Tire Integrity
 

I bought some sumitomos 2 years ago, and they seem to be holding up pretty good, plenty of tread on all 4. I also quit doing the 40 ft burnouts I did with the original goodyears I had from the factory.

But early last year I got a nail in one and I plugged it with a tire repair kit. It was the long piece of really sticky leather plug and it sealed up the tire instantly. I can't even tell where it was plugged now as it has worn down level. I've also rotated them once since they were new. They stiil have lots of tread left.


My question: is this tire safe at high speed, say over 120 mph? Is there a chance that the one tire I plugged could suddenly blow? It was a Z rated tire and it was not hot patched, just plugged with the sticky leather plug..

I get anxious about it when I'm letting my stang eat on a long open stretch of road.. :eek:

I won't say for sure its safe. However when I had my last pair of nitto drags I had 3 plugs in one tire and 4 in the other one. This was after those 3 hurricanes that came through Orlando and it tossed lots of screws and nails all over the place. I heated those tires up at the track, raced on them, and took them over 120mph at the track (staying in it past the 1/4 mile for a bit for fun :) )

If you are nervous, maybe buy a new tire. I had 4 or 5 in one tire on my daily driver. That tire was a magnet for nails! But, I never took that car past 65 or 70....it was a LeBaron hehe. If I wanted to go that fast, I'd err on the side of caution and replace it. better safe than sorry...or dead! Just my 2 cents

I wouldn't have any problem regularly driving on them, even taking them up to a bit of speed, but I'd never race on them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXOVMx6Yb54

Thanks for the advice guys. I rarely go over the speed limit by much on any day. Never been to the track. I might have gotten close to 120 mph just messing around on a long strecth of backroad. Anyway I'll be getting some new tires all around probably by the end of the summer. Just in case i find the need to open her up, possibly at the local drag strip on test and tune day. Things happen pretty quick when you start reaching good torque in 2nd and 3rd gear, and sure enough 100 mph+ comes really quick even with a stock GT.. I don't need to have a blowout then.. LOL :p

I'd just keep an eye on her. I'd hate to see another mustang loss due to a wreck. And I'd really hate to see you get hurt.

Those damn random nails.

didnt you see what happened to pcola? if you know your tires are shit then try and take it easy on them, thats pretty much where i am at right now on my tires. better safe than sorry:cool: