Frank Baron wrote:
How do I decide if these five tires are holed too close to the sidewall?
http://i.cubeupload.com/qD9rZv.jpg

Yesterday, for practice in dismounting, patching, and remounting, I patched
these 5 tires above, which a friend and I had lying around.
http://i.cubeupload.com/gCNODb.jpg

For the purpose of this thread, we can ignore the tread wear since the
question is being asked about how to decide when a nail hole is too close
to the sidewall.
http://i.cubeupload.com/0X8NfQ.jpg

I guess the first question is *WHY* we can't patch next to the sidewall.
Is it that the patch won't hold? Why?
Is it that the patch will flex too much?
Or is it that the belts are damaged and they will break?

None of those are sidewall related. I will plug/patch a tire with
usable tread right to the edge of the tread mold. You are still in
multiple ply area there.

I won't patch a sidewall on a passenger vehicle but on something like a
tractor, loader or skidder I don't have a problem using a chunk of live
rubber and vulcanizing it in, I've even stitched some together and
patched them. Toss a tube in to hold the air if needed.

--
Steve W.