so i found a nail in my 255/35/19 rear tire yesterday. it's in the middle of the tread pattern.

how effective is patching/plugging a tire for fixing this problem. i have an 800 mile road trip i'm doing friday and saturday so i need something i can count on. thanks!

 

It will work, but patches void the speed rating of the tire. Most likely the warranty also.

 

make sure your spare is inflated, just in case

 

patches work fine. they do them everyday. don't plug.

 

what do you mean by voids the speed rating? any risk involved if lets say i were to track it with a patch on?

when you patch do i need to have the tire re-balanced?

 

If the place knows what they're doing, then it'll last as long as the tire. I plug/patch tires every day. Even my own tires when need be and have never had a problem. I've gone 120+ MPH on a plug/patched tire and never had problems. If you take it to Discount/America's tire, they will ALWAYS use a plug and patch for the repair.
-GP-

 

YES, the tire/wheel assembly needs to be rebalanced. The only way to perform a proper repair is to remove the tire from the wheel and patch it from the inside.
-GP-

 

It is true that they void the speed rating. I've never heard of any shop voiding the warranty on a tire after being repaired, unless you had the tire patched at a different shop. But that is hardly ever the case, more often than not, customers will stay with the shop they purchased the tires from unless they have had a very bad experience.
-GP-

 

I didn't say it wouldn't work, what I said is that the speed rating is void once it's done. They won't guarantee that it will meet the specs for speed and temp ratings after a patch, but especially a plug.