I hit a pothole and got a flat today. The tire has a pretty good-sized gash in the sidewall. My understanding is that you can’t patch or repair the sidewall. Is that correct?
Assuming it is, I’ll need to get a new tire. I have heard that you should buy tires in 2’s or 4’s. Is this good advice? Should I avoid replacing a single tire?
Assuming the advice is true, I am thinking about replacing the front two tires.
Some details: My car is a Honda Accord. The tires have 42k miles on them and the damage was to the front passenger side. I am bad (terrible) about rotating tires.
Generally speaking, No, you can’t repair a “gash” in a sideway. A tiny hole, you might get away with, but you’ll probably have to do it yourself, as shops generally won’t do that citing “safety” concerns (and the concern to sell a set of tires).
Same goes for buying in pairs/sets. In a perfect world, that is the best way to do it. But hey, times are tough. With 42k(!) on them, you sound like a pair minimum would be a good idea.
I was in Wal-Mart the other day, and they actually had some damn good tire prices. Check em out, if you can stand to shop there.
If you shop at Costco, I had a great experience buying tires from them. They also do free pressure checks, and free rotations for the lifetime of the tire. Great way to multitask - drop the car off, go shop inside while they rotate the tires.
On a modern radial tire there is no way you can safely repair a sidewall puncture. The sidewalls flex too much and will tear a patch right off.
Don’t even think about it.
At 42K your tires were probably pretty near toast anyway, but a pair.