tires

[bacpacker]

Wife had a flat today and while reparing it got me thinking. I picked up a tire plug kit (reamer, plug inserter, a dozen or more plugs). Also got a patch kit, extra cement,. I bagged them up and put them in the tool box.

How many of you do tire repairs? Have repair kits, supplies on hand? Anything I'm forgetting?

[ElevenBravo]

Ive done the DIY plug several times, seams to last as long/work as well as when I get one plugged by the service station.

Keep a fresh one, maybe change it out at the end of summer so the affects of heat dont diminish it's performance, seams to be a good idea to me...


EB

[Sniper-T]

A couple things. Firstly, these plugs are designed as a temporary fix, and not meant for long term. I patched a tire last spring and it lasted until just before my last Salmon trip, and it needed replacing jut before, about ~4000km. with a new one in, I made it less than 1000 km of solid driving, straight through in August. and had to replace it. The replacement crapped out twice before I made it back home, then I had to go with a double plug, because the hole starts getting big. That lasted a couple weeks, and then the next less, and then less. and then it was beyond repair.

A couple things of note. Most garages will NOT repair properly (vulcanize) a tire once it has been externally plugged... in fact they wont touch it. so a plug in effect ends the life of the tire. And this was true in NDak, SDak, Minn, and Wisc.

That said... a plug and a 12V compressor can be a life saver, and exist in both mine and my wife's car, and she is well trained in using both. Being that we both drive on gravel ALOT! and both put many miles on... I consider it an indispensable tool in the glovebox of any vehicle.

IMO

[jamesneuen]

So how does a tire get repaired professionally? I didn't even know they did that. We grew up with the plug kits and I never really thought about it. After the plug went bad, if putting another in didn't work we went and got a 50% used tire from the shop nearby. Dirt cheap and just kept doing it.

[Sniper-T]

properly? they take it off the rim, put a plug through from the inside, and then burn that it, and then put a patch over top of that and burn that on over top. the air pressure from the inside protects the patch, where as a plug from the outside is subject to highways and pressure.

[Sniper-T]

edit to add:

If you have a tire off the rim, or if you lost the bead and cannot get it to set with a Spanish windlass, or don't have the means, here is a way to do it in an emergency... Can be dangerous, but it does work. IMO tis guy uses too much ether, but the result is the same.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17lvThuo8RY

[robsdak]

That said... a plug and a 12V compressor can be a life saver, and exist in both mine and my wife's car, and she is well trained in using both. Being that we both drive on gravel ALOT! and both put many miles on... I consider it an indispensable tool in the glovebox of any vehicle.

IMO

i have a good friend that will fix them for me after plugging. breaks it down and uses a 'rougher' inside and repairs it properly.

[Sniper-T]

^
that is exactly how it is done 'properly'. called vulcanizing.

[izzyscout21]

edit to add:

If you have a tire off the rim, or if you lost the bead and cannot get it to set with a Spanish windlass, or don't have the means, here is a way to do it in an emergency... Can be dangerous, but it does work. IMO tis guy uses too much ether, but the result is the same.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17lvThuo8RY


This^^^ is cool........:cool:

[Sniper-T]

and it works on anything from a wheel barrow to a tractor tire! Adjust your spray appropriately! Did you hear the hissing after it inflated? too much ether. over pressurized, can actually blow forcibly off the rim. start with less, if not enough... add more and try again. He used enough for a semi tire, or bigger

[helomech]

I just push the run flat button.

[jamesneuen]

I had no idea. Do all tire shops do that?

[Sniper-T]

They used to... now days they are more likely to shove a plug in and send you on your way. when you're back in two months, it is too bad to fix again, and they sell you a set of tires.

[robsdak]

edit to add:

If you have a tire off the rim, or if you lost the bead and cannot get it to set with a Spanish windlass, or don't have the means, here is a way to do it in an emergency... Can be dangerous, but it does work. IMO tis guy uses too much ether, but the result is the same.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17lvThuo8RY

that is an awesome sound it makes, like a whuuummmP! :) i have done it before and used a long piece of 1/8" copper tubing attached to propane like an over-sized grill lighter. mounted several 36" tires. nothing like put playing and roll one off the bead.

[Sniper-T]

do a tractor tire and it feels like it pops your ear drums.

[ElevenBravo]

^
that is exactly how it is done 'properly'. called vulcanizing.

In the end, this is the proper, proper way... A DIY plug is mostly an emergency fix, though... Ive had them last long enough to wear out the tire, just remember your mileage will vary, literally... :-)
(Ya like how I worked that in??)


EB

[Gunfixr]

Back in the day, when I was driving that huge 4x4 running on 44" tall 18.5" wide mud tires, and going off-road all the time, needless to say I had some tire issues occasionally.
Plus, I was driving professionally for awhile a tractor with a dump trailer, going all kinds of places.
When we took the truck/trailer to a tire shop, this is what they did: They removed the rim, and accessed the hole from the inside. The scraped it out with basically a rat tail file. They then installed from the inside a "patch plug", which was sealed in with vulcanizing cement. It was a rubber stud with a large patch base, and had a steel pin sticking out of the end. This was pushed into the hole, and could be grabbed with pliers and pulled out until the patch section was tight against the inside. The stud part was cut off and ground flush. Re-install the tire on the rim. Done.

I had purchased one of those tire plug kits, and got something pretty large stuck in the tire. Took 3 of those tarry stringy things shoved into the hole to make it stop leaking air, and a couple days later, they came out. Took it to a tire shop. This was way before the "patch plug" was invented. They did the same thing I had done, but instead of those tarry stringy plugs, they used narrow rubber strips which were soaked in vulcanizing cement. Pushed them in just like the cheap stringy plugs, and cut them off as close to flush as possible.
These didn't come out.
So, I went to NAPA, and bought the heavy duty tire plugging kit, and threw away the cheap stringy plugs. The reamer and installer were much heavier duty than the regular set. I also got a can of vulcanizing cement. Then, I went to the local rubber shop and bought a piece of roughly 1/16" thick rubber, most of a square foot. Kept all that in the truck, with a pair of fairly heavy scissors. Next time I had a hole in a tire, I just pulled out what was in there, cut an appropriate sized strip of rubber, reamed/scraped out the hole, slathered the cement on the rubber strip and pushed it in like the stringy plugs. It just went in a lot tighter, and had the cement on it. Trimmed it close to flush, called it good.
Just remember not to push it all the way and then pull it back, leave the "looped" end inside.
None done this way came out. Did that for years.

I used to mount and dismount those tires, and some smaller 38" tires before I got those. Did it all with only a small, engine mounted air compressor, with probably a 5 gal tank. They were internally balanced with a ground rubber powder. You just had to have the right amount, and have dry air inside. When the tires needed replacing, as long as the new ones were the same, just transfer the powder to the new ones.

[Stormfeather]

Like many here, I have the heavy duty plugs, a air compressor and a 20 gallon air tank on my BOV, I have only used the plugs one actual time though, and they lasted for a good 9k miles til I got new tires.