Nail in tire. Kal says they can't fix. Help!

[bspot]

I took a nail in my Potenza RE760 Sport. It only has 5,000km on it.

Kal says they can't fix it because the angle of the puncture brings it too close to the crown.

They also said it's down 2/32" so I'd need two new tires (AWD).

Is there any point bringing it somewhere else?

Should I try a home repair kit?

Am I screwed?

They are quoting $600 for 2 tires plus mount and balance. Ouch.

[bspot]

Oh, and could anyone shave the other tire if I just bought one new?

[lilmira]

Talk to tirebob.

I had a screw a while ago. Kal Tire didn't want to fix it which was fair enough since the tires were old. They gave me an outrageous quote to replace the tires and ask me if I want alignment done so I went to Bob instead.

[Tomaz]

Take it to Urban X, see what they can do. If your tire is truly unrepairable, they would tell ya.


I don't know what happened to Kal Tire. I used to go to them all the time. Now I just feel like they want to rape me for all I have every time I walk through the door. And that's with the company's corporate discount.

[eblend]

If all else fails, you could do a home repair on the tire, and throw it at the back of the car since a blowout is more controllable that way should it happen. My dad has repaired a few tires that the stores said they woudln't and drove them until it was time to replace without issues

[bspot]

Home repair it is.

I'm not paying $600 for this nail. I've had brutal, brutal luck getting the wheels on for this summer including one tire shop ripping the beads on 3 of my tires, 3 wheel refinishes until they got it right and selling rims that greyhound took 4 months to get me the $. They've been on for 3 weeks. Screw it.

Urban X said I should try the home repair. The tires are out of stock from their suppliers.

[rob the knob]

home repair?

go check few other tireshop. if pro wont fix it, then not smart idea to fix yourself.
next week: help! batmobile lot its wheel on deerfoot. got police ticket and insurance problem.


Originally posted by bspot
Home repair it is.

I'm not paying $600 for this nail. I've had brutal, brutal luck getting the wheels on for this summer including one tire shop ripping the beads on 3 of my tires, 3 wheel refinishes until they got it right and selling rims that greyhound took 4 months to get me the $. They've been on for 3 weeks. Screw it.

Urban X said I should try the home repair. The tires are out of stock from their suppliers.

[?????]

Probably not a good idea for a home repair. Safety first!

Same thing happened to me last year, a "non repairable" tire from a nail. One brand new tire was $300 (cheapest i found locally from Costco so you should check there if you haven't). I ended up finding a set of 4 new on kijiji for $600 and replacing all of them.

[westsideaccord]

I personally believe home repair, using a plug in the hole and an patch on inside of tire over the plug is best. When you can afford it buy new tires. i ordered some from 1010 tires .com and they had them to me in 3days! Definatley shop around, I very much doubt costco will be the lowest price, but they may be.
Make sure to run this tire on the rear of the car, also you may want to limit your driving speed and style lol. My 2 cents Peace

[J-hop]

Originally posted by rob the knob

go check few other tireshop. if pro wont fix it, then not smart idea to fix yourself.


^this, I agree that it could just be Kal just wanting to sell you new tires, so get a second opinion and if they wont do it DO NOT try to do it yourself. In the end if you can afford an S4 you can afford $600 in tires even if you've spent several thousand in wheel/tire related repairs already, amirite??

[ianmcc]

Another +1 for the DIY plug kit. I found that the first two were the hardest-getting the technique down pat. After that I can do one in under 5 minutes. Practice on a spare tire or your neighbors tire.

[KandabashiDevil]

Isn't your S4 on freshly finished Work wheels?


Originally posted by bspot
Home repair it is.

I'm not paying $600 for this nail.

:rofl:

That's ridiculous .... I look forward to reading you cry about having to replace one of your ~$800 Work Varianza wheels when the tire blows out. Except you'll probably be far too embarrassed to post it online. People like you make me laugh!

[sillysod]

I've patched a lot of tires in my lifetime with the home repair kit. To the point that I don't even consider going to the tire shop to get a flat fixed.

Never have I had a blow out or even one leak. Just pull the tire off the car, clean the "wound" really well, epoxy and stick the plug in.

I leave it for about an hour or 2 then fill it up with air and spray it with soapy water to make sure it's air tight. I have yet to find a leak after a repair, but always check just to make sure.

[KandabashiDevil]

^^ After a tire shop said they couldn't fix it?

I patch & plug my own tires too. That isn't the point.
OP will spend $2 trying to save $1. That's the point.

