Tire repair: plugs and patches.

[moto94536]

yeap. It is better than nothing. Most major shop doesn't want to repair the flat tire because the nail is near the sidewall.

I am glad I don't have to buy a brand new tire. I am happy it is working now.. My highway speed is mostly 60-65 mph. I am not too concern about blowing up my tire.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: moto94536
yeap. It is better than nothing. Most major shop doesn't want to repair the flat tire because the nail is near the sidewall.

I am glad I don't have to buy a brand new tire. I am happy it is working now.. My highway speed is mostly 60-65 mph. I am not too concern about blowing up my tire.


Please remind me to stay far, far away from you on the road.

 

[CapriRacer]

Here's the deal.

The reason tire manufacturers don't want you to repair tires in the sidewall is because the repairs don't always hold up. The sidewall does a lot of gyrations as it rolls and the movement tends to detach the patch or open the plug - besides, there is always the possibility that the sidewall will tear from the movement.

The reason why tire manufacturers don't want to repair tires NEAR the sidewall is because that is where the belts are - the most highly stressed area of the tire. Damage in that area tends to cause the belt to separate between the layers - what is commonly referred to as a "tread separation".

The reason tire manufacturers call plugs "temporarty repairs", is beacuse they tend to leak over time and they sometime leak into the tire structure itself - causing a separation between layers. This is particularly bad in the belt area.

A patch by itself does a great job of sealing the leak, and it reinforces the structure to spread the stresses away from the damage. The patch doesn't seal the damage from outside contaminants - particuarly bad in the tread area.

At speeds above 50 mph, "tread separations" (really belt-leaving-belt separations) has been known to result in an accident - sometimes with injuries or worse.

That is why the only approved repair for a passenger and light truck tires is a plug/patch combination only in the tread area, and not including the outermost rib. If you travel over 50 mph, you should really pay attention to this advice. I would hate it if you became part of the statistics.

 

[George Bynum]

Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
That is why the only approved repair for a passenger and light truck tires is a plug/patch combination only in the tread area, and not including the outermost rib.
Did you see the "plug/patch" thing shown in an early (#2) post in this thread? It looks like an "all-in-one" thing that opens up like an umbrella inside, and I ASSUME has some sort of adhesive. What is the tire manufacturers' opinion of these? When I had a puncture, the repair shop wanted to examine, buff, and clean the inside ...

 

[yonyon]

Originally Posted By: George Bynum
Originally Posted By: CapriRacer
That is why the only approved repair for a passenger and light truck tires is a plug/patch combination only in the tread area, and not including the outermost rib.
Did you see the "plug/patch" thing shown in an early (#2) post in this thread? It looks like an "all-in-one" thing that opens up like an umbrella inside, and I ASSUME has some sort of adhesive. What is the tire manufacturers' opinion of these? When I had a puncture, the repair shop wanted to examine, buff, and clean the inside ...


Get a patent on that 'opens like an umbrella' idea right away and you might have an extra couple-few dollars to put towards your retirement. I can see the thing now with a special funnel-like tube to insert through. The plug-patch shown in the picture (commonly called a nipple-patch) is installed from the inside which takes time. Time is money and all that, you know...

 

[yonyon]

Maybe you could step it up a notch and make the nipple a sort of a shallow expansion plug? See what you can work out.

 

[stephen9666]

Originally Posted By: yonyon


Get a patent on that 'opens like an umbrella' idea right away and you might have an extra couple-few dollars to put towards your retirement. I can see the thing now with a special funnel-like tube to insert through. The plug-patch shown in the picture (commonly called a nipple-patch) is installed from the inside which takes time. Time is money and all that, you know...


The problem is that the inside of the tire needs to be prepped before you can install the plug. Basically, you have to buff it to a smooth finish and use a solvent to clean off any oil or other contaminants. Even if you could insert the patch from the outside, it probably wouldn't stick. I think the breakthrough needed would be a patch that could adhere to the often rough, oily surface on the inside of a tire. That'd be a challenge.

