Tyre pressure warning

Well, I have ordered a new Dunlop Enasave 01 A/S 91S (same as the OEM tire) from Priority Tire for under $100. It will arrive on Wednesday. According to the info on the Internet, this hole is wide into the shoulder, and they are not recommending a repair. Hopefully, the slow leak won't get bad and result in a tire failure by Thursday. I have a cigarette-lighter air compressor and pen tire-pressure gauge in my car.

 

Do you have the 17" or 19" tires?

 

Up to you, I would certainly give it a try. Not sure what "wide into the shoulder" means, typo?

By "info on the internet", hey: I'm on the internet? I know, "credible, professional" info.

Just to verify, this is the only puncture right, the other bits are just debris:

 

If I were you, I would just plug the tire myself and move that tire to the rear for almost free. Then drive the car on an empty parking lot, making slow vigorous maneuvers and see how it hold up.

 

Yes, just the headless nail in the middle (roof-tile nail?), the other two being gravel bits. The leak seems to be getting bigger and bigger. Perhaps inflating to 51 psi didn’t help.

I now fully appreciate the importance of a spare (the lack of it to be precise)—I hear you! FedEx (Home Delivery) gave me a scare last night with a shipment exception (“barcode label unreadable and replaced, delivery date will be updated”). I can’t be carless for too long! I was probably going to go get a plug if the tire couldn’t be delivered on Wednesday. Hopefully, it will be delivered on Wednesday (coming from Sacramento) and I will have it mounted right away.

 

I installed the spare tire in my trunk within a month of my delivery of the new Prius. Due to the extremely rare choices and inventory of the tire's odd size, I well not want to take chances, especially if you got the 19-in tires.

 

Unfortunately, I can’t install a spare tire in my trunk because of the large Gen 4 PHEV battery in the trunk taking all the space, but I think I should get one and keep it in my garage.

 

For best safety and peace of mind, a replacement tire is the best solution for a big puncture or after multiple punctures.

When repairing, I like a vulcanized patch which also allows inspection of the inner liner damage, which is essential with a big puncture.

A plug alone is a temporary emergency repair. Many plugs have failed especially when used in a large hole near the sidewall. Some had big tears inside which no one inspected.

The industry manufacturing group recommends a combination of plug for the tread side and a vulcanized patch inside.

Tire Repair Basics | USTMA.)

 

Yep, any reputable tire shop only uses a combined patch/plug.

 

Priority Tire sent me the wrong-pressure (44 psi, 89S) Dunlop Enasave 01 A/S, even though I paid for and ordered the considerably more expensive high-pressure (51 psi, 91S) one. Since I use high pressure in my tires, it is of no use for me, and I will return it.

The tire shop said they can plug and patch the hole. I will have it done tomorrow when they have more time. @Mendel Leisk knows best.

 

The plug style you’ve pictured above is more problematic near edge of tread, due to the disc on inside. With that plug style’s adoption by tire shop (they’re perhaps obligated to use it?), the acceptable zone has significantly narrowed. I encountered this stance about 10 years back, purchased the Blackjack kit (one of many that string-style plug repair options), DIY’d the repair, and it worked out well, no problems with two such repairs I’ve done on our Prius flats, both tires were subsequently used for close to 10 years, eventually replaced due to age.

Disclaimer: google search results are somewhat stacked against what I’ve said above.

 

On one car several of my (older) tires hold but like cold weather they intermittently leak to 25-psia, so I fill them and then they hold again
.

 

Exactly. But an inside inspection and patch is essential for safety.

I think the perspective of low cost diy repair of tires is flawed, especially when you consider innocents who are not in the decision making process who are dependent on other driver's car maintenance to reduce the chance of a serious accident.

In most parts of the US and Canada, high speed travel is routine, often in a daily commute, sometimes on two lane roads. We depend on our tires as much as our brakes and air bags to keep us and others on the road safe.

Which is why safety systems like tpms warnings and maintenance including proper tire repair are necessary. Blowouts and the injury they cause in today's vehicles are unacceptable. But they still happen and are usually called "accidents".

 

About 20 years back the pro-shops were doing simple, string-style plug repair. We had one done, and I was a little taken aback when I saw it. Never had any problem with it though. Besides our car I did similar plug repairs on our son's vehicles a couple of times. It could be they were unsafe, but never any issues for me.

 

I looked up the youtube videos on the string plugs and then looked at the comments where there are actually a lot of professionals like roadsides service people, they said they've been using the plugs for 20+ years and hundreds of times and have never seen them fail. Now that says a lot about the design and functionality.

 

I took it to a different tire shop today. They said that it was too close to the sidewall and irreparable. I had enough with it, so, just took it to Downey Toyota during today's atmospheric river and had the tire replaced with the original Dunlop Enasave 01 A/S 91S (51 psi) for $192, including mounting and balancing, a two-year road-hazard warranty, and tax. Thanks to Priority Tire sending me the wrong tire (89S, 44 psi), it cost me $70 more than it would have.

 

I was contemplating getting a tire-plug kit, but I noticed that they are only labeled for off-road use. There is probably a reason for that. Perhaps they would work as @Mendel Leisk said in most scenarios, but no tire manufacturer is recommending them, and no tire manufacture or no tire shop is allowing repairs outside the steel belt (as in my case). I wish Priority Tire had sent me the correct tire so that this would have cost me $120 instead of $190, but oh, well.



@Mendel Leisk is certainly right that not having a spare tire is a great inconvenience. Perhaps I should get one and keep it in my garage so that I can streamline my tire repairs in the future. It would probably pay for it itself.

 

I went whole-hog with the blackjack kit. Has lots of plugs, two diameters, needles replaceable, and has a spare needle IIRC. Nice case too.

 

It costs more than a tire. LOL