Plugging tires?

[Narragansett]

Old construction site remedy. Pull nail out, coat 1"#12 pan head screw with PVC cement, screw into hole, fill tire and drive home

I think they want to sell a tire, or 2. I would do inside patch

 

[Super Trucker]

Rope plugs are garbage, if someone refuses to do it right and get a patch/boot inside the tire, use a mushroom plug.

Here is a pic of a mushroom kit.


Stop & Go 1075 Tubeless Tire Plugger Repair Kit for Punctures & Flats

 

[Farmer17]

Here's my last tire patching story. I was constructing a new office building for a dentist in a small town about 40 minutes from OKC and rented a skid steer to grade the parking lot and the tire went totally flat one morning. I called the rental place and their only repair guy said he couldn't make it out until late that afternoon to replace the tire. I was paying several people hourly that can't work without the skid steer so I ran across the street to Walmart and bought a plug kit. We plugged the tire and tried to fill it up at the convenience store next door but the tire was so flat it wouldn't take a bead contacting the rim and the air just seeped out. So I ran back to Walmart and bought a big semi-truck type, ratchet strap and strapped that down tight on the tire and was able to start inflating it. All of the sudden that ratchet strap exploded and hit my Mexican skid steer driver in the hand! He couldn't speak any English but was obviously in a LOT of pain and his hand was really swollen. After a while he jumped back on the skid steer and finished the grading work, he didn't come to work the next day and I never saw him again. I had no idea a cheezy covenience store air compressor that takes a long time to put 10lbs of air in a car tire would be able to break a big ratchet strap! That could have killed someone if it hit them in the head so no more do it yourself tire repairs for me.

 

[AugieTN]

Don't forget airless tires are coming.

Airless tires are finally coming in 2024: Here's why you'll want a set | GM Inside News Forum

 

[Autonomous]

Old off-roader trick I see becoming more mainstream is to spray some flammable aerosol in the tire and light it to set the bead.

 

[BC38]

An inch and a half from the sidewall? That should be at least one tread-block (or more) from the edge of the tread.
No problem with putting a plug that far into the tread/that far from the sidewall.
Sounds like they just want to sell tires. If it is old, they'd be recommending a full set. If it is fairly new then they're trying to just sell you one tire.
Either way, a $6.49 plug kit from Harbor Freight is a WAY more economical solution, and that one sounds like an easy one to plug.
Just be sure to use a pair of needle nosed pliers to pull the nail out first.
It's about a 15 minute job once you have the tire off the rig and deflated.

 

[DWalt]

I might have plugged a half-dozen tires in my life, not counting those on my golf cart. No problems I can remember. The local Mexican tire shop (lots of those in San Antonio) generally fixes tire punctures with interior patches. I live fairly close to one. Amazing how fast those guys work. Just bought a tire from them earlier this week.

And then there is the eternal question - Nitrogen or air?

 

[BKLooney]

Rope plugs are garbage, if someone refuses to do it right and get a patch/boot inside the tire, use a mushroom plug.

Here is a pic of a mushroom kit.


Stop & Go 1075 Tubeless Tire Plugger Repair Kit for Punctures & Flats

I carry one of these on my Goldwing.

 

[BC38]

FWIW, "rope" plugs work just fine - if you know how to use them.

I've only plugged a couple of dozen tires with them over the last 40-50 years., but they have worked every time.

Technique is everything. I do it the way my dad taught me. Use the reamer to clean up the puncture, and then use it to "lube" the puncture with glue, then insert the plug.

That's worked every time I have tried it.

Of course YMMV...

 

[nedlate]

Technique is everything. I do it the way my dad taught me. Use the reamer to clean up the puncture, and then use it to "lube" the puncture with glue, then insert the plug.

I plugged almost all of our flat over the road truck tires at a private trucking company.
Clean the damage with a carbide cutter, a little glue and then
the plug to help keep the moisture ect out of the steel belts.

But we always put a patch in the tire also.

Ed

 

[Grayfox]

Old off-roader trick I see becoming more mainstream is to spray some flammable aerosol in the tire and light it to set the bead.

Yes it can be done. I've done it myself. But you must know what you're doing and be very careful. Its dangerous!

