CLsmooth71

iTrader: (4)

Hey all,

Well, my weekend is off to a "great" start. I found a screw in one of my tires. Fortunately, it's in the meaty portion of the tread, so I'm pretty sure the tire is repairable.

Anyways, does anyone know of a shop in SF or CLOSE that can plug &/or patch my tire?? I know basically any tire or gas station can do the job, but I don't want to risk having my VOLK wheel getting abused during the tire unmounting & remounting.

Thanks in advance,

CL

topcover

iTrader: (4)

Howard Tire Works on Franklin and Pine
Big O on Geary off Masonic

Impretzle

iTrader: (2)

Or you can go to kragen and buy a plug kit. It's pretty easy to do it yourself.

STIdevildog

iTrader: (2)

Not sure If I'd ride on a repaired tire. All you need is to have that tire fail on a turn and your car will be in a guard rail. A new tire would be the best security for your Volks if they were my wheels.

I had a nail in my front motorcycle tire last week. The guy at cycle gear wanted to repair it. F that man, not worth the risk.

hokusai

iTrader: (32)

yo curtis. come by house, i'll patch it for you.

ed

KendallRS

iTrader: (1)

I work at a tire shop and do hundreds of repairs a day and have done them on my car and my parents car and it works fine. They only fail when done improperly (just like anything else).
Go to The nearest America's tire co (probably redwood city) they will do it for FREE!!!!!!!!

CLsmooth71

iTrader: (4)

thanks for the very kind offer, ed. I really appreciate it, but I've been meaning to have my other tires remounted because I have some camber wear (ride height on my coilovers has been uneven...just fixed that tonight). I might as well get the tire w/the screw fixed at the same time/place.

thanks anyways though!

thanks for everyone else's feedback too.

btw, i've had flats repaired on other tires for my previous cars, and they held up pretty well. I would never try patching a tire w/a big puncture or one anywhere near the sidewall. The screw in my Toyo T1-S is SMACK DAB IN THE CENTER of the tread/tire. The positioning of the screw is so 'perfect' that I was wondering if someone did it on purpose! But I'm such a sweetheart, that couldn't be possible. Then again, hoops season is not that far off, so maybe it's the work of a disgruntled QUEENS fan!

ZK

Tire Works on Franklin is pretty good. My friend used to work there. They do a lot of high end cars from the nearby car dealerships. Just make sure you tell them to be careful with your wheels.

Make an appointment and drop off in the early morning as they are usually booked up everyday.

ish

iTrader: (7)

America's tire is good, never had a problem and they usually do it for free

I would never trust Big O, they have a tendency to hire people that are illiterate and/or incompetent (at least that has been the case every time I have gone there)

SilverBlitzkrieg

iTrader: (2)

One more for Americas tire, they rock. And I agree its not a good idea to patch it yourself if you drive hard.

CLsmooth71

iTrader: (4)

Just wanted to post an update:

I was going to try the Big O on Geary that Topcover suggested, but I called to get an price quote for the patch job & mount/balance for my other good tires. Basically, the guy that answered the phone was a JERK and sounded like a stereotypical auto shop mechanic (salesman)...left me with the distinct impression that he'd charge me extra for "valve cap removal & balancing" if he could! So, I just hung up and passed on Big O.

Next, I tried looking up the # for Howard Tire Works in the phone book (only had 2004 version) AND on Yahoo Yellow Pages, but no luck. The place is actually called Wheelworks. I tried giving them a call too, but they were really booked up and couldn't do the work until the next afternoon.

I was debating whether to drive all the way out to my friend's shop in Hayward but didn't want to deal w/traffic, so I gave Mach III a buzz. The guy that answered, Dave, was pretty cool and said they could do the job soon, so I bit.

When I got to Mach III, it was kinda small (I'm used to SoCal shops), but the place was neat and wasn't just the usual SF sticker, air freshener, & Pocky stick selling joint. Only thing is that they don't have their own dedicated installation facility and send their install jobs out to FAXON Garage a couple blocks down. Honestly, the apprearance of FAXON is kinda ghetto, and at first, I was a reluctant about handing my wheels over them. But, I was tired of running around, so I just took a leap of faith and went ahead.

Long story short, all the guys there were pretty cool, and the main guy handling my wheels, Karlen, was very patient and attentive. The job took a little longer than anticipated, but my wheels weren't damaged during the process.


CLIFF Notes:

Got tire patched at Mach III in SF.
They don't have their own garage/installation facility but contract work out to FAXON Garage a couple blocks away.
FAXON isn't 310 Motoring or CEC, but they did a good job & didn't damage my wheels.
Mach III & Faxon have courteous and friendly staff......YIPPEE!!

ZK

Yeah... It used to be Howard Tire ... which got acquired by Wheel Works and renamed "Howard Tire by Wheel Works" and then Wheel Works got bought by Tires Plus so the full title would be like "Tires Plus Howard Tire by Wheel Works" Kinda confusing. I forgot to mention that they usually go by "Wheel Works" as all their stores in the Bay Area are.

Mach III never had their own tire mounting equipment so they used to send it down the street to Wheel Works on Ocean.. but I guess they go through another place now.