He's going to have to buy the tires AND a new wheel if he refuses to accept the advice he was given. Sure .... Urban X said he should try to plug it himself. So why didn't they try and plug it? Let me guess .... They didn't want the liability of trying to fix something they knew wouldn't work?


Originally posted by J-hop
In the end if you can afford an S4 you can afford $600 in tires ....

The key word here is "IF".

Urban X suggests a DIY plug.
I suggest selling your car to buy an A4. :)

[lellowrx7]

Home repair and blow your tire. (judging by the injury)
If your down to 2/32 your about to show chords anyway.
If you bought with kal in the first place they would offer you money back ad part of the warrenty.
And don't even think about just buying two with an awd. Say goodbye to diff or trans case. You need even traction on all ends to ensure your not spinning one more than the other.
It's a big cost to bite but their warranty is worth it
Kal fixes flats for free it's not like they are denying you service because it would cost them money instead of you buying new tires anyway.

[tirebob]

Ummmm... I am not sure who he spoke to, but if I can't fix a tire safely, I would never recommend the consumer tries to fix it themselves...

Maybe, and that is a big maybe, if someone said they had a flat and no spare or something, and needed to get their car from their house to a shop or something like that, I *might* suggest a temp fix to limp to the shop or to work for a day or two, but not to avoid replacing a tire, and certainly not just because I wouldn't fix it...

Sad but true, driving an all wheel drive means you have to account for the costs of this type of situation. Sometimes it means replacing the tires to be safe, pure and simple...

*EDIT*

I just spoke with Lorne on this and he said that it was him that you spoke with. If I understand correctly, it was suggested that you were needing the car for a few day to limp around town as you were leaving on holidays for a few weeks shortly and was hoping the replacement tires might be available when you returned. This would make more sense...

I would hate for anyone to think that we want customers out there fixing tires that are not safe for general use...

[BerserkerCatSplat]

Originally posted by lellowrx7

If your down to 2/32 your about to show chords anyway.


"Down 2/32", not "Down to 2/32". AWD systems, especially viscous systems, are sensitive to differences in tire diameter.

[lellowrx7]

Oh ok I read that wrong. But yeah like you were saying, awd are very touchy with tread differences and require proper rotate schedules.

Op what size are you looking for? I'll see if I can find you a decent deal.

[bspot]

Originally posted by tirebob
Ummmm... I am not sure who he spoke to, but if I can't fix a tire safely, I would never recommend the consumer tries to fix it themselves...

Maybe, and that is a big maybe, if someone said they had a flat and no spare or something, and needed to get their car from their house to a shop or something like that, I *might* suggest a temp fix to limp to the shop or to work for a day or two, but not to avoid replacing a tire, and certainly not just because I wouldn't fix it...

Sad but true, driving an all wheel drive means you have to account for the costs of this type of situation. Sometimes it means replacing the tires to be safe, pure and simple...

*EDIT*

I just spoke with Lorne on this and he said that it was him that you spoke with. If I understand correctly, it was suggested that you were needing the car for a few day to limp around town as you were leaving on holidays for a few weeks shortly and was hoping the replacement tires might be available when you returned. This would make more sense...

I would hate for anyone to think that we want customers out there fixing tires that are not safe for general use...

Sorry Bob, I probably shouldn't have thrown your shops name on that one, I didn't mean to stir anything up. That is correct, the cars going to be sitting for a while and there is no stock on these tires right now.

(For the record Urban X's price KILLED tire rack or Kal)

The guy at Kal said the problem was the angle of the puncture brought it too close to the crown. There is no angle on the puncture. I have no clue why they said it wasn't repairable.

Anyway, I've yet to encounter someone who has sprung a leak or had a blowout with a home patch job. Every single person I've talked to (including on here) has made it the life of the tire.

Plus, I'm not going to ruin a wheel if it does end up failing. I've had a flat on these wheels before. I just pulled over :dunno:

[bspot]

Originally posted by KandabashiDevil
Isn't your S4 on freshly finished Work wheels?



:rofl:

That's ridiculous .... I look forward to reading you cry about having to replace one of your ~$800 Work Varianza wheels when the tire blows out. Except you'll probably be far too embarrassed to post it online. People like you make me laugh!

I JUST bought these tires. If I order from tire rack to get replacement tires in right away, it's $700.

Odds are IF the patch does fail, I just get a flat, the wheel will be fine.

So yeah, I'll risk an $800 wheel when the "safe" alternative costs $700 anyway.

[bspot]

Originally posted by lellowrx7
Oh ok I read that wrong. But yeah like you were saying, awd are very touchy with tread differences and require proper rotate schedules.

