My curb side rear tire has developed two pinhole leaks in the sidewall, about 3 inches in from the tread. I have scraped the sidewall many times when parallel parking, so maybe I caused these leaks.
The tire service man said it's illegal for him to patch these leaks, and said I have to buy a new or used tire.
Is it true it's illegal for him to patch a sidewall leak?
Is it legal for me to patch such leaks?
Even if it's legal, is it advisable?
I am working on the conversion at my house, so I only drive it about perhaps 100 miles a year, mostly in town at low speed. I was planning to get four new rear tires once the conversion is done, but I don't want to get them now since the clock will start ticking on them once I do.
I saw the leaks and you can't see the holes in the rubber, but when you spray soapy solution, there are bubbles, so there are leaks.
Finally, what about something I could spray into the tire to fix these leaks, like that canned product they sell for passenger car tires?
Thanks,
Kevin Warnock
http://KevinWarnock.com (http://kevinwarnock.com) - my blog
It is not illegal but a waste of time and money the sidewalls flex so much a patch or a plug won't hold been there done that,but a plug will get you by for a short time
good luck
Been there done that also on my Tundra. Had a small puncture in the sidewall and had it fixed twice. It held for awhile the second time but I finally had to replace it.
As long as you know that it will only have low speed, local use, could you put a tube in it?
There is probably some rule somewhere that makes it illegal, but regardless no one likes to patch sidewalls, I've never met a tire guy that would, probably just for liability reasons. If I knew that I wasn't going to actually use the tire, I might go so far as to pull it and try to vulcanize a patch inside over the pin leak areas, but I'd have to have a lot more time than money. I'd either ignore it till I needed to drive the bus and get a usable used tire then, or just bite the bullet and do that now. Knowing me, I'd just ignore it as long as I could. How long does it take to leak down to where you have to fill it again?
Brian
If you do anything put a tube in it. Anything else on a sidewall is a waste of time.
and honestly, its likely not a puncture as much as internal tearing/ply seperation to the sidewall. The lesson is to not touch curbs.
Sorta kinda ot! We had a rash of slow sidewall leaks around here and as it turned out a bunch of high school terrorist were punching a hypodermic needle in sidewalls! Talk about the urge to committ a capital offense! john l
haha!! My answer for everything temporary is usually fix-it-flat!! The tire pros hate me when I change the tire though ::)
Will flat-fix-it work with a huge bus tire? How many cans would I need?
Do the tire pros hate you because the tire inside is now filled with some nasty compound?
I would love to be able to spend $15 for some cans and forget about this problem.
Thanks,
Kevin Warnock
http://KevinWarnock.com (http://kevinwarnock.com) - my blog
Honestly, Kevin I have never used it on a bus tire...... but Ive never had a flat bus tire either. I would certainly try it though. Ive done it enough on my cars over the years. The reason the guys hate me when I take the tire in to be changed is because they have to clean all that stuff off the wheel when they change the tire and so it takes a little longer. In your situation I would try 2 or 3 cans and see it that does the trick. After you put some in the tire see if the air stops coming out and drive it a few miles around, then check again. You can then add more if needed, but this stuff expands inside the tire (it is like a super duper expanding foam) so you spray some, drive some to make it mix real good and get warm inside, then check it.
With so much at stake, I wouldn't even consider trying to fix it. Even at slow speeds, what is gained if something unavoidable happens and the tire blows. I wouldn't want to be stranded in the city waiting for a tow. The tube sounds good, or maybe a cheap used tire. I personally wouldn't put a used tire on my bus, but I definitely would not use a tire that I know had a sidewall leak.
Good Luck,
Mike
Since it's on the rear, what about a recap? Todays caps aren't your dad's caps. Truckers run 'em all day long. Personally, I don't like the canned Fix-a-Flat, or whatever it is. I used it once, years ago, and when I installed a new tire months later, the wheel had started to corrode. Must be some caustic stuff in it. Good luck.
Dennis
Kevin,
I would stay away from the fix a flat. I have put used virgin tires on my bus and have not had a problem. I would not put them on my front steer axle, but on the drive axle or tag they are not a problem and will save you big bucks for it to sit in your yard. I only put 5k to 10k at the most on my bus per year. At that rate new tires would dry rot and crack before I wore them down much. Does not make sense to me if i can find a nice used tire. I have two on the drive axle right now that I bought used. Just drove the bus from GA to Miami Fl with not one bit of trouble. Good luck. Sorry for the long post.
James
Ditch the sidewall leaker, tire shop should have a good take off for 150 bucks. At that price you should get enough tread to run out and have a good casing for when your ready to re-tire. Have booted many side walls on log trailer and they will last a while, but not worth your time on a coach. Oh ya... most shops will not even entertain a sidewall boot. Plug in sidewall? NO. Gord.