plug vs patch for flat

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asiancivicmaniac

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Ok, I just got a screw in my two weeks old tire
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. If I was at home I would bring it back to Sam's to have it fixed. But I'm at school right now and I don't have my receipt with me nor my dad's Sam's card so I doubt I can get the club here to fix it (but I'm going to give them a call tomorrow and see). If they won't do it then I am thinking of plugging it rather than taking it to a tire place. One of my dad's tires were plugged once and it never had any problems. But would you guys recommend that I take it to get it patched instead? And, the screw made a small leak so I was driving on 8psi for about 10miles. Could that have done any damage to the tire?
 
unless the tire sidewalls shows cracking or bubbling the tire is fine.

I've plugged tires tens of time, sometimes three on one tire with the gooie stringgy plugs. Never had a tire failure or any ever leak.

If you carry a cheap small compressor and plug kit in the trunk, you can skip the tire change all together.
 
USUALLY,, if there's any internal damage the sidewall will be "smeared" looking. Surest way to tell is have it dismounted and look inside, by the way, that'd be a great time to go ahead and have a patch applied,,,wouldn't it?
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As a professional tire service provider, I'd not even consider a plug, nor would any offspring on a tire that I'd provided (not at least after the first time). If you absolutely must plug, plan to have it removed and repaired properly at the first opportunity.

You did say 2 wks old? Not 2 weeks till you were gonna throw it away anyhow?

bob
 
Most tire sores should be able to instal a patch or better yet a Plug Patch.

Those plugs are not a proper fix for a radial tire as the steel belts can and will cut into the plug causing a leak over time. I can not count the number of Leaking PLUGS I have had to fix. Get it done properly and be done with it.
 
do you know if sears still uses patch+plugs? if they do and the sam's here won't honor the road hazard without my receipt then i'll bring it to sears.
 
I've never had a plug leak or tire fail in 20+ tries.

I'll bet that dismounting a tire and re-mounting a tire is not very good for the tire structurally. If the sucker leaks you you plug the thing again on the road...but it probably won't. Don't always believe the professionals that would rather do it for you, than you get experience for yourself. Plus the $$ factor. A plug will cost you a dollar per tire DIY.

I'm a firm believer and not getting the extended warranties as well. Same sorta thing if you ask me.
 
Quote:

Most tire sores should be able to instal a patch or better yet a Plug Patch.

Those plugs are not a proper fix for a radial tire as the steel belts can and will cut into the plug causing a leak over time. I can not count the number of Leaking PLUGS I have had to fix. Get it done properly and be done with it.

Click to expand...


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Quote:

How many people who have responded to this thread have ever repair their own tire?

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Well I haven't responded, but I will now. I have plugged two tires - one on a Celebrity (carriage bolt) and one on a Bronco (packing crate nail) - and both held air for the rest of their lives. I also have had a tire professionally repaired and that one never did hold air.

Score:
Me - 2
Pros - 0

That's not a scientific sample but it is an accurate summary my own experience. On each of the ones I did myself I fully expected to have the belts start to unwind soon but each remained in service without any trouble. When I did the A/T tire on the Bronco I had to get out my drill and a 5/8 twist bit to bore enough of a hole to get the plug in but it still held up.

Calvin
 
Never had, never will. That's why I get the road hazard. I buy high dollar tires and one replacement usually pays for the cost of the RH. One patch pays for the cost. All my free lifetime rotations and balances pay for the additional cost.
 
I have tried to repair my a/t tire with no success. I used a plug that I got from pep boys with no success. Tried a patch inside still no luck. Brought tire to pep boys said hole was to big to fix, and it was to close to the tread and the water channel. bottom line had to get a new tire
 
Fatjack,,

From YEARS of experience, ATV,lawnmower,wheelbarrow, type tires are the hardest to fix if hole is larger than plug size (these are the ONLY tires we plug, using soft, glue in all rubber plugs)because the rubber innerliner, kinda like a built-in tube, is so thin to non-existent there's nothing for a patch to stick to. Years ago I had a small spot vulcanizing tool that did a good job on offroad tires up to 1/2 inch hole. Last time I tried to use it heating element would no longer heat up, not enough demand to repair or replace.
 
For the record, profesionally, I've tried plugs off and on for highway use. Just can't get failure rate down anywhere near as low as it is for inside patch. We have less than 1/2% return on our patched tire repairs. Allways had probably 2 in 10 plugs return within a month with slow leaks. That means I'd have to re-repair with a patch. Never charged more than 1/4 as much for a plug as a proper patch repair. Sooooooo,,I'd end up with techs spending valuable time redoing low price repair wit high price repair for FREE. Even the customer who got free upgrade was still unhappy, because they were back wasting their time on something we were supposed to have fixed the first time.

You guys can waste your time(or not) however you see fit, but for me,my techs, and my customers, we'll NOT be wasting our time on plugs.

As a side note,, most of the leaking plugs when we were doing them, or the ones we repair daily that have been pluged, it's almost allways caused by the plugger not following the original puncture path. This means the tire ends up with one hole on the outside and two holes, usually close together so 1 patch will cover both on the inside!

Bob
 
Quote:

How many people who have responded to this thread have ever repair their own tire?

Click to expand...

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I keep in my trunk a Camel® kit with the fiber-y red rope plugs, a rasp, an insertion tool and a little tube of rubber cement. Done it a bunch of times and only had one that leaked and had to be re-done.
I remember doing one in the parking lot at work and a co-worker stood by smoking a cigarette and telling me how unsafe what I was doing was...
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Quote:

do you know if sears still uses patch+plugs? if they do and the sam's here won't honor the road hazard without my receipt then i'll bring it to sears.

Click to expand...


Yes they do. If properly stocked they will have 3 different size plug patches depending on the size of the hole.

Ans for the yahoo that said how many here have done it... Well I have while working at Sears while in school and now still at the dealership I still do on accasion and even taught a several Jouneyman who have never used a Plug-Patch how to do it.

And yes some plugs will hold up, But I have seen far fewer plugs leak. Most plug leaks are evident when the repair is performed, no weeks or months later when they dry out or what not. I have pulled more than you want to know. What is really a pisser is plug-patcing a tire for an obvious nail and then find the old plug is leaking too.
 
There you have it...Take your pick.

I would much rather take 15 minutes to plug and fill a tire myself for like a dollar, than spend a half hour putting the spare on, driving to the tire place, or warranty tire place if it is even in the same state as I'm in at the time; wait another hour for the tech. to dismount, patch remount, balance, fill, and pay probably $25. Then drive back to where I came from. Weeheew... I'm tire and bored just thinking about all that.
 
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