How many of you guys get screws or nails in your tires and how often?
I'm getting 3 or 4 every summer sometimes dead center of the tire.
Wondering if I got some jealous psychopath that hates Bonnevilles around here.
I don't even drive that much and I've counted about 14 mostly screws in my tires over the years.
Your comments or suggestions would be helpful.

Sounds like you have a lot of constuction in your area. Unfortunately, construction workers aren't always the best (including myself when I was one) at making sure stuff like screws and nails won't fall out of thier vehicles....

I used to carry, and still have in the garage, a puncture repair kit. It comes with a cleaning tool, an insertion tool, and a bunch of what look like tar soaked pipe cleaners. Works like a charm, and a heck of a lot cheaper than having a shop do it for ya...

ive never gotten a nail or screw in a tire

::Knocks on Wood::

Once I got one... once

Tire plugging kits are cheap, and completely worth their money in my opinion. According to the tire guy my family uses, today'* plugs are every bit as good as a tire patch. In fact, his tire shop doesn't even patch tire punctures any more; they use plugs. They're much easier to install, due largely to the fact that you don't have to break the tire loose from the wheel. You may find people who disagree, but my dad and I have been using them for years with good results. I'm not sure what the "limit" is for how many plugs you should put in any given tire. I think I have two tires on the Bonnie that each have one plug in them from nail punctures.

Just remember: don't try to plug a sidewall puncture. These can be a totally different ballgame.

Luckily I haven't had one yet. The best thing to do after a quick fix is to have it patched from the inside. It'* not a pretty sight when the belts on a radial separate. the Firestone dealer I used to deal with wouldn't even plug a tire after getting sued for 6 MILLION!!!!!!

Plug leaked in a tire on a church van causing an accident killing 3 people.

Lol, I've already been called out! I don't know much about tires, so maybe the info I've gotten isn't accurate. I would think a patch would be better, but like I said I've been using plugs for years without problems. If you can get a tire patched, maybe it IS better.

Don't plug within an inch of the sidewall, That tire needs replaced.

Plugs work good for getting home, But I've had them come out, And many times you have to make the hole bigger to get it in.

No more than three plugs/patches per tire. By the time you get that many holes there'* a good number of bands cut.



I've never had a flat in one of my own tires, But i've patched more than my fair share....

Me too. I worked at a service station for a couple of years as a second job. Plugged and patched (mostly plugged) more tires than I care to remember.

For just a normal nail or screw hole, the plugs are more than sufficieant. They are small enough that no bands are actually cut, just kinda shoved over a smidge. And, if applie properly, plugs won't ever come out. They melt and fuse with the rubber (thus the tar like goo on the over the counter type).

But, yeah, if it'* less than an inch from the sidewall, it'* gotta be patched, and vulcanized. That area of the tire gets way too flexible for a plug to work. The vulcanized patch inside the tire helps keep the hole from stretching.

Anythng bigger than a 16 penny nail or a sheetrock screw, you should really just give up and replace the tire unfortunately. The damage from something that size is probably more than you want to trust to just a repair...

Not claiming to be an "expert" on the subject, just going off my experience. The guy who taught me had been in the business for 50 years, the cranky old SOB....

I've been using the monkey grip rubbery plugs for years. I get so many I couldn't hang around the tire shops anymore.
Every time I get a new car I'll get three or more in that car the first year.
Had to get rid of the Goodyears on my SSE as each tire had two or more plugs.
The SE currently has 3 plugs, The Supra 2 plugs and a puncture that doesn't leak.
This leads me to belive I have a jealous vandal in the neighborhood as there is no construction sites and walking my dog I rarely see a screw or nail on the road.
The numbers are just way above average and most I talk to say "once in a blue moon"
do they get a puncture.