sothpaw2

Hi fellas, (and ladies)

If you were me, w/ 1 nail in each of 2 tires, in the tread block not the side wall, would you patch them or leave them in there and apply rubber cement?

Is it safe to do high speed driver instruction/road racing w/ a patched tire? Would you do it?

Both of them are leaking air very slowly, a few lb a week. The front is more an immediate concern in the sense that some compound has worn away so the head is starting to be more exposed.

Last year, I didn't want to run w/ patched tire, so I used my 8.5" rims on front w/old tires on them. Can't do this for the rear tire.

MattW_VA

There is no way in hell I would get on a racetrack with a patched tire. Think of the stress you put on that tire under those conditions...

imho

AU N EGL

Lets see ?? High speed straights, high g-force cornes with sliding tires, hard braking, tire pressure goes UP with hard use from 30 to 40 psi real fast, on patched tires with slow leak and the cords may or may not be cut??? Hmmmmm Let me think here . . . . . .

No my friend, your life is more important then patch tires.

sothpaw2

How was a nail going to cut the cord? Aren't they tough?

John Shiels

patch it on the inside and live dangerously

Timz06

I plugged one of my rain tires, but before I ran on track I took it off and patched it on the inside as well.

I think you would probably be fine, as it would definitely not go down suddenly, but it's your call.

Some people think I'm a bit crazy, so maybe you shouldn't listen to my advice? On the other hand, some people are a bit on the **** side. I had one dude on an fbody site tell me that I was an idiot after seeing one of my road atlanta videos. He was very upset that I had run a session with my v1 still mounted to the top of my windshield, like that was going to cause a major wreck...

silverz06vette

silverz06vette

I wonder what he would of said if he saw you on three wheels going thru the up hill esses at VIR.

BrianS

I would be a little concerned about the increased temperature of the tires while run on a road course and the effect of said temp on the glue. I may be a little **** with some of this stuff but I do not want to think about what would happen if you had a blowout at speed.

I am sure you would be fine on the road.

Timz06

You would probably have an off track excursion did I tell you guys about the time that I forgot to tighten down my rear brake caliper bracket mounting bolt?

dvandentop

i would run on it, but that is just my tight *** NW iowan in me

sothpaw2

I was thinking more on this last night, and I agree with you.

Still, if I have the tire dismounted from rim, have a pro put a patch on from the inside with a rectangular piece of rubber patch, with some adhesive, it's hard to comprehend how this could fail unless the adhesive delaminated on all sides or the patch rubber tore under 40 psi.

These are Goodyear F1 Supercar tires, almost new, 2k mi on them. I am thinking Goodyear engineers must have come up with something over the years for their performance tires to patch them in a way that's safe under extreme conditions.

I am going to contact Goodyear technical support. They were responsive last time I asked a question.

Thanks for your replies!

TedDBere

They'll tell you that if it's patched correctly you'll lose one letter rating on the speed rating of the tire. The key is "if it's patched correctly". But it's your life, just don't take anybody else out with you when it fails...safety first in racing. There's a reason you won't find the Pros running patched tires....

rws.1

If its plugged and patched it should be OK... only you can decide based on your risk aversity whether you are comfortable with "should be"

sothpaw2

Related to this: when is a tire too worn out to be safe? Does the cord have to show or do you throw them out long before this?

My left tire of the 2 "extra" tires for the front is worn on the corner, little tread left, obviously no cord, but I'm just as concerned about using this as a patched (from the inside) tire.

ToyC4

as long as it is patched with a plug patch (a patch with a plug in the center that is applied inside the tire) I would feel comfortable at any speed.

sothpaw2

Does that go on with adhesive? Looks just like what I thought it should. As long as it's a good material and the adhesive bonds, I'd think it should be fine.

John Shiels

No sponsor here so I cord mine