For all you folks who don't trust plugs, I was a mechanic for 42 years. I've plugged thousands of tires. Plugs work just fine. Don't worry about it.

 

[Jeff423]

The days of replacing one tire are coming to an end. That is because nowadays, just about every vehicle has a wheel sensor on every wheel. You get 3 worn tires, and one new tire with greater diameter and the possibility exists that your vehicles computer thinks you are in a situation of compromised stability. The computer then interviens. This is especially true in AWD vehicles.

I have heard that but I question it because my AWD Lexus still has a full sized spare which is brand new. I have twice driven it more than 1,000 miles on that spare when I had a blow out on vacation with no problems.
The spare and the tires on the car at the time were different brands.

 

[oldman10mm]

For the DIY 'pluggers', here's a tip. Get yourself a can of XtraSeal bead sealant, once you've got the plug properly mounted/in the insertion tool, dip it in the XtraSeal, a black gooey quick setting/drying rubber, then insert the plug. Close the can quickly to prevent drying of the contents. The XtraSeal on the plug prevents any tiny air leaks past the plug.
The XtraSeal is also useful for electrical connections. Instead of using electrical tape for over connecting wires, coating the connection gives a waterproof corrosion proof coating.

 

[DWalt]

For the DIY 'pluggers', here's a tip. Get yourself a can of XtraSeal bead sealant, once you've got the plug properly mounted/in the insertion tool, dip it in the XtraSeal, a black gooey quick setting/drying rubber, then insert the plug. Close the can quickly to prevent drying of the contents. The XtraSeal on the plug prevents any tiny air leaks past the plug.
The XtraSeal is also useful for electrical connections. Instead of using electrical tape for over connecting wires, coating the connection gives a waterproof corrosion proof coating.

There is a similar or identical liquid product sold specifically for wire insulation that can be painted on a wire connection instead of using electrical tape. It hardens after application. I have used it for a very long time. It works well.

 

[rwsmith]

Sooner or later, they'll say...

..."tires can't be patched, plugged or fixed in any way. All I can do is sell you a new set of tires".

 

[WardenRoss]

Rope plugs are garbage, if someone refuses to do it right and get a patch/boot inside the tire, use a mushroom plug.

Here is a pic of a mushroom kit.


Stop & Go 1075 Tubeless Tire Plugger Repair Kit for Punctures & Flats

I used the Stopngo on my motorcycles since the '70's. Their plug will get you home.

One morning I woke up to a flat on my police vehicle. "What the heck..." I plugged it with my Stopngo.

About 50,000 miles later, installing new tires, we checked that plug. Still holding fine. Remarkable how well it seals.


,

 

[pasound]

Many years ago, while driving all night to a beach hotel in Rehoboth Beach, DE, I picked up a roofing nail in a tire and fought with the slow leak, stopping about every 50 miles to pump up the tire. Discovered a garage actually open on early Sunday morning when I arrived. They checked the tire, found the headless nail stuck in about the center of the tread. They pulled it, plugged it, and included an inside patch.

All four tires were Continentals, new on the car, and I drove the car back and forth to work for six more years with nary a problem, until a small bubble appeared in the sidewall of the patched tire. While I was driving to various tire stores pricing a new set, it suddenly threw the tread directly in front of the Goodyear store. It still didn't go flat, and I pulled into the store lot dragging the tread. Service manager was shocked that I made it in on the belts. I bought four new Continentals that day.

 

[Ingramite]

Ever call in to work with a flat tire excuse?
In post Katrina New Orleans my boss got that call at least once a week....for months.

With all of the demolition going on the city streets were covered in roofing nails.

I had to go out to Metairie to Discount Tire each time. An all day sucker because of the long lines. My boss was in Atlanta so he was more than a little skeptical of my frequency. On day two of his visit to NOLA his rental car was dead in the hotel parking lot with 3 flats.

 

[soFlaNative]

Heads up.
Plugs won't hold in the hole made by a land surveyor's mag nail.

 

[raljr1]

My tire guy does not plug,,
he puts a patch inside.

Where it is at pretty much does not matter.

It does cost $20,, which, around here, is high.
I guess other places that is cheap,

This.

Robert