Tyre Repair

stuckonyou, Oct 1, 12:21am
I failed my WOF today because one of my tyres has developed a bulge. This same tyre was repaired about 6 months ago when it was leaking air. I was told a nail had punched the tyre, The 4 tyres are about 14 months old and have only done about 6000km

If the tyre needs to be replaced, do I need to get a matching tyre on the opposite side of the car, so they have the same tyre tread?

Your help would be much appreciated!

franc123, Oct 1, 12:35am
You don't need to but it is preferable if you can get hold of an identical tyre. Otherwise it needs to be of the same tread type (not individual style) and within the WoF guidelines for load rating etc. The garage or tyre shop you deal with will advise on this, ask at whoever is the agency for that brand of tyre first.

marte, Oct 1, 2:11am
What's your spare tyre like? Would it be better to replace it & get 2 new tyres?

I'd either do that or try & match a used tyre & wear them both out & replace both at the time.

stuckonyou, Oct 1, 9:15am
Thank you for your advice! Do you mean it needs to be the same brand name (Bridgestone) with the same matching tread? I never failed a WoF in my life, I like to make sure I understand everything correctly, so I can get this problem fixed today when I visit the tyre shop this morning.

stuckonyou, Oct 1, 9:16am
I've only got a space saver tyre

toyboy3, Oct 1, 9:47am
Check the speed and load ratings of the tyres , now you can use google to get the information

franc123, Oct 1, 9:50am
No it does not have to be identical, just the same size and tread type, not the individual tread pattern. The tread type on modern car tyres falls into four basic categories, these are symmetric, asymmetric, directional and snow. These cannot be mixed up. Like I say, ask at the tyre agency for your existing tyre brand first and see what is available.

amasser, Oct 1, 10:42am
Query the 'repair' if it has been only 6 months. You should expect better.

kazbanz, Oct 1, 10:50am
My suggestion is that you might be overthinking this.
With 6000k on a tyre I would call the tyre shop and see if they have the same make/model tyre in stock. If so then problem solved.

kazbanz, Oct 1, 11:14am
I'd say that depends on the location of bulge vs repair in the first instance.
MUCH more likely the damage was already done before the effort to make it airtight again happened.

scuba, Oct 1, 1:43pm
+ 1
Kabanz is spot on. The reason you match tyres is to maintain predictability under stress-just because the tyres are similar in size/ speed rating / doesn't mean they behave exactly the same under load.If the bulge was caused by the previous incident- puncture etc a decent tech should have picked it up at the time of repair.

kazbanz, Oct 1, 1:52pm
My thinking is that either water had already gotten into the cords via the hole the nail created-pretty unlikely the tyre went flat fast so it could have been weeks. OR the sidewall took a hammering /was damaged due to the tyre being run at low pressure/no pressure for awhile.

nesta129, Oct 1, 6:37pm
And please go to a proper tyre shop,a friend of mine went to a mechanic and the mech told him he had the wrong size front tyres on his car and he'd sell him the right ones.
So now my silly mate is driving around in a car that has mismatched tyres 215/45R17 on the rear and 215/40R17 on the front.The factory spec for 17inch rims were 215/45R17.

kazbanz, Oct 1, 7:15pm
Spec for the rims or spec for the CAR?
It is VERY unlikely that a mechanic is going to make a ballsy call like that unless he's pretty certain about what he's doing

nesta129, Oct 2, 7:14pm
Specs for the car as they also came in 17s as well.2002 Ford Focus.He was pretty certain about it as he told my friend he had done many ford focus before.

intrade, Oct 2, 7:24pm
sounds like he just wnted to flog his crap----

nesta129, Nov 11, 5:58pm
exactly my thoughts!