Op what size are you looking for? I'll see if I can find you a decent deal.

They are 245/35R19 Potenza RE760.

And not true about the rotate schedules, when you run staggered lips and directionals each tire is stuck at it's specific corner ;) They wear surprisingly evenly.

[OriginalGoods]

Bring your tire to my house , I have a tire repair kit . I will fix it for you. Tire shops just want you to buy a new tires to make some cash. I always have done it my self at home no matter where the nail was .

[Mitsu3000gt]

I've repaired 3 of my tires in the past with the DIY plug kit. I have the worst luck, and EACH time, the punctures were on brand new tires (twice with a nail, once with a screw). All 3 times I used a DIY plug kit, and all 3 tires performed perfectly until the tire needed replacement due to normal wear of the tread. I wouldn't hesitate to use a plug again, and certainly wouldn't pay $600.

[bspot]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
I've repaired 3 of my tires in the past with the DIY plug kit. I have the worst luck, and EACH time, the punctures were on brand new tires (twice with a nail, once with a screw). All 3 times I used a DIY plug kit, and all 3 tires performed perfectly until the tire needed replacement due to normal wear of the tread. I wouldn't hesitate to use a plug again, and certainly wouldn't pay $600.

Some more testimony. Thanks!

Looks like the Big Tire corporations have successfully brainwashed the rest of you ;)

[bspot]

Originally posted by OriginalGoods
Bring your tire to my house , I have a tire repair kit . I will fix it for you. Tire shops just want you to buy a new tires to make some cash. I always have done it my self at home no matter where the nail was .

Thanks for the offer! I grabbed one last night. $10 for the "Pro" kit which fixes 5 tires. Take that Kal! Leak fixed.

[OriginalGoods]

That's wicked dude! Now you see what I mean about them just wanting your cash. So easy to do 5 mins not even .

[trevh]

After reading this thread, now I'm thinking of going and grabbing a DIY kit myself and just learn myself. I also went to Kal Tire (deer valley)and thought their prices were a bit high.

Another question; If you've had your tires balanced in the past and you want to rotate them yourself, do you need to get them re-balanced? :dunno:

[OriginalGoods]

No you don't need to re balance wheels unless one of the weights fell off or if you can feel it out of round.

[sillysod]

One thing to keep in mind though with these DIY kits.

If you drive around on a flat tire (especially hard to notice on lo-pro tires) you will damage the sidewall from the INSIDE. You won't see it. The only way to really know is to dismount the tire.

In those cases you wouldn't want to go DIY. I've ruined a tire that I drove on flat for about 60kms.

However, if you catch it and don't drive around on it flat the DIY is a great repair IMO.

[bspot]

Perfect, the nail held the air in until I got home :)

[KandabashiDevil]

Originally posted by bspot
Some more testimony. Thanks!

Looks like the Big Tire corporations have successfully brainwashed the rest of you ;)

Oh wow :rolleyes:

You went to two reputable shops that wouldn't plug it ... And now you're trying to come across as "smart"? :rofl: Sorry to rain on your self-pride parade, but you only look cheap.

The "Big Tire" corporations WILL get their $600 :) Unfortunately for you, since you've clearly never done this before, so will the "Big Wheel" corporation :rofl:

I plug & fix my own tires too .... When they should be fixed. You'll learn the difference one day when you've grown up a little bit. Let us know how your plug goes!

[kamakurakid]

You drive an Audi, reject the seasoned advice of a few tire shops as well as the tire god Bob at UrbanX and then have the gonads to go all up and do a ghetto tire repair*? Please tell me you are not working in the food industry.

*I am hoping you are just doing all this while awaiting your new tires to arrive.

Upon a further look/see it appears not to be a big issue IF the right type of tire repair is made (only a tire pro would know), of the three available, only one is correct:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=77

[bourge73]

I wouldnt ever trust one of the most important things on my car (tires) to anything but professionals. Get it fixed properly, or buy new tires, don't be a fool man.

[bspot]

Originally posted by kamakurakid
Upon a further look/see it appears not to be a big issue IF the right type of tire repair is made (only a tire pro would know), of the three available, only one is correct:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=77 [/B]

Oh no.. they downside of my repair is it might leak. Dear god. Surely my car will flip off the road :rofl: If it develops a slow leak, I'll know, and I'll replace the tires.

Jesus some of you guys are drama queens.

