To Plug Or Not To Plug

I prefer the combo patch/plug which requires the tire to be dismounted. I would not drive on a tire repaired in a different way.

 

Hi John,

I understand that the current repair practice is to dismount the tire, apply a patch from the inside, and also insert a plug into the hole.

 

Actually, the current technology is a plug and patch that is one piece. It looks like a thumbtack with a large diameter head.

 

I once went to a professional tire shop, in Florida, and asked them to plug a tire. (I didn't feel like messing with it.) He told me that it is against the law for a tire shop to plug a tire but that it was OK for a gas station. He pointed to a station a half a block away and said they will do it for $5.00. So I drove down there and got it plugged. The tire shop would have had to remove the tire and fix it from the inside. I think it is a dumb law. Plugging is safe or it isn't.

I'f never had or heard of a plug failing. Anyone else?

Bob

 

I've been plugging tires for years without any failures. One or two didn't seal due to the shape of the puncture, so those got new tires. I don't ever mess with patches. Just don't plug any punctures close to the edges of the tread.

 

I've always kept a plug kit (which contains the weird looking screwdriver thingy, some black goopy strings, some round patches, glue and valve stems) [described like this for people seeing the kit for the first time] in my car since the 70's. I've used it a couple times right on the side of the road and continued driving with the tires till the tread was nearing death.

If done properly (and that isn't hard) it lasts as long as the tire.

Last time I fixed a tire this way was 8 months ago, when my wife pulled out of the garage and I heard some ticking sound which I understood to be a tire problem. I found a large screw in the tread, prepared the kit, removed the screw, as the air let out, I plugged that sucker good and then cut off the tail. She sat there with engine running while I did the job, I added more air from my nearby compressor hose and sent her on her way.
It never did leak, ever again.

As mentioned if it's a sidewall puncture, then call a tow truck or change to your spare. The kit is not meant for sidewall punctures.

ZC1