Tire repair kits

[HangFire]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
I use a bike pump exclusively. Those little cheap 12v inflator a are more trouble than they're worth. Maybe an expensive Vlair would be ok, but I'm not interested in those.


I agree about cheap 12V inflators. I've owned several. In every case they broke when I needed them most. All were very noisy and very slow, requiring manual cycling on/off to comply with the manual duty cycle time- and yet they still burned out.

I'm not sure what you mean by expensive. My Viair 88P currently lists for $60.35 on Amazon. That's less money than the combined price of all the broken cheap 12V inflators it replaced. My 88P is not quiet but not overly shrill, and gets the job done in about a minute. Of course a good bicycle pump is a perfectly fine option. My Joe Blow is, what, 15 or 16 years old, still works fine.

 

[jcwit]

I own two of these, one for each vehicle for 20+ years, they are the older model and of curse do not the same as this. They each have traveled in a number of vehicles over the years and inflated many, many tires, we live in Amish and RV manufacturing country and pick up either horse shoe nails or sq. head screws.

Both were purchased at the Shipshewana IN Flea Market as refurb's, and cost $10 each IIRC, they both have paid for themselves many times over, won't leave the driveway without them.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Campbell-Hausfeld-12V-2-in-1-Inflator-with-Flashlight/39457501

 

[GMBoy]

Every one of my vehicles has a 12V air pump and tire repair kit. If I get a flat I can plug it in minutes and be on the road again about as long as it takes to change to the spare. Or I can alteast blow it up and drive to a tire shop for a professional plug/patch combo repair.

 

[BRZED]

I have always used plugs for impromptu tire repairs. A few times I had later put a patch on in addition. The plugs by themsekves have worked great for me, Never got a leaky tire from one, and never lost a plug. The last plug I used was several years old, but still really sticky. It was from a cheak Walmart repair kit. I always keep a few plugs in a ziploc bggie in the trunk. I understnad that a plugged tire may allow water to seep in and damage the steel reinforcements over time. Since I am in an arid climate, this is not a problem for me, but it may well be one elsewhere. I do apply some vulcanizing fluid before inserting the plug, hoping for a more water resistant repair.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: HangFire
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
I use a bike pump exclusively. Those little cheap 12v inflator a are more trouble than they're worth. Maybe an expensive Vlair would be ok, but I'm not interested in those.


I agree about cheap 12V inflators. I've owned several. In every case they broke when I needed them most. All were very noisy and very slow, requiring manual cycling on/off to comply with the manual duty cycle time- and yet they still burned out.

I'm not sure what you mean by expensive. My Viair 88P currently lists for $60.35 on Amazon. That's less money than the combined price of all the broken cheap 12V inflators it replaced. My 88P is not quiet but not overly shrill, and gets the job done in about a minute. Of course a good bicycle pump is a perfectly fine option. My Joe Blow is, what, 15 or 16 years old, still works fine.


Well $60.35 is more than my bike pump which packs really easy against the wall of my trunk, and is pretty darn easy to add air to the tires (and Id bet just as fast a those little 12V units.

I do most of my tire maintenance manually with a bike pump - I really have no desire for a compressor/inflater unit personally... Especially as sidewalls get smaller and seemingly it takes fewer pumps to get to the right pressure...

 

[Bullet]

I've used the cheap rope plugs from Harbor freight.

 

[Valentine]

I've had very good success with the widely available rope type plugs. Although a plug may last the life of a tire, my opinion is that it's always better to remove a tire from its rim and patch the leak on the inside of the tire. Even better is to plug and then patch the tire from the inside. I consider plugs, by themselves, to be temporary fixes and dont feel confident about a tire repair until I know its been patched as well as plugged. Also, I agree that the average 12v tire inflator you'll find being sold at an auto parts store is a piece of junk. I once had one burn out the first time I used it. I am aware that there are some very high quality 12v units out there but the ones Ive seen are frightfully expensive and if you are spending that kind of dough , you might as well get a compressor added to your shop.



-Valentine

 

[2cool]

I know that a popular road service provider has gone off of plugging tires for the liability and potential for catastrophic failure if poorly done. Slime and other types have at least a 5-year shelf life; because I have a bottle of the stuff and it's still liquidy and squeezy as it was when new.
The sealants are only meant to repair a hole the diameter of a stick ball-point pen, located in the center ribs of the tread. No repair if the hole is in the shoulder blocks or sidewall (obviously).

 

[Trav]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018EUDHW?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

 

[kb27]

Originally Posted By: Trav
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018EUDHW?*Version*=1&*entries*=0


Thank you.
This looks like a better way of plugging holes in tires.

 

[Trav]

There are some YouTube videos on this tool, i think because it uses a mushroom seal inside the tire as well as a plug its going to have a better and more permanent seal.

 

[kb27]

Their website has a video. I've ordered the kit and extra plugs.
http://www.stopngo.com/deluxe-model-tire-plugger/