FYI Urban X never saw the tire, at that point I just told them what Kal said, which was a LIE. The puncture isn't angled toward the crown of the sidewall. It's vertical, and well in from the sidewall. It'll be fine. I'll bump this in three years when I've worn out the tires with no issues, or when I get a slow leak and my rims are fine.

Have fun needlessly replacing your tires.

[Darell_n]

**** Tire Warranty ****

Take it back to where you bought it and they should replace it for free minus the wear value.

[SikAssR1]

Originally posted by Darell_n
**** Tire Warranty ****

Take it back to where you bought it and they should replace it for free minus the wear value.

Wrong.....

Standard Manufactures warranty does not cover punctures lol.

[Darell_n]

Originally posted by SikAssR1


Wrong.....

Standard Manufactures warranty does not cover punctures lol.

Road Hazard Warranty was what I meant. Every car and truck tire I've purchased in the last decade came with one.

[AndyL]

:rofl: I love beyond sometimes...

Nothing wrong with a plug done right. Nothing wrong with a plug. Hell the new Nissan Leafs come with plugs and tire in a can instead of a spare - does that tell you something?

A lot of tire shops pull this unrepairable crap...

[SportEL]

I've had a nail puncture repaired by Kal-tire with no hassle at all. I didn't even buy the tires from them, and they repaired it. All they asked for was a food donation. I went to the 32nd Ave location. This was about 2 years ago.

Of course, if the shop said they couldn't fix it, I'd go to two other shops for their opinion before I would make my final decision.

[FraserB]

OP, if you are still interested in having it repaired, take it to the Fountain Tire by the KalTire at Chinook. Ask for Darryl, he'll give you a no BS answer and probably fix it free.

[J-hop]

Originally posted by FraserB
OP, if you are still interested in having it repaired, take it to the Fountain Tire by the KalTire at Chinook. Ask for Darryl, he'll give you a no BS answer and probably fix it free.

I think that is a great idea, the reason I said not to fix it YET was you don't know for a fact that kal was lieing to you. From this thread it is apparent (and I think you can agree) that you are not a tire repair expert, probably like the rest of us (bob excluded of course) you don't know much more beyond whats written on the side of your tire. No one can say for certain that you are wrong, but it is pretty bold to think you are right without getting a second opinion. I've had a couple occasions where I was 100% sure the local shop could repair a puncture, and they refused so I had to buy a new tire(s). As a side note before you claim i'm just another idiot getting screwed by "the tire man", the owner of the tire shop we take our vehicles to is a family friend, we have 8 vehicles, 4/8 are serviced there, 8/8 are re-shoed there, and 5/8 run both summers and winters, so its pretty fair to say we are valued customers and he isn't likely to try to screw us for a measly few hundred dollars....

[OriginalGoods]

Can you please explain to me what it takes/means to be a tire expert? This is unreal haha

[bspot]

Originally posted by FraserB
OP, if you are still interested in having it repaired, take it to the Fountain Tire by the KalTire at Chinook. Ask for Darryl, he'll give you a no BS answer and probably fix it free.

That sounds like a very helpful answer. Thanks, I'll give this a shot.

[sillysod]

wow people are making a big deal out of this.

The passat summers are pretty much bald now and there is probably 2 plugs in each of those tires. When we built our house I was constantly getting nails and screws in the tires. One of them I put in about 6 years ago shortly after I purchased them. This spring I patched 2 holes in another one.

They have never leaked, they have never caused a problem. I really don't understand why people are so worked up about this.

[AllGoNoShow]

^^ Difference may be you have applied many and can get them to seal, instead of heading to Cdn tire and buying the kit without knowing what you are doing. I wouldn't suggest to anyone I know that they do an at home fix, especially if it is driven regularly, highway or hard, only to use to get home on the side of road (if safe location, see below) or MAYBE drive for a week until a new tire comes (again depending on location of puncture).

Long term fixes should always be done properly, and yes most likely by a tire shop unless you have a tire machine and balancer handy in your garage.

The other issue with this is I still don't see a picture of the tire or explaination of it (maybe I missed it??). If someone is going to apply a DIY patch to the sidewall, shoulder, something that isn't a straight puncture (cut/slash/etc..) they are risking a shitload more than they think they are when that mofo blows, and yes most likely one day it will blow and it won't always be at that "ideal" situation when you can just pull over.

[Meback]

damn, the guys at kal tire i find are pretty good people that provides amazing service. Went in with a flat today... was expecting to pay about 25 bucks for them to patch up a tire with a nail in it. The guys there did it for free! Canadian tires would have been all over that shiet!!

