Yes. Car and trailer tires. Sometimes it's just to get you home, other times it ends up permanent. I can understand why tire shops won't often do it .
Ever plugged a tire yourself?
- Thread starter ZZman
- Start date
But you're going to inspect it inside, might as well do a patch.
Yea if the tire is safe go for a patch, if the side wall is damaged or if there is rubber shavings from running it flat inside the tire it is trash and no person who actually cares about the safety of their customers would patch it in that situation.
If you never had a failure, how is a patch better?
A patch does not make contact with the roadway, it is on a better prepped surface with cement paste, a patch can also work on slightly bigger holes of which a plug cannot work on. A patch can also be used closer to the sidewall compared to a plug.
Obvious downside is you are not going to patch a tire on the side of the road but you sure can plug one if you keep a plug kit in your vehicle and a car tire pump, and lets face it not many of us can afford a tow bill right now.
My personal experience with never having a failure does not disregard the fact that other people have had failures.
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Oh, yeah, a few times. Easy peasy.
Many, many times. If you live in a really rural area you will be forced to. A plug kit is much cheaper than driving 20 miles and paying a tire shop. This bring up an old memory. Anybody heard of an "Engine Air Pump"? Every farmer used to have one. They worked by removing a spark plug and screwing in an adapter with hose which you screwed to the valve on the tire. Cranked the engine and idled it and it pumped up the tire. That is how you aired your tire up after plugging it.
For me they are always too large, might as well use a real screw that is tiny with rubber cement to match the size of the hole
Many many times. Even on a motorcycle when I was younger. Never had a failure in perhaps 50 plugs over the years.
The kit you use makes a big difference. For years I used the cheapo plastic handled set of tools, and then upgraded about 5 years ago to a nice T-Handle set. So much easier to use, especially the reamer and the sliding collar that you use to keep the plug stationary while you pull out the needle.
That's the kit I use. Certainly not super professional grade, but worlds better than the cheapo sets.
The kit you use makes a big difference. For years I used the cheapo plastic handled set of tools, and then upgraded about 5 years ago to a nice T-Handle set. So much easier to use, especially the reamer and the sliding collar that you use to keep the plug stationary while you pull out the needle.
That's the kit I use. Certainly not super professional grade, but worlds better than the cheapo sets.
Oh yes, lots of times at work and maybe once or twice at home. I even mounted new tires on 16"split ring rims at home.
As a teenager working in a full service garage & Chevron station, I must have plugged 100's of tires and done internal rubber patches 40+ times. Not hard. I recently did some recently at the Airport for the tug that we use to move the Cessna's and DA40's around. I taught others to do same. Hardest part is getting the sticky leather plug into the tire the first 3mm, the rest is easy.
