upsetting find, need tips.
 

noticed some vibrating while driving to a parade today. I knew it was coming from one of the tires. Got home and checked them.... found a screw sticking out of the tread on the driver side front. Do you guys think it would be ok with just a plug? or a new tire. I was planning on buying new tires over the winter.

PATCH! Do NOT plug. Get it patched from the inside from a reputable tire store. Plugs are big screws anyway. A plug can tear the belts, are not water tight, and can cause belt sep. I have had an inside patch in one of my rear tiress for almost a year with no problem.

Patch it, it's well worth the extra couple bucks.

Patcher up.

Not sure I follow how that happens.... but maybe you're in the biz or maybe that's the koolaid the patch guys sell. I've got friends who own tire stores and go to all the seminars and I'm wired pretty well in the offroad tire world.

A vulcanized patch IS the best solution. But I've plugged everything I own for many, many years unless a hole is too big for a plug (rare).

tow rigs, race Jeep, countless trailer tires, daily driver and yes, my 370. Plugs work very well/reliable. But everyone has there one comfort zone for perceived risk and if you sleep better with a vulcanized patch then do it.

+1 as others have said.. no plugs, patch it!

Another consideration, for those of you who are genuinely concerned about damage to belts and or opportunity for ply separation, the best of vulcanized patches do nothing to restore the structural damage caused by the screw etc. piercing through the belts.

IMHO, the risk is minimal with a normal nail puncture, but if you think the vulcanized patch heals this you're kidding yourself.

Had a screw in my rear tread the first 500kms on the car... When I swapped tires this spring after 17,000kms, the patch was still solid and barely visible even though the tires were bald! Patches work best....

I used to work for Goodyear at one time. I have seen both plugs and patches fail. It all depends on the person who repairs the tire. ;)

I actually got a pretty huge nail in my left rear tire a few weeks ago while dropping of a friend. Fortunately his father works a lot on cars and had some plugs handy, so we used that since my tire had been leaking for over an hour+the drive to his house. PSI had dropped to 14.

He'd plugged up many vehicles, both his own and ones for the police department he works for, and over the years, he's only had one plug fail. Since my tires has almost no tread left, it seemed alright to plug, and so far, it's worked pretty great, even through a lot of hard driving.

I wouldn't use a plug if you're going to be using those tires for over a month though. A patch would give better peace of mind too. FWIW, my other rear also got nailed a year ago and I took it to a shop to patch. It hasn't had any problems since.

Thanks for all the tips and help guys. I got lucky enough that the screw didn't even go through the tire.

I have only installed plugs in all my tires and never had a issue Rusty is correct it matters on who is installing them.