got a flat the other day, see my funny spare

[mpvue]

I'm thinking it's yellow to remind you, 'hey, it's temporary!'. I was glad to see the tools and jack were easily accessible, had it changed out in a few minutes.

getting some new tires today, continentals, forget which model.

 

[DKaz]

Draw a happy face on it. Are you going with the ExtremeContact DWS? A pretty good tire so I heard.

I never seen my spare tire before, but there's a nice nail in the sidewall of one of my tires right now. It's still holding air at least. I might have to put this funny spare on sometime. lol.

 

[mpvue]

yeah, that's it, the extreme contact DWS.
I was looking at a kumho ecsta, but it's only a 30K tire; the conti is a 50K tire. getting them for around $140 ea, everything included.

 

[KBrian]

Picked up a roofing nail in the D/S rear tire and paid CTire 25 bucks to plug the leak

 

[flcruising]

$25! My plug kit with a half dozen or so plugs was only $5 at Wally-World!

 

[J.P.]

Yeah, but the $5 Wally world kit is only meant for temporary use. Shops (at least in Canada) are not allowed to install those. Handy to have if you get a puncture in the middle of nowhere though.

 

[Heat]

Mpvue, what tire(s) did you end up with and how much did they cost?

And soon after I got my Mazda5 I popped a tire on a curb (after only 400 miles or so), tore a chunk out of the sidewall. Replacement was about US$200 but I paid US$25 per tire for road warranty so about US$300 total, after taxes.

I used the warranty for the first time a couple of weeks ago, I had a slow leak in one of the tires - turned out to be a small nail. Discount Tires removed the nail and put in a quality plug at no cost since I had already paid for the road hazard warranty.

 

[mpvue]

Mpvue, what tire(s) did you end up with and how much did they cost?

Continental ExtremeContact DWS, about $140 ea, everything included. jack Williams tire is a chain of stores here, includes lifetime rotations, lifetime nitrogen, lifetime alignment checks.
tire rack is like $124 for this tire, so I actually got them cheaper by going local after you figure in shipping and mounting charges.

 

[flcruising]

Yeah, but the $5 Wally world kit is only meant for temporary use. Shops (at least in Canada) are not allowed to install those. Handy to have if you get a puncture in the middle of nowhere though.

He said plug, not patch. All plugs are pretty much the same. Either way, I've never had a problem with a plug being a permanent solution, BUT the problem is if the tire's belt was damaged by the original puncture, then there are no permanent repair solutions.

 

[J.P.]

I never said patch, and in theory, you can't have a puncture without some belt weakening/damage. The surrounding strands are just strong enough to support it. Plugs are the only type you can install without breaking down the tire. The only approved way of repairing a tire is a plug/patch combo. The one piece patch has a tapered plug attached to it which is pulled through from the inside of the tire. The plug fills the hole so dirt and water can't work the patch loose over time like a plain internal patch could. It also means that with centrifugal force, it cannot come out at high loads and speed.

When plugs were allowed, I had numerous over the years with no problems. I am not saying that they can't work, just that they have a greater potential to fail. I also had no problems with the old internal patches when installed properly. The new industry standard is the plug & patch, is the only type a tire shop is allowed to install. They still make plugs, and sell them for temporary use, or for use on a vehicle that is never driven on public roads (off-road use only).

Bottom line is that yes, for $5 you can buy a DIY plug kit, and I always have one with me. But the reason you pay $25+ at a shop is because they do a proper repair (or at least they should!).

 

[CTt3P5]

You'll be happy with those DWSs. Almost bought them for the P5 for the simple fact that I could have run my summer wheels a bit longer in the fall and mounted them up a bit earlier in the Spring. In the end I opted for the DW and love 'em! Have a feeling you'll get quite a few more miles out of yours though. lol

 

[flcruising]

You said that they are temporary, I disagree. I've run thousands of miles with no issues after installing my own Wally-World tire plugs. My comment about the price was for the plug, not a patch, that's why I said that. $25 for a patch would be OK by me. There's no way that centrifugal force is going to fling one of those plugs out, at least not one that I've installed.

I guess I was just anticipating a comment that had to do with removing the tire and installing a patch in place of the generic plug from your 'temporary' statement.

Anyways, Nice looking spare!

 

[J.P.]

It has nothing to do with what I say about them being temporary, or if I believe that they are safe.

Quote from your own NHTSA:

"The proper repair of a punctured tire requires a
plug for the hole and a patch for the area inside
the tire that surrounds the puncture hole.
Punctures through the tread can be repaired if
they are not too large, but punctures to the
sidewall should not be repaired. Tires must be
removed from the rim to be properly inspected
before being plugged and patched."

Canadian Tire being a giant national chain up here in Canada, would not risk the lawsuit repairing a tire any other way. So all I was saying was that when he said he had them "plug the leak", this is what they did for him for $25. If you trust a plug (and my experience agrees with you), go ahead and use them. You probably won't find a lawyer fearing shop that will put one in for you - that's all. 8)

And yes, whatever colour spare it is, a spare always looks nice! Thank god it's not a repair kit like Honda used on the Fit to save gas!

 

[flcruising]

I guess I should have known what CTire was...but since I didn't, I assumed plugging a leak for $25 was a huge rip-off. That was all my point was. But since you clarified that plugging a leak in Canadian language means patching, then this whole rabbit trail was because of my ignorance.

 

[J.P.]

CTire (Canadian Tire, CTC, Crappy Tire, etc) is more common than McDonalds up here. Our little town (under 120000 residents) has 3 massive Canadian Tire stores. Actually, I guess that isn't totally true since we have 6 McDonalds in town.

 

[DKaz]

I like to call it Cambodian Tire.

 

[KBrian]

Hey guys, thanks for streatching my innocent little comment over a dozen or so posts

Yes, it was Canadian tire, who charges a flat fee (no pun intended) for tire repair. They remove the wheel and pull the tire off the rim. A plug/patch combo is installed , the work is garranteed (for how long?) and the process is hassle-free. 20 minutes in the store and the service advisor came and found me with the keys and the invoice as I drooled over the Mastercraft hand tools (love CTire).

This is the 2nd patch/plug due to roofing nails in the 5's tires. Lots of folks (including me) have replaced their roofs around here in the last 2 years.

 

[josh1581]

yeah, that's it, the extreme contact DWS.
I was looking at a kumho ecsta, but it's only a 30K tire; the conti is a 50K tire. getting them for around $140 ea, everything included.

I wasn't remotely impressed with the Kuhmos when I had them on my Jetta. I'm sure the road noise woul be even worse with low profile tires.

 

[mpvue]

so far I am REALLY impressed w/ the conti DWS! I've been pushhing it in the corners a little more, doesn't seem to be near the limits of adhesion. in the rain the other day, it felt like driving in the dry.