 

[Ken2]

I've gotten 1 year life from a Nealy repair:
"The Nealey Tire Repair Kit repair strand is a cord consisting of uncured butyl and silicone rubber products that cure into the puncture, plugging the hole and forming a seal on both the inside and outside of the tire." You run the sticky string through the hole, rotate 1-1/2 revolutions forming a knot inside, pull the remainer through, and cut the excess off.
http://www.tirerepairkit.com/easyuse.htm

 

[moto94536]

he is saying plug repair will likely to result in blowing up the tires. let have a vote forum.

 

[Carbon]

Originally Posted By: moto94536
he is saying plug repair will likely to result in blowing up the tires.
Nobody said anything like that.

 

[bigmike]

My wife ran over a 1" bolt just a few days ago. She heard it thumping and called me, so I told her to see if it could be patched. A local tire store did a plug/patch combination. I think the cost was around $30, which included the mounting/balancing and a TPMS rebuild kit.

The tire is the driver's front. I'm unfamiliar with the TPMS, but I understand there are o-rings or something that need to be replaced??

 

[Garak]

Well Mike, that's a pretty good price, if you ask me. I'm not terribly familiar with TPMS either, but that's a nice price for all they did. The average price of a repair here is $20, without any nifty extras.

 

[bigmike]

Yeah, I certainly didn't complain. It is holding air and no noticeable issues with the repair. This is the 2nd screw/bolt she's run over in this car. Not sure if coincidence, bad luck, or if the tires just like to pick them up.

Can't wait to get rid of the OEM Dunlops and put something nice on the car (Michelin Primacy MXM4 or Bridgestone Turanza Serenity come to mind), but I'm not one to dump a set of tires until they're worn.

 

[Garak]

Mine was $20, as I mentioned. That was at a friend's tire shop, with patch only, and no rebalance. He was cautious about marking the tire and reinstalling it carefully, mind you. It holds air and doesn't vibrate, so I'm happy.

On tires on their last legs, I don't hesitate to use plugs. We used them on the cabs regularly, too, without incident, since they accumulate a lot of mileage and at rather low speeds.

 

[moto94536]

they fixed my tire that have nail on it. they use temporary plug.., now it is leaking again ( 20 PSI cold )..

do you recommend patches method??

 

[Carbon]

Originally Posted By: moto94536
they fixed my tire that have nail on it. they use temporary plug.., now it is leaking again ( 20 PSI cold )..

do you recommend patches method??


Who is "they"? What kind of plug was used, if you know-- glue or no glue?

Yes, you should get a patch and ideally plug + patch. However most places will be looking to sell you a tire instead.

 

[moto94536]

local chevron shop. they put a needle in the car, and then put somekind of long string ...

so today I rotate my tires. I found another nail on the same tire.. so chevron shop did good job on the repair.. it was the nail that is leaking air.. so I will go back there and repair again..

 

[Carbon]

Thanks for the follow-up. I have used a plug without problems, but some small percentage can leak. I used the plug because the tire shops said the hole was too close to the edge of the tread. It was about an inch from the edge of the tread. They use a tougher standard for an H-rated tire apparently. It's not as if I drive faster than I would with T-rated tires.

 

[yonyon]

Originally Posted By: moto94536
local chevron shop. they put a needle in the car, and then put somekind of long string ...

so today I rotate my tires. I found another nail on the same tire.. so chevron shop did good job on the repair.. it was the nail that is leaking air.. so I will go back there and repair again..


Stop putting cheap nails in your tires and use brass screws instead. They won't leak nearly so much. It's worth the extra money.

 

[Trvlr500]

Years ago I just carried some fat wood screws and silicone with me. I'd pull the nail out, choose a screw that was bigger than the hole, slather it with silicone and after pulling out the nail or whatever just screw it in there. i had a wood screw repair in a tire for 20 or 30 thousand miles one time. It was in there until the tire was almost bald. The head of the screw just wore down with the tire. It held air perfectly all that time.

Not that I'm recommending such a repair but it does work in a pinch until you can get it repaired properly.