A good guy at a tire store

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Donald

Donald

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I stopped at a Mavis Tire store near Albany NY for some air in one of my tires. I knew there was a problem as I had just added air the day before. Mavis has one of those automated air machines for tires that adds and removes air to get it just right.

A store worker was outside and asked if I needed help. I said I can get the air, but I wish the tire was not leaking. He got down next to the tire felt around and said I had a nail in the tread. He came back a minute latter with pliers, an awl and a needle with tire repair material in it. Without moving the truck from being parked next to the air machine, he proceeded to fix the flat and then said just fill it with some air and have a nice day. No charge.

There are a few good guys out there.
 
Yeah, there are good people everywhere. The problem is bad service(s) will be posted all over the net and good deeds are rarely mentioned.

Thanks for posting positive experience. We should hear more from good services to make everyone feel better.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
he proceeded to fix the flat and then said just fill it with some air and have a nice day.


A good guy? Perhaps. But he also should have told you that what he did was temporary band-aid and that a lot of tire manufacturers do not approve of what he did. He should have then told you to bring it back to have it dismounted and have a real patch installed. At least it is not leaking air, at the moment.
 
Originally Posted By: Kruse
Originally Posted By: Donald
he proceeded to fix the flat and then said just fill it with some air and have a nice day.


A good guy? Perhaps. But he also should have told you that what he did was temporary band-aid and that a lot of tire manufacturers do not approve of what he did. He should have then told you to bring it back to have it dismounted and have a real patch installed. At least it is not leaking air, at the moment.


I've fixed the tires on my bikes like that for years and never has the plugged hole leaked again. The tires wore out before the fix failed.
Vulcanizing fluid is a very important part when it comes to plugging a tire too. Without it the rubber doesn't bond with the surrounding material.
 
Originally Posted By: Kruse
Originally Posted By: Donald
he proceeded to fix the flat and then said just fill it with some air and have a nice day.


A good guy? Perhaps. But he also should have told you that what he did was temporary band-aid and that a lot of tire manufacturers do not approve of what he did. He should have then told you to bring it back to have it dismounted and have a real patch installed. At least it is not leaking air, at the moment.


The idea that a patch is inherently superior to a plug in every situation is incorrect. Both repairs are legitimate when done properly and with an awareness of the situation. I have plugged well over 100 tires in my lifetime with great success.
 
I used to live down a 3 mile rock road. About 1.5 miles straight (which allowed a pretty good speed) and then a couple of switch backs (which allowed me to learn proper vehicle correction at age 16) before you had to go a half mile on a sharp rock/clay mix. [censored] on tires. I've repaired numerous tires with a plug and they were all fine, from small tires on a 1995 Grand Caravan to 38" tires on a 500hp F-150. The first time I got an actual patch installed on a tire the thing leaked. When I sold that F-150 it had a plug in every tire, the longest being 6 years...
 
I work at a tire store. I have a plug in my own tire however plugging a tire is not a proper or approved way of repair. One reason to plug patch one is so you can inspect the inside of the tire. Tire manufacturers do not approve tire plugging and if you send a tire in for warranty with a plug in it it will probably be denied.
Even tho I have plugged tires for years it is not Approved. My shop is not allowed to plug a tire unless I ok it
 
The theory against plugging tires is that the tire belts, due to the contant shifting of the belts, COULD cause the plug to fail, essentially sawn in two.

With that said, I call bull hockey since I've run plugged tires many times without problems and know of many others that haven't had any problems either.

The guy did good by Donald and kudos to him.....the world needs a WHOLE bunch more like him!
 
Good for Mavis, tell your friends. I have used over 100 (probably 200) plugs in the past 20 years. I had a 24 foot enclosed trailer that I swear had magnets in the rims. Out of all of those plugs I have had one failure. Approved or not approved, they work.
 
I had a flat on a Sunday morning and started calling around in an attempt to get it fixed. Ted's Tire Care on Mission in Oceanside, California was not open but the owner answered the phone, came in, fixed the flat and refused payment. Guess where I purchased my next set of tires?
 
I've carried a plug kit & compressor for years and have had good luck plugging tires, however there are times when I have the time I'll run down to a tire place (DT) where I bought them and they have always dismounted the tire(s), inspect, and use a patch. If it's close to the wall, they want to be sure its going to be okay. If not, they don't want to chance any wall damage and recommend tire replacement. So far no wall damage yet.
There is different tire place closer and I have recommended to neighbors to go there as they fix them for free. Even if one didn't buy tires there. I guess good business and hope for a return customer when time for new tires.

Some/many indy's/service shops when getting OCs also give tires a look and inform customers if there is a nail or whatever in the tire. Good for those that generally don't make it a habit to check tire pressures and for nails or whatever.
 
Mavis is a pretty big chain in my area and has been around for 50 years. I would have to think the guy just got what they normally use to plug a tire. From a few feet away, it looked like dirty yarn.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Mavis is a pretty big chain in my area and has been around for 50 years. I would have to think the guy just got what they normally use to plug a tire. From a few feet away, it looked like dirty yarn.

Did you notice if he still had boot laces?
 
Originally Posted By: lubedude13
I work at a tire store. I have a plug in my own tire however plugging a tire is not a proper or approved way of repair. One reason to plug patch one is so you can inspect the inside of the tire. Tire manufacturers do not approve tire plugging and if you send a tire in for warranty with a plug in it it will probably be denied.
Even tho I have plugged tires for years it is not Approved. My shop is not allowed to plug a tire unless I ok it


^This. Just because some of you have repaired many tires with a plug does not make it the proper way to repair a tire. I have some tire repair plugs in my tool box also and will use them for an emergency (and they work great), but I use them for an emergency only. I looked up the first tire site that I found that commented about tire plugs and posted it below. The trouble with plugs is that you cannot see any problems inside the tire.
BTW, for a lawn mower, a bicycle, or an off-road or slow-moving vehicle, they are great.


http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=77
 
2 thoughts:

First, this thread is SUPPOSED to be about the good deed done by an employee of Mavis - and to that I offer applause.

Now what about the plugs vs patch issue?

In order to say that plugs are OK, we need to have a way to measure their failure rate - and we don't have one. The only thing we have is anecdotal evidence.

To put this in perspective, would it be a good idea to compare the rate of tire failures to the rate of tire plug failures? I think so.

Based on the Firestone recall a few years back (2001 for those who are counting), the failure rate for those tires was about 1/2%. That's 1 out of 200.

I don't know about you, but that's a pretty small number - or put a different way, I would have to do a whole lot of plugs to even detect that I was at that level. I doubt that anyone is in that position - unless they were doing it in a tire shop.

So if you are one of those at a tire shop: Have you had any returns for leaky plugs? Have you had anyone come to you with leaky plugs that were done by another shop?

And just for the record, I have had 4 plugs done in recent years and 2 of them leaked. That's a 50% failure rate. So I'm the unlucky guy who is making up for all the other's apparent successes - and that ought to be factored into the equation.
 
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