Have you ever had a tire shop say your tire pressure too low to inflate?
 

Mom asked me to check her back tire. I grabbed my bike pump and she said she was driving to Big O. They told her that tire was at 15 PSI, but they could not inflate it, because it could explode.

They inflate tires from 0 PSI when they install them, so is this because of a prospective hole? You put high-pressure air into a tire with a hole and it could explode?

It doesn't make any sense to me. I am riding my bike over and bringing my pump!

[They also said her front tires were at 3/16th of an inch. I had her verify and she says they are almost bald. I really think we would have noticed that!]

They did not tell the poor little widow how much the new tires would be...

There probably is a hole in it, but it's not going to explode.

When I worked in the Ford garage I was responsible for patching holes in tires. I aired the tire up to about 85 PSI and then sprayed it down with soapy water to find the hole, and i never had an issue.

I even had one I did this and the 'hole' was a section of the bead seat on the rim about 6" long that got taken out on a curb, and even that tire didn't blow.

Not sure what their issue is, but I'm guessing they are saying "We can't air it up, so you need to buy a new one."

air it up yourself and take it to a different shop, and don't go to that one again.

She probably has a small nail in the kill zone. I do not remember ever bringing in a flat tire and having them patch it and send me on my way. I do remember needing to replace several tires because of where the hole was, and of course, one does not simply replace one tire...

Well, I did with my Subaru, but my ex had already replaced one tire with a used one. I was getting rid of the car. I have seen used cars advertised with four new tires, but it must have had four bad ones.

A new tire would be too different from three used ones, but a different used tire with three used ones?

Eh, good enough.

Apparently the tire guy said the tire still could blow up with a bike pump. I said "That doesn't make any sense! Why do you give them money?"

Go get a tire plug kit from the auto parts store. Plugs are more reliable than patches anyway, I've never seen a plug fail and I've seen many patches fail. The old mantra that 'you can't fix a hole on the outside tread' is hogwash. I've seen plugs hold up in a sidewall for 60,000 miles just fine.

The tire isn't going to blow. The only tire tires blow is if you drive on them nearly flat, and they fail largely due to extreme heat, and rubbing off the sidewalls, which aren't built to handle friction.

Considering she spent $339 the other day to have a plumber replace her back faucet after I looked up instructions, but needed to leave for work, I am prepared for frustration.

She did not have him look at her kitchen faucet, which I fixed for $4.

I mean if that tire is worn out I would just replace it. Pump it up to 35 pounds, and then drive to a different tire shop, as the one you are at is clearly run by incompetent buffoons.

If the low tire still has good tread, then find the leak the way I described, plug the hole, and move on with life. Take a good little drive after plugging the hole, as getting the tire hot helps the plug adhere.

They pulled out a piece of metal, patched the hole, and sent her on her way.

A plug is better than a patch. I used a plug kit on my Michelin Defenders on my 13" VX rims and drove thousands of miles more... only stopped using them when I swapped-in the 15" MINI rims.

I've never had problems with a patch, but then again I've never had problems with plugs either, and plugs are infinitely easier to install. I can have a tire plugged in less time than someone can jack their vehicle up and swap in a spare tire.

Punctures are inevitable, so that's something one should prepare for, not react to. I carry a plug kit, pliers, and an inflator in all my vehicles. Heck, I just plugged my segway tire the other day because it has a miniscule leak. It's less effort to plug a tire than to inflate one 3 or more times.