Plugged tire

[87accordlxi]

I seem to be having bad luck with my tires lately. First a blowout on my right rear tire, and now a nail in my right front. I had to buy a new tire for the rear, but I just got the front one plugged. The owner of the gas station near me pulled out the nail and plugged the hole with some sticky rubber stuff.

I guess my question seems to be is this stuff gonna hold permanently? So far I haven't lost any air, but I hope the rubber plug doesn't wear down and expose the hole again. Do I need to buy a can of Fix-a-Flat? I know it's good to have handy, but if I don't need to worry about this plug failing, then I won't bother.

[markmdz89hatch]

Well Joe, it really depends on where in the tire the nail was. Most of the time, a plugged tire (if it's done correctly) will work fine, and you won't notice a difference.

So, in light of that, where on the tire was the nail? Did it completely puncture through the tire? And also what size tire is it?

Lower profile tires that require a higher air pressure are less 'pluggable' then others.

Is the tire they plugged a Z rated, or performance tire, and all-season, or a winter tire.

[87accordlxi]

The nail went right through the tire on the raised part of the tread. I just have stock 13" all-season Uniroyals, P185/70R13

[danronian]

The plug shouldnt me susceptible to wearing down b/c you are supposed to cut the plug down flat against the tire so that it only wears down when the tread on the tire is worn down. If the plug is sticking out beyond the tread just get some snips and trim it flat. They actually sell kits to plug tires yourself at walmart for $5. My dad used the kit on his explorers huge tires when he got a bolt stuck in it and the first time he tried it the plug held fine (just a suggestion for next time). Once our family had a truck that had one plug in every tire, none of them ever leaked either, and those tires were worn bald.

[Vinny]

I'd think you'll be fine Joe, personally I'm not a big fix a flat person. So did he actually take the tire off the rim and put a patch where the hole was or what, kinda lost there. Anyways if you should be fine. I'd say keep an eye on it for a week and if you haven't lost any air by then you aren't going to

[DBMaster]

You should be fine. I have the stuff at home to plug them myself. You can get a decent kit at Wal Mart for under $10 and then all you have to do is buy replacement plugs when you use them up. I never go on a road trip without them!

I have 60 series H rated tires and have never had a plug fail on me yet. Of course, you can only plug holes in the tread area. The edge or sidewall area is a no-no because there is too much flexing and the steel belts may cut through the plug.

The "plug" is actually a polyester fiber material coated with self-vulcanizing rubber. Once it is in the heat built up from friction sets the rubber.

[87accordlxi]

Originally posted by Vinny
So did he actually take the tire off the rim and put a patch where the hole was or what, kinda lost there.

I just turned the wheel so that the hole was out from under the fenderwell. I didn't have to take the wheel off.

A little bit of the rubber plug is sticking out, but I guess I can just trim some of it away.

[markmdz89hatch]

Originally posted by DBMaster
You should be fine. I have the stuff at home to plug them myself. You can get a decent kit at Wal Mart for under $10 and then all you have to do is buy replacement plugs when you use them up. I never go on a road trip without them!

I have 60 series H rated tires and have never had a plug fail on me yet. Of course, you can only plug holes in the tread area. The edge or sidewall area is a no-no because there is too much flexing and the steel belts may cut through the plug.

The "plug" is actually a polyester fiber material coated with self-vulcanizing rubber. Once it is in the heat built up from friction sets the rubber.

That's why I asked about where the plug was. You should be fine. As db said though, if the nail touched the sidewall of the tire, then it should be replaced.

I actually had some punk at TownFairTire refuse to replace my Toyo FZ-4 when it caught a screw in it's sidewall. He plugged it and said that it worked so he would not replace it. I drove right up to the TownFair at the next town over, showed them the tire and within seconds there was someone out there replacing it. Needless to say that punk is no longer employed at TFT as he was seen as too much of a liability then asset.

[DBMaster]

A little bit of the rubber plug is sticking out, but I guess I can just trim some of it away.

I usually cut off the excess with a pair of wire cutters, but it won't make much difference. Driving on the tire will wear off the excess quickly enough.

[Cyric_accord]

Tires plugs are supposed to last the life of the tire, so you should be ok. I had a hole in my front one on the last set of tires, plugged it myself and never lost a single pound of pressure over the 2 years I had that set.

[k-roy]

You sound like you have my luck. A month ago I had 2 puncutures in a week. I plugged them myself with an $8 kit and they have both held air fine. I rotated the tires with the plugs to the rear of the car in case one fails. A front tire blowout really really sucks. It happened to me once. Fix a flat is for lamers.

Hey Joe you are in Columbus so imagine this one. I was on I-70 westbound downtown and had a left front tire completly blowout in a 96 Dodge Ram. I handled it well with a cool head and smooth even breaking.I managed to stop about two feet before where the center divider begings between the I-70 west and the 71 South/315 North Exit. My Girlfriend had a priceless look on her face like we were going to die or something. The shitty part is I found out that the truck did not have a spare tire since it was purchased used. It took AAA an hour to show up. Probably 50 cops passed by and none of them stopped. I am so lucky I had a cell phone or I would have been stuck for hours. For those not from the area Columbus had the bright Idea to make two major Interstate Highways combine for a mile in a half right in the middle of downtown, making it have over 200,000 cars and semi's pass through it daily.

[87accordlxi]

Originally posted by kroy

Hey Joe you are in Columbus so imagine this one. I was on I-70 westbound downtown and had a left front tire completly blowout in a 96 Dodge Ram. I handled it well with a cool head and smooth even breaking.I managed to stop about two feet before where the center divider begings between the I-70 west and the 71 South/315 North Exit. My Girlfriend had a priceless look on her face like we were going to die or something. The shitty part is I found out that the truck did not have a spare tire since it was purchased used. It took AAA an hour to show up. Probably 50 cops passed by and none of them stopped. I am so lucky I had a cell phone or I would have been stuck for hours. For those not from the area Columbus had the bright Idea to make two major Interstate Highways combine for a mile in a half right in the middle of downtown, making it have over 200,000 cars and semi's pass through it daily.

God, the worst possible place to have a flat! The I-70/71 junction is the most unsafe stretch of road in Ohio, but it has gotten better lately. They put up more signs for the 71 splits and redrew the lanes, so there aren't as many cars switching lanes. Plus, 670 is open all the way through the city now , so that eased alot of the congestion. Now I don't even have to go on 70/71 if I want to go south of the city.

Anyways, I looked at the plug and the excess has been flattened to the point where I'm not going to even bother trimming it.