similar recommendations.
How many times can you patch a car tire? - Quora
How Long Can You Drive on a Plugged or Patched Tire? | YourMechanic Advice

 

Different locales may have different requirements that limit the number of times a tire may be patched. No shop is going to want the liability if they made the last (fourth? ninth?) patch and it goes flat, causing you to careen off of the road into a canal (example only).

 

Oh4Corolla......Those are suppose to be the best tires per Tireracks website. I would be interested on what you think of them in the future. $490 out the door is a great deal too.

 

Tirerack only rates tire models/brands that they sell. Some very good tires are not on their lists including one of the best choices for a Prius - Nokian WRg4 "All Weather" tires.

JeffD

 

The reason for the rule to replace all 4 tires on an AWD car is that a difference in rotations per mile will cause excessive wear on the transfer case clutches. This rule does not apply to a Toyota AWD-e vehicle as there is no mechanical drive-line connection between the front and rear axles.

JeffD

 

It sounds as if the shop has a conservative tire repair guideline probably due to liability. They don't want to be responsible if a tire fails after they repair it.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I've got a 18 thatll need some tires soon. How do you like those? A friend put those nokians on his gen 2 when his toyos were spent because they were cheap and the sidewall laimed they were LRR but he said he didn't notice any mpg changes. The toyos weren't specifically LRR and he noted 41-42mpg before and after

 

The Toyos on a GEN2 were good for MPG in warm weather, but rolling resistance went up in the winter. I went from the Toyos to Michelin MXV4+ and saw some MPG improvement in the winter. When I switched to Nokian WRs (then WRg2, then WRg3) tires there was a further improvement (I averaged 46 MPG over the 12 year-188k miles life of my 2004 Prius). I have continued to use Nokians for my Gen4 (now WRg4). They last a bit over 50k miles, have good bad weather traction, are strong tires (the "H" rated version, max cold PSI is 51) and are LRR (not the Run Flat models!).

JeffD

 

So should I be looking for a LRR with the max 51psi? A harder tire that'll hold up better, can run higher psi and being harder it'll be less sticky. I know ecopia has alot of options. My last store we sold a few Nokians but you can't find them much anymore. Besides the ecopia continental makes a good looking (by specs) tire. It's eco+, 800 tread wear, 51psi max and a H rated tire and $11 cheaper along with 1 lb lighter than Dunlop and ecopia

 

You WON'T use 51 on a PRIUS!!!

The figure on the sidewall is what the tyre is rated at for MAX - definitely not what you drive with. That figure is what it's designed not to blow-out at - but using that pressure on a PRIUS would be unsafe. Just ignore that figure - it's always much higher than what you'd drive at.

Look up the CAR Manufacturer's recommended Tyre Pressure Placard - it's on the door opening on most cars (glovebox lid on one I had). It's also in your HANDBOOK.

Some cars have different front/rear pressures - if you're going to over-inflate by 2 or 3 PSI like some people might suggest - maintain any F/R differential. Pressure differential can affect handling (more FRONT can cause it to oversteer, maybe dangerously; and vice-versa).