over the years I’ve had good luck repairing flats by using the rubber sticks that you push through the outside of the tyre with a forked pencil thing. I’ve even repaired holes in sidewalls and never had problems. however I have one hole in my tyre that I cannot get to seal up using a rubber stick patch. I even used rubber cement.
what I do is clean the hole out with the cylinder file. then I push on the tread to make air come out of the hole. then I drip a few drops of rubber cement on the hole and let my hand off the tread, which forces the tyre to suck up come rubber cement into the hole. I then put rubber cement on the rubber stick plug and let it sit for 10 minutes.
finally I push the plug into the hole and let it cure overnight, (or day time in the sun to get her nice and hot).
this method has worked for me for as long as I have been driving, and its worked even before that, on atv tyres, dirt bike tyres, etc.
however! this method is not working on a hole in one of my car tyres. its a Goodyear regatta 2 tyre, and its in very good condition other than this hole. by the way I caught the leak early and the tyre had lost only 5lbs of air pressure. (it went from 40 to 35 by the time I caught it) so there was no damage from running low on pressure. the hole is right in between 2 blocks of tread. it was a roofing nail. I pulled it out and the entire nail came out clean, including the pointed end so I know there is no foreign objects left inside the tyre. by the way it was a small nail, probably less than 1/16th inch wide. I also know the hole was a clean puncture. it went straight in, not at an angle. it didn’t rip the tyre. should be a simple plug and go right?
well no. this puncture happen almost a year ago. the first time I plugged it, I check the pressure daily and it lasted for 2 weeks. then started leaking, so I plugged it again. that lasted until today when I checked my pressures which I do every Sunday. my tyre is down to 30lbs of pressure. (that’s ok since the car specs 32) so again no damage was done from running low on pressure.
I pulled the old plug out with a pliers and repatched it. 45 minutes later I put 10lbs of air into the tyre just to check if it leaks, and what do you know its leaking!
so at this point I’m thinking I should give the internal mushroom type patches a try, the kind that act as a flat patch and a rubber stick plug all in one. only problem is that nobody sells them! you would think that since the rubber manufactures association says to ONLY use mushroom patches, and that most tyre dealers only use them, you would think you could buy them at any auto parts store or even Wal-Mart. well no dice, I’ve been to pep boys, AutoZone, discount auto parts, congress auto parts, Bennett auto supply, and Wal-Mart. all of these stores sell only the rubber stick patches.
so what’s a cheapskate like myself to do? should I spend $20 at a rip-off tyre dealer to have it patched with a mushroom patch? the tyres on my car all came as a matched set from the junkyard for $10 each. does it make since to spend $20 to patch a tyre that costs $10?
id really like to buy a set of mushroom patches and start using those instead of rubber sticks. but why doesn’t anyone sell them? why does the rma warn you that rubber cement is flammable? do they expect you to smear it all over you’re body and then smoke a cigarette? rma takes people for idiots.... but id like to follow their advice and patch this tyre the right way....
also, temm me what you guys think of my spell check. I tried to make this post a little more refined. If this works out, I may do all of my new posts in spell check.
what I do is clean the hole out with the cylinder file. then I push on the tread to make air come out of the hole. then I drip a few drops of rubber cement on the hole and let my hand off the tread, which forces the tyre to suck up come rubber cement into the hole. I then put rubber cement on the rubber stick plug and let it sit for 10 minutes.
finally I push the plug into the hole and let it cure overnight, (or day time in the sun to get her nice and hot).
this method has worked for me for as long as I have been driving, and its worked even before that, on atv tyres, dirt bike tyres, etc.
however! this method is not working on a hole in one of my car tyres. its a Goodyear regatta 2 tyre, and its in very good condition other than this hole. by the way I caught the leak early and the tyre had lost only 5lbs of air pressure. (it went from 40 to 35 by the time I caught it) so there was no damage from running low on pressure. the hole is right in between 2 blocks of tread. it was a roofing nail. I pulled it out and the entire nail came out clean, including the pointed end so I know there is no foreign objects left inside the tyre. by the way it was a small nail, probably less than 1/16th inch wide. I also know the hole was a clean puncture. it went straight in, not at an angle. it didn’t rip the tyre. should be a simple plug and go right?
well no. this puncture happen almost a year ago. the first time I plugged it, I check the pressure daily and it lasted for 2 weeks. then started leaking, so I plugged it again. that lasted until today when I checked my pressures which I do every Sunday. my tyre is down to 30lbs of pressure. (that’s ok since the car specs 32) so again no damage was done from running low on pressure.
I pulled the old plug out with a pliers and repatched it. 45 minutes later I put 10lbs of air into the tyre just to check if it leaks, and what do you know its leaking!
so at this point I’m thinking I should give the internal mushroom type patches a try, the kind that act as a flat patch and a rubber stick plug all in one. only problem is that nobody sells them! you would think that since the rubber manufactures association says to ONLY use mushroom patches, and that most tyre dealers only use them, you would think you could buy them at any auto parts store or even Wal-Mart. well no dice, I’ve been to pep boys, AutoZone, discount auto parts, congress auto parts, Bennett auto supply, and Wal-Mart. all of these stores sell only the rubber stick patches.
so what’s a cheapskate like myself to do? should I spend $20 at a rip-off tyre dealer to have it patched with a mushroom patch? the tyres on my car all came as a matched set from the junkyard for $10 each. does it make since to spend $20 to patch a tyre that costs $10?
id really like to buy a set of mushroom patches and start using those instead of rubber sticks. but why doesn’t anyone sell them? why does the rma warn you that rubber cement is flammable? do they expect you to smear it all over you’re body and then smoke a cigarette? rma takes people for idiots.... but id like to follow their advice and patch this tyre the right way....
also, temm me what you guys think of my spell check. I tried to make this post a little more refined. If this works out, I may do all of my new posts in spell check.
