PCA SDR

Can someone direct me to a good place to get a tire patched?
I have discovered a very slow leak in one of my tires and want to get it taken care of.

Thanks,
Paul

You might try Discount Tire, one of our advertisers! They just fixed a slow leak in the Jette tire.

Mary Clark

We've always been told it's not wise to "patch" a Porches' tire.

Consider it a VERY weak spot and not at all ready for 100+mph use.

Better to replace the tire, and then - best to replace BOTH tires on that axle.

JMHO

I gotta agree with Chris. A patch on a high-speed tire? Not a good idea. If it's a street tire (on a street car like a Jetta) it's one thing. On a Porsche, especially of you're A-X'ing the car .... YIKES!

The patches I've done on my truck tires have resulted in unbalanced tire/wheel combo's, even after trying very hard to balance it at the shop (with steel wheels, no less). I can't imagine what that would do to a P-car tire/wheel set-up.

Invest in safety. Buy a new tire.

My 2-sense

Dan Chambers wrote:I gotta agree with Chris. A patch on a high-speed tire? Not a good idea. If it's a street tire (on a street car like a Jetta) it's one thing. On a Porsche, especially of you're A-X'ing the car .... YIKES!

The patches I've done on my truck tires have resulted in unbalanced tire/wheel combo's, even after trying very hard to balance it at the shop (with steel wheels, no less). I can't imagine what that would do to a P-car tire/wheel set-up.

Invest in safety. Buy a new tire.

My 2-sense

I would have no issue with patching a street tire to be used at the track. I don't know if I'd patch a Hoosier, but I might depending on the track. I've patched street tires, as have many others. Particularly if you're doing a parking lot event, I wouldn't worry. Discount will do it for free. Keep in mind this is not PLUGGING the tire. That's a different story and is only done to get you home. A patch supposedly lowers the tire one rating. Who knows?

All this concern about a patch, but I see most of our drivers run without a valve stem cap. Have you ever seen how fast air comes out of a tire if the valve is not in correctly and pop out? I had that happen in Vegas, fortunately when I was taking pressure and not on the track. The tires goes flat in seconds.

Some three piece wheels leak more than the tires. Make sure it's not your wheels, tho' from the looks of it, you have a stock B-ster.

I have to agree with Jack on this. I have had tires patched on P-cars for years with no ill effect. I even patched a Toyo RA1 and it lasted the life of the tire. But, as they say, YRMV (your results may vary).

David J Marguglio wrote:I have to agree with Jack on this. I have had tires patched on P-cars for years with no ill effect. I even patched a Toyo RA1 and it lasted the life of the tire. But, as they say, YRMV (your results may vary).

Dave, when am I going to see that RSA at a TT? Streets is coming up Nov. 13-14.

Paul,

There is a patch and plug combo that is all one peice. It is done from the inside out. This not only patches from the inside, but also plugs to keep the steel cords from rusting when the tire goes through water.

jack miller wrote:

David J Marguglio wrote:I have to agree with Jack on this. I have had tires patched on P-cars for years with no ill effect. I even patched a Toyo RA1 and it lasted the life of the tire. But, as they say, YRMV (your results may vary).

Dave, when am I going to see that RSA at a TT? Streets is coming up Nov. 13-14.

I wouldn't count on it anytime soon. Dave is all talk! "My car's not ready ... blah blah... But I have something else to do... blah blah blah... My wife wont let me... blah blah"

Jack -- Yes, it's a stock Boxster S.

I had heard Discount does patching for free for their customers. These are the Michelin Pilot Sports that came with the car. I've never been a Discount Tire customer, having moved to San Diego a year and a half ago. Will they still patch for free?

So, yes, these are street tires, and due to San Diego region rules, I won't be taking my car to the track for TT. The hardest driving I do is autocross (if you don't count my drive to work! ). And I'm not that fast a driver, anyway...

Paul

I think Discount charged me $10 for a patch while not a customer. Well, I'm not a customer anymore so I guess they would charge me $10 again if I went back...

My experience has been that if you ever bought tires at Discount and your name is in their computer database, they'll patch it for free. They've done it for me on tires I didn't buy there.

Be sure to get the "plug and patch" job from the inside as John described. This can only be done if the puncture is in the tread area (not the shoulder or sidewall). It will be a good enough repair to trust on the track, for the life of the tire.

If you can't get a freebie at Discount, and you're near downtown, take it to Import Tire at 13th and F St. See Joe or Don and they will fix it (if possible) for a minimal fee.

TT

Thanks, everyone. I think I'll find a Discount Tire near me and get the plug & patch done.

Paul

UPDATE:

Just in case anyone was wondering (yeah, right), I finally stopped by Discount Tire and discovered that the previous plug job done on the tire by my dealership, 2 years ago, had failed. The job they did made the tire not repairable (too large a hole).

Given that I needed to replace both rear tires and I had more than 15K miles on my tires and the tread was showing it, I bit the bullet and bought new tires at all corners. I picked up a set of the Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s. I had been pretty happy with my previous Pilot Sports that were the OEM tires, and I've read the reviews that say the PS2s are even better.

But now I've got to wait a few months before I can test 'em out at autocross (I'm bringing my "other" car to the other car autocross)!

Paul