Can you plug a tire leak???

No, do not plug a hole in a radial tire. The plug will work loose in relatively short order. The only way to repair a radial is to glue a patch on the inside of the tire over the hole. You need to be sure that it is done properly, with the right glue, or the patch will come loose too. More times than not, in my experience, you're going to end up with a new tire. Radials are hard to repair because they are relatively flexible.

 

I had a nail right in the shoulder; the tire guy said it can’t be fixed.

I got a tube of that Slime stuff, squirted just a little in, tilted the tire so the hole was at the bottom, aired the tire up to about 100psi, let it sit a couple of hours, set the correct pressure, and it is still holding pressure after six months.

 

I'll probably be the lone disenter here, but here goes.

I have never had a plug fail. Ever!. Thats not saying one wont, or cant, I just havnt had one. And having lived on an old farm I probably plugged over 100 tires in 15 years.

IMHO, regardless of a patch or a plug in a tire punctured in the tread, I just put in a plug and watch it for a few days and keep the speed down. If the tire is going to fail from the puncture, it will generally amount to no more than some ply seperation, and youll feel it. If its not messed up within a few days it probably wont ever be. And seldom do tires suddenly explode or come apart anymore like was common 30 years ago. Either way, you would still need a new tire. You cant unpuncture it, and if anything, the plug seals out dirt and moisture, protecting the wound. I knew one guy who liked to plug the tread, then grind the inside down and patch it. Kind of overkill. Plus, if your that worried about the tire, or the car is so valuable that a $100 tire coming unglued will stress you out, just slap on a new tire.

I just bought $600 worth of rubber for my own 308. It would irritate me if I holed one, but if it were only a nail in the tread, not near the sidewall, I would have no fear in simply plugging it. Thats not to say I would feel comfortable running it up to 140 MPH tomorrow, but 100 wouldnt bother me if it had been okay for a few days. But its a very controllable car, I cant imagine a flat being to hairy unless you were in a hard turn at high speed.

OTOH. I have a 12 ton motorhome. If I plugged or patched any hole in a front steer tire, that tire would forever be a spare or drive tire, never again a front steer tire. A front tire failure on that thing could be uncontrollable. I buy two new tires and run them on the back for a while to prove themselves, then roll them up front. In the end you just have to ask yourself how comfortable you are driving. New tires can fail suddenly from internal defects, you can hit debris on the road and have sudden failure, I once had a valve stem fail suddenly and ruin a tire before I could stop. In the end its all relative. Do what you feel comfortable doing. Plug, patch, or toss, you make the call.

 

I'm with Paul, never had a plug fail, and I have had dozens of tires repaired over the years with plugs (never had a patch fail either).

But the conventional wisdom these days is to patch, rather than to plug. I would recommend having the tire removed from the wheel and a patch installed. Some places will even plug and patch as Paul descibed. I've even seen patches that include a long, thin plug that is pulled from inside the tire out; sort of a all in one, plug/patch, that is glued in place.

 

DONT TRY THIS AT HOME!!

That is extremely dangerous. I dont suppose anyone has seen the cages they use at tire shops to air up large truck tires to keep them from killing you? Ever seen a rim fail at the bead line? Seen a tire explode? Everthing has a limit, a point of absolute failure, a red line. You crossed it. And by a good margin IMHO. 15 psi per ply is an imposed limit for tires. So 60 psi would be the max pressure you would want in a car tire. Thats not saying it wont take more, its just saying that your knocking harder on heavens door the farther you go past the limit. 100 psi could easily cause a car tire to suffer internal ply seperation at the very least. I would call yourself lucky. Can you say....BANG! ? When I was 11, I put air in my bike tire over at the gas station. I didnt know he had 140 line pressure on the hose. One quick shot and BANG, the tire blew out in my face and knocked me down. I had a big welt on my arm from a piece of tire. A car tire would kill you. Period.

 

One of my truck tires had a slow leak. I took it to a tire shop and told them I wanted a patch. They took the tire off the truck and rim, then told me that it was too high on the sidewall to patch because it might not hold. I told them to do it anyway. (It couldn't be any worse than it was because it was leaking!) They refused to patch it. (I guess that they wanted to sell me a new tire, and/or their lawyers are afraid to let them patch it). I was pretty ticked off by this time, having wasted an hour of my Saturday afternoon and NOT getting my tire fixed. I told them to remount the tire and I drove off with the same leaky tire as before. I limped across town on Monday to my regular tire shop and bought a new tire.

 

Interesting that Michelin does not make any mention of repairing a tire (I sent them an email). Bridgestone does, and is quite clear that the speed rating no longer applies. They do recommend the use of the patch/plug type repair, apparently using the one peice "plug/stem" as described below:

Quote from Bridgestone site:

"Repair
Tread punctures or penetrations left unrepaired may cause irreversible tire damage. An improper repair can damage the tire and will void the warranty.

Repair Procedures
Combination patch/stem repair. Steel cord damage must be repaired immediately to prevent rusting of the steel. Using plugs or patches alone on any type of tire is not a safe repair.

Do not perform this part of the repair on a spreader as this deforms the area to be repaired.
1. Remove all foreign matter from the hole. Be careful not to enlarge the hole.
2. Select the proper size reamer. The reamer selection must completely cover the injured area.
3. Select the proper size patch and plug to correspond to the reamer. Center the patch over the puncture and mark 1" beyond the edge of the patch with a crayon.
4. Clean the punctured area thoroughly with a pre-buff chemical cleaner. (do not use gasoline).
5. With the tire in a relaxed position and following the tool manufacturer's recommendation, use a proper hand reamer, carbide cutter, or drill bit to clean the injury.
6. Buff thoroughly to a flat, smooth velvet surface, per RMA. "Be careful not to gouge liner or expose casing liner. Remove buffing dust with a vacuum cleaner. Note: chemical cleaning is not a substitute for mechanical buffing."
7. Apply a cement recommended by the patch manufacturer according to the label directions. Cement must be allowed to dry thoroughly.
8. Lubricate the hole and taper of plug with cement. Insert the plug into the hole, pulling it firmly through so the patch seats to the buffed innerliner. Be sure the bead markings are in the correct position.
9. Stitch from the center out being careful not to trap any air.
10. Cut off the stem 1/16" above the outer surface.

WARNING: Failure to follow the above recommendations could result in
sudden tire failure, property damage, personal injury or death.

Repair of Speed Rated Tires
Tires that are speed rated may be repaired with the following procedures; however, these tires would no longer maintain their speed rating.

Determining if the Tire is Repairable - Limits

* Never repair a tire worn below 2/32"(.16cm)
* Never repair tires with tread punctures larger than 1/4"(.635cm)
* Never use an inner tube as a substitute for proper repair.
* All repairs must be made from the inside of the tire as well as outside.
* The maximum number of nail holes is limited to two per tire and these must be separated by at least 15"(38cm).
* No more than one cord per radial ply can be damaged.
* Section repairs are not allowed.

Inspection Procedure of a Service Professional

* Mark injury and remove the puncturing object.
* Before deflating, immerse the entire tire in water to determine if there is more than one hole.
* Remove tire from wheel.
* Inspect puncture with blunt awl to determine size and type of injury.
* Place the tire on a spreader and inspect thoroughly.

If any of the following conditions exists, the tire cannot be repaired:

* Holes larger than 1/4"(.635cm)
* Run flat damage
* Broken or deformed bead wires
* Ruptures of radial plies
* Deterioration of rubber
* Damage to the bead

Valves
New valve stem, core and cap are recommended for all new tubeless tires.

Lubricant
Tire beads and rim flanges should be treated with a recommended lubricant inside and out. Beads should be lubricated both during mounting and dismounting (in case you wish to remount the tire and also to protect the wheel from damage).


Do not, under any circumstances, use liquids such as oil, gasoline, spirits, or water."

 

I had a wood screw through a middle tread block on one of the Yoko Advans. The shop removed it from the rim and patch/plug repaired it. I now keep that tire on the back. The WR rating is gone, but it's still VR or so.

I got a tiny crack in the sidewall (shoulder) of the Nokian WR. That was the end of that tire.

If you have about a half inch to an inch of flat space around the puncture, you can probably get it patched. It will cost you a bit of the speed rating, but it will hold air.

Anything near the sidewall, forget it. If structural cords are damaged, forget it.

A concern is uneven wear. I don't like buying *one* tire, especially where there's a differential involved. (That's one down side to the AWD EVO -- lose one Nokian, and I wound up buying four Contis.)

If the damaged tire is fairly new, you can replace it readily with a new tire. If the set is nearing end-of-life, you might want to opt for a whole new set. If the set is in the middle of its life, you might look for an installer who can shave a new tire to match the wear on the others.

 

It was a truck tire on my Excursion, Cold inflation pressure is 65 lbs

I wouldn't dream of inflating a normal passenger car tire anything over 50 lbs and that's just to seat the bead.

 

I would patch it! Seriously.

 

Blame insurance companies. If I recall correctly, most shops won't plug because they agree not to as part of their insurance coverage.

There were a lot of miles on plugs before this started. All it takes is a couple crowd pleasing blowouts (probably due to underinflation in the first place) and it all comes to an end.

Now, instead of teaching people how to drive and take care of their cars shops won't plug tires, you are forced to pay for thousands of dollars worth of air bags, and you have laws for seat belts.

And, yet, the highways are clogged with people on cell phones driving like zombies.

(Sigh)
Seamus

 

I plugged a steel belted radial once, and it lasted years (drive 6000m/yr to work). Auto zone tire plugger. but racing may be different.
Joe

 

I have plugged tires for years. Never had one fail. I also would suggest that if you want to "go fast" get a new tire. The only time I get concerned on tire plugs is when the plug will be close to sidewall. In that case, get a new tire.

 

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS, BUT HERE'S MY STORY ANYWAY
My Jeep has 33" BF Goodrich radials-it's a low speed car for sure. Tore a 1" gash in the sidewall while offroad. Filled the hole with tire plugs, probably 6 of them. Filled it with air. It held air. Ran the tire til the tread wore out, another 20k or so. The tire wore out. The plugs held. Go figure.

 

Wow, a gash??? I wouldn't recommend repair on that either.

A hole made by a nail is repairable. If we repair these ourselves, we take responsibility for that repair. This is something some tire shops don't want to do, they would rather sell you a new tire. Oh, yeah, the tire isn't the same tread pattern or worn the same, so better get all four replaced.

 

I change my opinion...I see that you track the car...so replace the tire.

 

While this is true for a vehicle with dual tires on the rear where both tires are unlikely to go flat at the same time, this is not true when the vehicle is a car, SUV, or pickup.

A flat is much more controllable on a front tire because you have direct control through the steering wheel.

However, a flat on the rear can cause the vehicle to start fishtailing. All you can do is try to control the motion by counter steering. If you overreact, then you are going to lose control and possibly role your vehicle.

 

Dont repair a gash, but I have had plugs last longer then the tire they were on, they have never failed.