Plugged A Tire Yesterday.

[Mr_Joe]

I realize, no biggie. Ended up taking a rivet to the tire on a family drive. Since away from home & going flat, spare was used. I got home & checked things out, near the ‘shoulder’ area. The plug went it well, zero psi loss overnight. These are 15k miles Michelin Defenders’, great shape.

I need to resupply, more plugs & some rubber cement, at least the plugs. Is any rubber cement needed? I’m thinking about the ‘Slime’ brand plugs?

 

[AandPDan]

Not repairable.

You can safely repair a tire up to about 1 to 1.5 inches from the shoulder per Tire Industry Association guidelines.

 

[krzyss]

The problem is not staying put when not moving but when driving the rubber with work and may squeeze the plug out.

Krzyś

 

[Lubener]

Rope plugs, should have used rubber cement then use as a spare.

 

[Racecarfan2]

Here we go..... You just unleashed the safety warriors, hold on to your hat.

 

[supton]

At 15k the wear should be minimal, right? I would road hazard that one tire.

 

[JimPghPA]

Not a safe repair. Probably will last a while if it is on a rear tire, but probably will fail. If it is use on a front tire the side flex from turning should cause it to fail faster. Do you really want to be going fast and have it fail on you?.

Also, has anyone ever told you that if a tire does go flat while you are doing any decent speed, if you can, never hit the brake? Hitting the brake can cause the vehicle to loose control, especially if it is a front tire that has gone flat. BTW, someone told me that after I had learned it the hard way. I had a new 1976 Plymouth Volare and it came with one ply rated two tires that were cheap garbage but there was a real rubber shortage back then. I was going about 40 MPH and hit a small pot-hole and blew out the right front tire. I use the brake and as soon as I touched it the car made a sharp turn to the right, even though I also turned left as it started going right. I plowed down a path in a field of tall corn. No damage, and the ground was dry enough that I could back out of the field after I stopped. I got lucky. I had NO control of the car when it made that sharp right turn, and it could have caused any kind of severe accident if it had happened somewhere else.

If it were mine I would either throw it away or use it as ONLY a spare. But it you are going to use it the above info is two reasons to never put it on the front.

 

[JTK]

Here we go..... You just unleashed the safety warriors, hold on to your hat.

For sure on that. LOL.

If it were my personal vehicle, I'd plug and put it on the right rear. Someone else's, I dunno..

 

[Trav]

I realize, no biggie. Ended up taking a rivet to the tire on a family drive. Since away from home & going flat, spare was used. I got home & checked things out, near the ‘shoulder’ area. The plug went it well, zero psi loss overnight. These are 15k miles Michelin Defenders’, great shape.

I need to resupply, more plugs & some rubber cement, at least the plugs. Is any rubber cement needed? I’m thinking about the ‘Slime’ brand plugs?View attachment 27841

Safety Seal makes the best plugs. No comment on safety or if it should be plugged, that's you business and your decision, personally I wouldn't on that tire but thats me.

https://www.amazon.com/safety-seal-tire-plugs/s?k=safety+seal+tire+plugs

https://www.safetyseal.com/safetysealoriginal.php

 

[92saturnsl2]

I'm usually a person that errs on the wild side when it comes to safety (within reason)-- I've never hesitated to plug a tire myself using the adhesive tire rope kits and have always had lasting repairs in doing so.

But I would not have fixed that tire, unless it was intended as a spare.

The safety warriors often bug me when I post things on here, but I'd say they're right this time. There is too much flex/motion that close to the sidewall for me to be comfortable driving on that repair long-term. Not when a used tire can be had for $50 or less. That area of the tire is not as reinforced as the actual tread, which is why they say never to repair on the shoulder or sidewall. Defenders being as popular as they are, you ought to be able to find a comparable tread depth used one on Ebay.

 

[Mr_Joe]

Thanks for the replies. Yes, I did consult a heavy equipment business owner, lots of experience plugging tires. This vehicle operates close to home, CR-V, I’ll be keeping a close eye on it.

I’m not wedded to a course of action. I’ll start with careful evaluation going forward. Thanks for the recommended plugs, I’ll check them out.

 

[Langanobob]

As far as rope plugs go, I have another recommendation for Safety Seal. I live in Northern Nevada where flat tires are relatively common. I carry a Safety Seal kit and I’ve been using them for decades without a problem.

 

[tblt44]

Good luck with that plug holding.

 

[drtyler]

I had almost exact situation a few weeks ago on LTX MS/2 Defender w/ 15k miles. Costco replaced no questions asked. They tire center manager said no way to the idea of plug.

 

[SZR48207]

You took the sensible approach. Fix it yourself, observe if it holds, drive safely for a while until the plug vulcanizes into the surrounding tire.

Worst case? You have to replace that tire. It's not like you're going to have a massive blowout some day -- it will be a gradual leak as the plug starts to dislodge/shift.

 

[chainblu]

The problem with plugging is that you don't have a chance to inspect the tire, inside and out, for any damage that may have occurred if the tire was driven on while low or flat. When I worked at a tire shop, sometimes customers would come in with a flat and ask for a plug (which we didn't do) and assure me that the tire was only driven a few feet while flat.

After dismounting the tire, there would be a fist full (or more) of shredded rubber inside indicative of loss of structural integrity. IF I had just plugged it, there would have been a "massive blowout some day'.

 

[Mr_Joe]

I did take the tire off when it had 25 psi still, never was really flat.

 

[bonjo]

That was unlucky to have got it on the edge. I would get the opinion of a trusted tyre shop (one who doesn't want to sell you one at a drop of a hat); much better that a heavy equipment owner.
What you don't know is if the repair is safe at high speed and / or when the car is fully loaded on a holiday trip.

If it were me and I couldn't be 100% convinced, then would use it as spare

 

[CapriRacer]

Allow me to explain why tire repairs are only authorized in the tread excluding the outermost rib - AND - why plugs are considered temporary repairs.

When a tire gets punctured, not only is there a hole, but the structure has been compromised. That hole is a "stress riser" - meaning that there are additional stresses concentrated around the hole than if it weren't there. Wikipedia: Stress Concentration
A reinforcing patch on the inside "bridges" the damaged area, and adds additional strength to mitigate the damage.

The movement the sidewall of the tire makes is very complex and patches tend to work loose over time. In the tread, the movement is pretty straight forward.- simple flexing up and down.

The transition area between the tread and the sidewall is problematic in that not only is that area's movement more complex than the center of the tread (but not as complex as the sidewall), the inside surface is not flat, and the belt edges are the most highly stressed area of the tire. So repairs in that area fail more often than undisturbed tires - where repairs in the tread (excluding the outermost rib) fail at a rate nearly identical to undisturbed tires.

Plugs do not reinforce the damaged area. They also sometimes leak. So while a plug may seal the hole to the outside, sometimes it doesn't seal on the inside and pressurized air can leak into the casing causing a separation - and since the plug doesn't reinforce the area, that damaged isn't being mitigated.

How do we tire engineers know this? We've tested to confirm.

 

[Mr_Joe]

Thanks for the info. I’m surely not trying to outthink the tire engineers.