Tire plugs, who uses them?

[Skippy722]

Both vehicles both have a tire that’s plugged. 20k miles later still going great!

 

[wemay]

Been using plugs for 30 years without issue.

 

[Rogueman2016s]

Stepdaughter's Tiguan had a slow leak in LR tire. Pulled it off, soaped it down, nail about 25% across face of tread. Removed nail, dressed hole, fiber plug with rubber cement installed. Wait an hour. Inflate and cut off excess. Been plugging all manner of tires for 5 decades. I have had a few that failed/leaked after repair that required a tire shop patch. I have some spoons but am too lazy for steel belted passenger car tires to patch myself. Anyone else plug tires? Or is the consensus is, it is too dangerous? I would gladly patch if someone gives me a pneumatic tire machine. Comments for or against?

Just used one for the 1st time a few nights ago.

 

[Blueshound]

Been using plugs for 30 years without issue.

I must have plugged a couple hundred of them at the shop; I can't recall a comeback. Anecdotal and a small statistical sample but good enough for me.

 

[pcoxe]

Best repair is a plug and a patch inside. Inside patch positively seals the leak. The plug seals the outside of the tire. If water gets forced into the belt area, it can rust the belts or cause tread separation.

 

[PontiacHO]

I use them on my truck. My wife and kids cars - no.

 

[Tdbo]

Plugged tires for years.
Had many done professionally. Done several myself.
Never had any issues.

 

[Blueshound]

Best repair is a plug and a patch inside. Inside patch positively seals the leak. The plug seals the outside of the tire. If water gets forced into the belt area, it can rust the belts or cause tread separation.

Curious if there is any evidence of either rust or tread separation actually happening within the normal life span of a passenger car tire.

 

[SHOZ]

My biggest issue is the little tubes of cement drying out when stored.

 

[TheOilWizard]

I use them on my truck. My wife and kids cars - no.

I understand your point, but what about the other families on the road? Tire failure, especially at high speed, can impact other drivers as well.

 

[TheOilWizard]

Tires have way more safety factor in them than most of us give credit for. Yes, a patch is better but it's still not fixing the puncture in the steel belts in the tire. The biggest risk in a plug is simply that it may not seal perfectly and a slow leak develops. But the fact that people have been plugging tires for decades without problem is a testament to how effective it is.

My point is simply this: tire manufactures, the highway traffic safely administration, and heck, even the companies that make the plug kits tell us these are for emergency purposes only because of the increased risk of blowout.

I get it, “I’ve never had a problem before” may be sufficient evidence for some people. Do a simple Google search and find reputable source after source expressing safety concerns for plug-only repairs.

Furthermore, when I was younger and didn’t know better, I had more plug-only repairs than I could count in service long term without issue, but I can’t use that as a justification going forward.

The most interesting part about this conversation is that Discount Tire and other tire shops doing actual proper repairs, do it either FREE or for low cost. So what is someone actually gaining by pushing the boundaries of safety here?

 

[jhs914]

After Hurricane Ivan hit there was debris everywhere you drove so I picked up nails at least weekly for months. I plugged about 10 holes in our cars back then saving a bunch of money and none failed. Since then I take the tires back to the shop that I bought them from for free repair. The last tire I plugged was an OEM tire that was near the end of it's life.

 

[gfh77665]

I had the marvelous occasion to see a true artist at work a few decades ago when a front tire on my TR-4 picked up a nail miles from home. Pulling in to the first gas station I saw, there was a grizzled old man sitting out front just chewing on a dead cigar .

When he found out my trouble he said, “just leave the car parked by the pumps..” and disappeared into the station. When he reappeared he had a shop cloth with a couple of tools and a tire plug in hand.

With an amazing economy of motion he aired up the tire to about 50 psi, pulled out the nail, and inserted the plug in one fast movement.

All happened so fast my eyes could not keep up with his hands. Thru the cigar he growled, “about 32 lbs OK with you?”

Of course, the tire was exactly at 32, no more, no less (without having to add or let out any additional air).


He charged me a dollar. I went inside to pay and noticed the station was selling cigars, his brand of course. I bought him a handful for another dollar as a well deserved tip, it was worth $2 to be witness of a maestro in action.

The whole repair took about 60 seconds.

Z

Amazing. Contrast that experience with Discount Tire, who won't even air up your tire if its 15psi or less.

 

[Blueshound]

My point is simply this: tire manufactures, the highway traffic safely administration, and heck, even the companies that make the plug kits tell us these are for emergency purposes only because of the increased risk of blowout.

I get it, “I’ve never had a problem before” may be sufficient evidence for some people. Do a simple Google search and find reputable source after source expressing safety concerns for plug-only repairs.

Furthermore, when I was younger and didn’t know better, I had more plug-only repairs than I could count in service long term without issue, but I can’t I use that as a justification going forward.

The most interesting part about this conversation is that Discount Tire and other tire shops doing actual proper repairs, do it either FREE or for low cost. So what is someone actually gaining by pushing the boundaries of safety here?

I still haven't seen a source other than NHTSA saying plugs are insufficient. Or even one person here with a single failure of a plug.

 

[PontiacHO]

I understand your point, but what about the other families on the road? Tire failure, especially at high speed, can impact other drivers as well.

I appreciate your point. No argument. Personal experience only…I only plug small penetration in the tread area. Done this on my own vehicle only. 50 years without one failure. That’s not saying there can’t be one. You can’t say there won’t be a random tire blow out either…

 

[Elkins45]

My biggest issue is the little tubes of cement drying out when stored.

I’ve never used the cement, I’ve just roughed up the hole and installed the plug. Maybe I’m using a different type? The ones I use are already kind of sticky.

 

[Heywood_6078]

I've plugged many of my own tires, without issue. I only plugged the accepted repairable area.

Same here.

 

[totegoat]

In the 50+ years I've run radials, I can remember 3 flats. Had a tire shop fix them but I keep plug kits in my rigs now.

 

[Trav]

I keep a Safety Seal kit in both cars.

And both cars currently have 1 plugged tire.

+1 on the Safety Seal, they make a slim plug that can be inserted with the insertion tool only without reaming a small hole and making it bigger. Small nails usually do not damage the cords much if at all why do more damage by reaming. There used to be made here in MA and were common in almost every garage, a great quality tool and the best plugs.

This is one test they did, they did others by TUV in Germany that passed every test they threw at them, they tested plugs long term that went over 300kmh.

https://safetyseal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/40k-Test-rewrite.pdf

https://www.bartang.eu/en/tubeless-tyre-repair-kit.html

 

[brianl703]

I still haven't seen a source other than NHTSA saying plugs are insufficient. Or even one person here with a single failure of a plug.

It took me a couple of minutes to find one trade association and one tire manufacturer that say they are insufficient.

A rubber stem, or plug, must be applied to fill the puncture injury and a patch must be applied to seal the inner liner. (A plug alone is an unacceptable repair.)

https://www.ustires.org/tire-repair-basics

We remind you that plug type repairs made from the outside of a tire, pressure sealants and “blowout
patches” are TEMPORARY repairs and should NOT be used except in emergencies. If such a
temporary repair is made, your customer should be clearly warned that the repair is temporary and
that they must drive cautiously to the nearest full service tire facility for a proper repair. Driving on an
improperly or temporarily repaired tire can lead to sudden tire failure.

https://coopertire.com/CooperTire/media/PDF/Service_Bulletin_108_0914.pdf