I picked up a nail in my tire. It's still in the tread section, but it is close enough to the side of the tire that Auto Innovations recommended doing a tire plug since it's too close to the side to patch the tire. I'm hoping that I can get a plug in the tire and that it will hold as I still have a decent amount of meat on my tires.

So the question is, who is a good shop / station that can do tire plugs? I drive between Brentwood and Newark 5 days a week so pretty much anywhere along the way I'm okay with going to if they can do quality work (I.E. Brentwood, Livermore, Dublin/Pleasanton, Fremont, Newark or maybe even Castro Valley, Hayward, Union City areas). Any recommendations?

OR

The other option would be to get a Tire Plug Kit and do the repair myself (which I've never done before, but I doubt it is all that difficult to do). If going this route, is there a particular kit that is worth getting (or maybe something to avoid)?

 

It's not hard at all. I have two plugs in my other set.

 

Demounting the tire and patching is the best solution, but if they refuse to do that then I would just pickup a plug kit from any parts place. They are all pretty much the same and the install is straight forward. Takes 5 min to do. Plugs are only suppose to be a temporary solutions but ive ran a couple in the past that outlasted their tires.

 

Is rather plug than patch now a days

 

Bad experience with patching?

Ive never had a problem with either options honestly. The tire places ive been to usually prefer to demount and patch the inside or do a patch plug combo from the inside.

 

The tire shop I got my tire repaired at plugged the hole then patched it from the inside since it was close to the sidewall but still in the tread. Held up like a champ for 2 years until I replaced the set.

I also had a f250 that had a bfg TKO with a plug only in it. Held up great even offroading! Didnt even know it was there until I rotated the tired myself.

 

I've done tire repairs. I haven't heard anything bad from using just the plugs, but I preferred using a plug patch when I did them. It plugged the puncture and also had the patch on the inside.

 

Never just plug. Always patch. Plugs can still leak.

 

America's tire does free tire repair. They almost patched one of my tires, but they said the bolt was too big for them.

 

So can patch if not done properly... and not many places/people know how to do it properly these days. I took my tire to Wheel Works to patch few years ago & they had to do it 3 times (a charm?) to get it right.

I think plug is easier to get it done right.

 

I would patch if I could, but based on where the nail is at it's not an option.

So looking at a few different kits on Amazon here a few I came across. Anybody have any experience with any of these or see one particular one being better than the others?



(There is also a Steel version for about $10 more/kit).

(Like the other tool, there is also a Steel Version for about $10 more/kit).