An unbalanced Tire will usually make a sound that is like a buzzing or humming sound and also an unbalanced tire will usually vibrate and if the tires that are unbalanced are on the front of the vehicle you'll almost always feel vibration through your steering wheel.
A bad tire may or may not produce any sounds but if a tire is going bad then it may produce a humming type noise when you accelerate.
Also a humming noise or a grinding noise can be a sign of bad wheel bearings so you should get that checked out as well.
If your tires are over 8 years old then it's time to replace them because the tires can come apart and blowout due to age and the steel separating.
Tires can become noisy when the tread is wearing down, low air pressure in the tire, high air pressure in the tire and sometimes it can because your tires are old and getting hard.
Older tires can make more noise than new tires and sometimes newer tires may cause a bit of noise until they wear down a bit.
A tire plug may also sometimes cause a tire to be noisy or it may actually just be normal road noise or a bearing going out.
A plugged tire could cause a little bit of noise especially if the tire plug was not cut off when inserted and a little bit of the tire plug was left extending out of the tire.
When a tire is plugged though the tire plug should be cut off flush with the tread and there should be virtually no noise from the tire when plugged properly.
A tire should never be patched or plugged when the hole or damage is in the sidewall or in the tread area near the sidewall.
Also if the holes or damage to the tire overlap then the tire should not be repaired and instead should be replaced.
If you can it's much better to patch the tire instead of plugging the tire.
However patching the tire requires removing the tire from the vehicle and rim and then remounting the tire back on the rim and vehicle.
It's usually cheaper to have the tire plugged than it is to have the tire patched.
If you have a screw or nail in your tire then you should never pull the screw or nail out of the tire unless you can patch it or plug it.
Removing the nail or screw will let the air out much faster.
You should leave the screw or nail in your tire until you can get the tire patched or plugged.
As long as the nail is in the tread area of the tire then you can have the nail removed and the tire patched or plugged.
If the nail is in the sidewall then you need a new tire.
Having a tire plugged cost between $10.00 to $20.00
The same is true with a patched tire and I charge $10.00 to plug a tire and $20.00 to patch the tire because to patch the tire it has to be removed from the vehicle and from the rim and then remounted.
You can plug a tire without removing the tire.
To plug the tire without removing the tire you jack the vehicle up and move the tire around until you can access the hole in the tire.
Then make the hole bigger with the tool and then add glue to the tire plug and insert it and twist the tool and pull the tool out.
The tire plug should stay in when you pull the tool out.
I prefer to remove the tire first but you can indeed plug a tire with the tire still on the vehicle if you need too.
Tire Plugs are legal and when installed correctly they are just as safe as a tire patch.
Tire Plugs that are installed correctly should last the life of the tire.
Tires plugs will last the life of the tire when the tire plug is properly installed.
A Tire Plug that is installed correctly is a permanent repair although tire patches are much better.
Tires can be plugged more than once as long as the holes are not too close together.
You can plug a tire twice if you get a hole in the tire more than once.
However patching a tire is much better but when done properly a good tire plug can hold and last until the tire needs replaced.
I've plugged tires 4 times before and the tire lasted until it needed replaced at 50,000 miles.
Just never put a tire plug in a sidewall as that is not safe.
if the tire has a hole in the sidewall it should always be replaced with a new tire instead of trying to plug the sidewall.