Driving across the country... wobbly tire

[superba]

Hi All,

Probably redundant, but NEVER let a tire be repaired with a plug inserted
from the outside if it can be avoided.  The plug can alter the weight
distribution(rare), but more important can separate plies enough to make a
tire run "squirrelly" over time.  "Squirrelly":  tire inflated, off car but
on wheel, stand alone, rolled slowly across flat surface describes the path
of a snake, a mild "s" path.  A tire with separated plies drove me crazy
once;  I had it balanced several times, shaved to "make it round", changed
its position, and nothing helped.  A tire expert told me it was because of a
plug patch.

Have radial patches applied to punctures if at all possible to avoid
squirrelly tires.  Many tire repair people don't want to do it, but it often
ruins tires.

HTH.

Cheers!

Jim Jordan

>  Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2003 16:37:41 -0500
>  From: "Kent McLean" <kentmclean at mindspring.com>
>  Subject: Re: Driving across the country...
>  To: "Joseph Hollinshead" <jhollinshead2001 at hotmail.com>,
>  	<quattro at audifans.com>
>  Message-ID: <007701c3bc41$2eddf4a0$0ec14a43 at n5210>
>  Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="iso-8859-1"
>
>  Joseph Hollinshead wrote:
>  > ... and a nail in the tire...
>  > The second problem is a bit of speed wobble that has developed
>  > and is very pronounced at 45-55 mph. I can hear a slight shudder
>  > (in the right tire I think)
>
>  That wouldn't, by chance, be the same tire that had the nail?
>  Maybe it lost some balancing weights when it was repaired.
>  Or the weight of the patch upset the tire balance.
>
>  Kent
>  '89 200 TQ, "Bad Puppy"