[FraserB]

Originally posted by Meback
damn, the guys at kal tire i find are pretty good people that provides amazing service. Went in with a flat today... was expecting to pay about 25 bucks for them to patch up a tire with a nail in it. The guys there did it for free! Canadian tires would have been all over that shiet!!

Yeah, except for the fact that they don't know shit about anything aftermarket if they need to do an alignment. That and they had to spend 20 minutes looking for the torque wrench even though they told me they never use torque sticks and only the wrench to tighten lugs.

[lilmira]

So I found a nail in my tire today. The head is in the middle so it should be an easy fix right? Wrong! You know it can't be good when the tech came into the office and had a bit of chitchat with the senior. That freaking thing is like 3-4 inches long, might as well give me a rail spike at least I get more money for scrap. That thing is so long that it actually damaged the sidewall as well. One season old RE11 is gone bye-bye.

Anyway, since they are on my speed6. This news of one unrepairable tire is just wonderful. The folks at Integra Tire on MacLeod said I might be able to get away with just replacing one since I still have 6/32" left. I spoke to tirebob and he gave me an honest opinion that I should ask Mazda about this since different AWD systems can handle stuff like this differently. I spoke to the folks at Mazda and they said that I can probably try replacing two and see how it handles. If that doesn't work, replace the other two as well.

Thank you to the folks at Integra Tire for the friendly service at no charge. They also gave me their honest opinion without trying to rip me off like some other folks.

Hey bob, do you guys give out tire cards like subway? The way things go I might get a free set pretty soon.

[lilmira]

Another round of applause :clap: to UrbanX and Tirebob, I'm back in business. Don't think I'll go to a different tire shop in the future.

[Toma]

I don't understand why people go to Kal Tire.

Expensive and sub standard service.

Tires for my Viper, Nitto Drag Radial 345 30 19.

Kal tire, $700 + each

deal hunting... $500 each.

Now, I know cause I have a Viper, I may LOOK like I'm stupid and have money, but come on.... that's rude.

[fosters]

Tireland in Midnapore is fantastic.

[Offroad]

One nail in a bad spot cost me a whole set of tires yesterday because my tires were discontinued:banghead:

[bspot]

Update #1

A couple highway trips, one with long stretches of high speeds on gravel roads, no loss of pressure.

[sillysod]

Did you patch it yourself bspot?

[Ven]

Been plugging my own tires for years, never had a leak or a failure ever. I plugged the tires on my patrol vehicle too, there's no fuggen way I'll wait nearly 2 hours for MSD for come and fix my tires (we don't have spares). I kept a kit in my duty bag along with one of those small 12v lighter compressors I bought for $9 at CrappyTire. I can get back on the road in less than 10 minutes now. Common sense applies, no sidewall fixes, no fixes at the edges of the tread, no fixes on flats I had to drive on for a while. Saving taxpayer dollars one plug at a time haha.

[OriginalGoods]

Originally posted by bspot
Update #1

A couple highway trips, one with long stretches of high speeds on gravel roads, no loss of pressure.


I am loving this post, keep the updates coming !

[heavyD]

I've plugged tires with success in the past but I wouldn't feel comfortable using the tire for track use especially if the puncture was close to the outer tread blocks.

[sillysod]

I've repaired in all places including the sidewall. Never had a problem.

I've probably repaired 50+ tires for myself and family and I have never ever had one leak.

Even say worst case scenario the plug did let go, the only thing that is going to happen is its going to go flat.... just like it did in the first place.

Regardless, I always do the same thing.

1. remove tire from vehicle.

2. clean puncture are with tool.

3. blow compressed air through hole and around area cleaned out to ensure everything is dry.

4. insert plug with a lot of glue.

5. let sit for 1 hour

6. inflate and spray soap on repair to ensure no bubbles appear


** That being said, if you ran on the tire flat for more then a km or so - or if you have any bulges in the sidewall when it's inflated the tire is garbage and MUST be discarded because it WILL eventually blow out **

and yeah Heavy, probably wouldn't want to run a patched tire for auto-x :D

[bspot]

Originally posted by heavyD
I've plugged tires with success in the past but I wouldn't feel comfortable using the tire for track use especially if the puncture was close to the outer tread blocks.

It's probably a good inch from the edge of the tread. I'm still baffled why Kal couldn't fix it.

[OriginalGoods]

All the tire shops wouldn't have fixed it , that's how they stay in business .

[bspot]

Shocking news guys.

It's still fine.

I get a huge thrill every time I go for a drive knowing I'm risking my wheels and my life though :rolleyes: