SCREW Stuck in Tire - Yikes!

[exvin]

HI All,

So I was driving with the radio off and with the front windows down and I kept hearing this sound like clicking, I thought it was something to do with the engine but upon closer inspection, I noticed there is a SCREW stuck into my front passenger tire!

When I put my finger on the screw, to see if I should just pull it out, I realized that it was tightly stuck in one of the grooves. Now I have 20" tires and was a bit nervous about removing it. The thread is about 3 months old.

What do you guys think I should do, should I remove it by hand or take it to a shop or replace the tire?

I did notice that the tire has not lost any pressure, I just dont want to be stuck with a flat tire.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

[Pwnin O'Brien]

I had the same exact problem almost a year ago. You will start to lose pressure very slowly if you leave the screw in. As the tires heat/cool that hole will begin to expand and leak air. Just take it to a shop and they will pull the screw and plug the hole. It's pretty cheap to get done and only take a few minutes.

[miamiheat3332]

yep had the exact same thing, take it to a tire shop or something, costs like 5$ and takes like 5 min., oh and if your tire has a black writing on one side, and white on the other or so, make sure they mount it back the right way, lol that took an extra 2 min for me.

[exvin]

Pwnin O'Brien - Thanks, I think I just may do that

yep had the exact same thing, take it to a tire shop or something, costs like 5$ and takes like 5 min., oh and if your tire has a black writing on one side, and white on the other or so, make sure they mount it back the right way, lol that took an extra 2 min for me.

Miamiheat - Thanks also, can you explain what you mean by black writing and white on the other? If I remember correctly, I dont have any white writing on the wheels

[Densetsu]

If you take it in, have them plug and patch it. Looks like this: http://www.mz3.net/articles/156.html

You can also just drive down to a parts store and pick up a plug kit to do yourself. Not too difficult and fairly reliable, I've plugged three tires and didn't have any problems with them the rest of their lifespan. Always a handy thing to have in the glove box, even with a spare I don't go anywhere without a plug kit. The ultimate solution, though, would definitely be to have a shop do it.

Regardless of what you do, I would recommend that you take if off and put the spare on ASAP. Not safe driving around with a screw in your tire, especially at high speeds.

[SixGuns]

Regarding the whole white lettering thing...if you're running 20's, chances are, all the writing is in white....more likely than not, however, those are tires that have a directional tread pattern, so that is definately something you need to make sure they get right. A tire shop is your best bet with tires like that...expecially because once the plug/patch is installed, you will want to get the tire balanced. Don't HAVE to, but the small amount of weight in that one location will throw off the balance eventually.

[miamiheat3332]

sixguns, i dont know what white lettering your thinking of, but what im talking about is the sidewall

like so



and on the flipside the lettering is black, so thats just all im warning him about, or otherwise if i didnt look i would notice later i have 3 black writing/labeling tires, and 1 white.

[exvin]

Just an update BUT first let me say THANK YOU to all that responded.

Anyhow, I left work and took into the shop, they were going to plug and patch it but the guy pulled out the screw and found that it actually did not puncture the tire..it was a short screw te he

BUT you know what, I am sure, that I would have pulled out the screw, it would have been a long one and my tire would be flat....the irony

[miamiheat3332]

well thats good you didnt have to fix it : ) lol

[SixGuns]

In regards to the writing...yeah, now that I re-read my post, yes, I sound like a jacka$$. I meant to say none of the lettering is in white. You'll usually only find the white lettering on light truck tires or some passenger car tires. But very rarely on low-profile tires like he's running. So..completely understood, good looking out. And hey, that screw might have been a short one, but it's gonna be the weak spot of the tire now, if it punctured most of the way through, but not all the way...I'd just keep an eye on it over the next week or so...