Quick tire question!!!

[jgcable]

I bought 4 brand new tires 2 weeks ago for my Supra at Town Fair Tire. They have the road side assistance warranty.
Today I took the car to Meineki discount muffler to have a new muffler installed. They had to extend the pipe and weld it on.
I drove home from there and parked the car. 4 hours later my drivers side rear tire was flat. I removed it and checked it for a nail or something. What I found was a small pinhole in the inside side wall.
IMHO... when they welded the muffler on they must have hit the tire with the welding wire or something. The muffler on this car is directly besides that tire. Here is the question.
I have to go to Meineki Muffler tomorrow morning to talk to them about this. What do you think they will say?
Also.. if I brought the tire to Town Fair would they replace it for free? I have only put 50 miles on the tires since I got them.
Do you think that Meineki will tell me to bring it to Town Fair and that they will cover it? I know that a side wall flat can't be plugged. These were very expensive tires and they are brand new.

[Joe_Steeler]

The muffler guy fucked it up, then he should pay for it.
That wasn't road side damage.

[markD]

+1

[jgcable]

do you think they are going to give me a hassle or should it go ok?

[Cleveland Metal]

I've had tires replaced after being slashed... Not sure...

I'd start with the guy they had the torch...

Man, I have NEVER heard of that happening and I managed automotive and transmissions shops for 11 years... Not particularly impressed with those skins bro...

[jgcable]

I've had tires replaced after being slashed... Not sure...

I'd start with the guy they had the torch...

Man, I have NEVER heard of that happening and I managed automotive and transmissions shops for 11 years... Not particularly impressed with those skins bro...

They are Bridgestone Potenza's. They are 225-50R 16's.
The pinhole in the sidewall is so small it looks like it was punctured with a hyperdermic needle. You can see the air coming out with soapy water but it is next to impossible to see the hole with the naked eye.

[Cleveland Metal]

Potenza's are great tires.

I'm just intrigued... If it was welding slag, you'd probably see some burn mark around the hole I'd think. Unless it was driven in rain/snow i guess. Hard to believe spray from a welder could make such a small hole without more damage to the outer area.

Did they actually weld in that area?

Something I'm also thinking as a possibility, is if they used a cutoff tool to remove hardware or a pipe, they can sometimes throw some mean lil metal splinters that I have certaly seen imbed deep in people's faces and arms... Maybe that happened and it stuck in the tire?

Wild stuff...

[jgcable]

Potenza's are great tires.

I'm just intrigued... If it was welding slag, you'd probably see some burn mark around the hole I'd think. Unless it was driven in rain/snow i guess. Hard to believe spray from a welder could make such a small hole without more damage to the outer area.

Did they actually weld in that area?

Something I'm also thinking as a possibility, is if they used a cutoff tool to remove hardware or a pipe, they can sometimes throw some mean lil metal splinters that I have certaly seen imbed deep in people's faces and arms... Maybe that happened and it stuck in the tire?

Wild stuff...

Yea, the muffler is directly next to the tire that has the hole in it. Its literally 4" away. I didn't think about a cut off wheel. I suppose that could have happened too. I think they used a mig welder and some how they must have jabbed the tire with the wire feed from the gun.

[Cleveland Metal]

I've mig welded a lot, and I can't imagine that actually being stiff enough to penetrate... That stuff usually just bends fairly easily.

This is interesting...

Hey, if they bite, let em replace it...

[LouSiffer]

I am about 110% certain this did not happen from the welding. The MIG wire would never penetrate a tire. ARC rods would never penetrate a tire unless you ground them to a fine point and tried really hard.

If it was heat induced, you would see some melting of deformation on the sidewall. I got a feeling you picked something up cornering or you had a tire with a flaw. -Lou

[CharvelRocker]

I think a combination of tire flaw or metal shavings hitting it. Because if your luck is like mine, your tires would get hit by the one that would put a hole in it. My bonehead tire adventure for the year was for awhile when I drove my Toyota (fronts Daytons, rears are Kumhos) I heard a clicking on the passenger side. No problem, I drive gravel roads a lot. Once it went away I thought I was good. So at a stop one day a guy pulls up next to me and tells me my tire is down. D'OH

[SEEGERMANY]

John, even if something happened at the muffler shop, I doubt that they would admit to it. I'm also a little skeptical that welding had anything to do with the flat. If it was me, I'd go back to the tire dealer with this story. "You guys put my new tires on, I drove home and when I started for work, I noticed my tire was flat. This has got to be a manufacturer's defect and I need a new tire."

Don't even mention the muff shop! Good luck!

[Razor]

It's not a defect, it's some type of road hazard. If the hole the size it sounds like it is then the tire would have went flat very quickly if it had been caused at the muffler shop. I don't see how welding/repairing the muffler could have done that. Sounds to me like you've picked something up on the road, which is what everyone will say after they look at the tire. I'd let the road hazard warranty take care of it.

[Spivonious]

I'd go to the tire store first too. If the Meineke guys were that careless installing a muffler, they'd have 20 people a week coming in with flat tires.

[resestove]

The tire sounds repairable. Not by a plug, but by Vulcanizing it... sorta like plastic welding new rubber into the hole.

Its only about $15, takes a little more time, work, and skill than a plug-n-patch, so most people think holes near or in the sidewall are un-repairable , this is not true... they just want to sell you a tire, because it is a special practice that originated in the performance/racing industry.. the repair is actually approved for speeds over 200mph when re-balanced. A patch/plug is not approved for those speeds, and cannot be used in a sidewall.

Call around the small tire shops, you'll eventually run into a performance tire guy that can do this type of repair.

Its cheap enough to not be a hassle (like going and trying to get a muffler shop to accept responsibility for a almost inconcieveable mishap), and it will last as long as the tire.