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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / Driving / January 2007Tire patch vs plug
My sister says she had her radial tire patched. Can you do that? Is that better than having them plugged? She said there was a nail in the tire tread that had not made it go flat yet. > My sister says she had her radial tire patched. Can you do that? Is > that better than having them plugged? > > She said there was a nail in the tire tread that had not made it go > flat yet. A nail would be repaired with a plug. However, many people would refer to it as a patch. -Dave >> My sister says she had her radial tire patched. Can you do that? >> Is [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > A nail would be repaired with a plug. However, many people would > refer to it as a patch. -Dave It depends on what you mean by a patch and a plug. I've had many tires "plugged" from the outside with a sort of rope like substance coated in adhesive. This is fast and simple and NOT recommended by any tire company. All the tire companies recommend that the tires be dismounted and repaired from the inside. The places that do this usually use a mushroom looking patch/plug. It has a large head with a flat underside and a plug that fills the hole. The underside of the head and the plug is smeared with adhesive. The plug is pulled through the hole and the head is flattened against the inside of the tire. Whether you want to call it plugging the tire or patching the tire is up to you. It seems like years ago there was a method that used a gun and a spear pointed plug. You pushed the gun into the tire from the outside and withdrew it leaving the plug behind. I have not seen one of these in years. Do they still exist? I've also seen the mushroom patch / plugs that have a metal "plug" I wonder if these are better? Michelini says the following about "plugging" a tire: "The proper way to have a tire repaired is to patch the tire from the inside. If you are offered a plug repair--refuse! Plug repairs do not involve taking the tire off the wheel for a proper inspection. A plug is simply inserted into the punctured area. Plug repairs are not reliable and can cause the tire to blowout. Insist on a full inspection and patch repair on the inside of the tire." Goodyear says the following: "Tire repairs should be made by a trained tire professional. Proper repair procedure includes dismounting the tire from the wheel. This allows for thorough inspection of the tire for damage, as well as the use of a patch and plug to repair any punctures that fall within the guidelines for repair." Tire Rack has a good long article at http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=77 . Ed > My sister says she had her radial tire patched. Can you do that? Yes. It depends where the hole is of course. It needs to be in the tread area to work. > Is that better than having them plugged? Plugs are for bigger holes and are likely to be more problematical. Graham > My sister says she had her radial tire patched. Can you do that? Is > that better than having them plugged? The best (aside from replacement) is both patching and plugging the puncture: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=77 Oh, and avoid products like Fix-A-Flat like they're the plague. :) -- ~/Garth |"I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. Almgren | I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. ******* | And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant." --H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) > My sister says she had her radial tire patched. Can you do that? Is > that better than having them plugged? Either will work if done right. A patch will fully cover a hole, but a plug fills it, and both require letting the adhesive fully work before driving on the tire. I'm not sure how long it has been since a tire repair shop has used a patch for my tires, but I have not had problems with plugs. Hint: is the spare is full size and has good tread, let the plugged tire become the spare after the repair. > She said there was a nail in the tire tread that had not made it go > flat yet. Nail punctures tend to behave like that, as the head would cover the hole in that case. She's fortunate that the nail did not fall out of the tire while in traffic, as I encountered last July on I-94 in Montana, in the left lane, at 75 mph. I was amazed that I had a smooth stop in my Jeep going to the right shoulder for the tire change. Sidewall punctures, on the other hand, would definitely require replacement. |
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