Emergency tire repair plug kit

okhmbldr wrote:

And installing a plug is much easier than removing the flat and installing the spare.

Unless you have roadside assistance. :)

I guess you could say I am a "USER"!
I've been using the tire plugs for over 30 years, and never had one fail. I was a homebuilder for 29 years, and construction sites were great places to pick up nails, etc. I had one Michelin tire that had 11 plugs before it wore out, and never a leak. I had a heavy duty trash trailer with 90 psi tires that received a few plugs, and never had a failure.
Is a repair from a tire dealer with a boot the best repair....probably yes. But, a tire dealer is not always handy for the repair. So don't discount the viability of the plug. If you ream out the hole properly and insert a good quality plug, I think you'll have a zero failure rate also.
And installing a plug is much easier than removing the flat and installing the spare.

ssia2485 wrote:
I would not recommend using a plug in a high pressure tire such as a motorhome or dually. I have tried this in the past and the damage done to the cords inside of the tire when you run the reamer through the puncture to enlarge the hole causes the tire to fail later down the road. .

They plug high pressure tires all the time. Too small of a hole and the pressure from the tire will cut the plug in half when it closes back up. . Could be why you had failures

You can find a Nealy kit in many truck stops. They are made specifically for high pressure truck tires. I carry the Nealy for the motor home tires and a different kit for the tow dolly and car tires.

If you try to use a car kit on a motorhome tire it probably won't work, the plugs are too small. Nealy plugs are 14" long vs the car plugs which are a couple of inches.

I was turned on to Nealy plugs by a truck stop tire shop.

Then get to a tire shop and have them put an inside patch it. High pressure tires I'd get it patched as soon as I could, lower pressure tires it's a toss up. Never had a plug fail on a lower pressure tire. Your options can be limited when you're in the middle of nowhere and no cell signal.

We carry a 22.5 spare with us, which most don't so I would only do it if I had no choice. Road side will change my tire and I can get the other one patched.

Now tip on carrying a spare, have you ever priced out a 22.5 tire on a Sunday in the middle of now where? Plus lots of motorhome tires are a specialty size, in the Savannah area there was a 1 week delivery delay. VERY often you're forced into taking a tire that is not the same exact size. That means you get to buy that tire twice. Once to get you back on the road and again when you find the right size. Our tire cost $600, on a Sunday in the middle of nowhere that is a $1000 tire. On advice and pleading of coach net (yes she actually pleaded with us) we carry the spare in the trunk of our tow vehicle.

ssia2485 wrote:
I would not recommend using a plug in a high pressure tire such as a motorhome or dually. I have tried this in the past and the damage done to the cords inside of the tire when you run the reamer through the puncture to enlarge the hole causes the tire to fail later down the road. This has happened to every high pressure tire that I have tried to plug. Now I go to the tire shop and have a patch installed inside of the tire. Never a failure with the patch.

Since 1984 I have not been without a vehicle that didn't require 80 psi in the rear tires. I am positive that I plugged tires on each of the vehicles and I never experienced any premature tire failures. I have always bought tires in sets of four for my vehicles and I have never needed to replace just one. I'd say that's a pretty good track record.

Bruce

I would not recommend using a plug in a high pressure tire such as a motorhome or dually. I have tried this in the past and the damage done to the cords inside of the tire when you run the reamer through the puncture to enlarge the hole causes the tire to fail later down the road. This has happened to every high pressure tire that I have tried to plug. Now I go to the tire shop and have a patch installed inside of the tire. Never a failure with the patch.

path1 wrote:
I have one sort of like it. I'm retired truck driver and when we got a flat coming into the yard I would practice on it before the tire guy would get there to the fix tire right. Maybe did about 3 dozen total. So here is my take on Truck tires, not RV or car, but might give some insight.

Sometimes getting out whatever caused the flat is the harder than putting in the plug. Sometimes I couldn't get the plug into the hole. I went and bought a file type thing that is made to make hole bigger so you could get plug in.

Ok, one day our Corp big wheel safety guy sees what I was doing and read me the riot act. Told him I was just practicing on his stuff for my own stuff. He verified that tire guy was called and I wasn't fixing his equipment. He explained basically that he thinks they should be "outlawed". His reasoning was...Can't see inside damage, high failure rate etc. His biggest complaint was that people after plugging a tire don't get it fixed the right way and keep using the plugged tire, which is not the best idea I guess.

So after becoming familiar with them, I put my handy kit behind the seat of pick up with the intension of using it for "just in case" repair. Just to get to the next place to get tire repaired right.

Years later maybe 8, that day finally came. Flat on RV trailer, left rear. Got out the kit and to my surprise all the glue and the plugs were dried out from sitting behind the seat. Sort of popped my bubble. Looked up Les Schwab and one was 8 miles away. I drove down there going about 35 on side streets and they fixed it for free.

The cord type won't dry out, I have some, I have had for 20 years still just as tacky as new.

Have used in car and pickup tires, and would use in MH tire if a small hole, always carry a plug kit, in MH.

I have used this kit for years with good success

http://www.aerostich.com/stop-and-go-pocket-plugger-tubeless-tire-repair-kit.html

I have kept a tire plug kit with me on every vehicle I have owned since I was 16 years old and learned how to plug tires while working at a Goodyear tire shop. Almost forty years later, I still plug tires and have never had a problem. I can't count how many tires I have plugged for friends and total strangers.

As was mentioned earlier, sometimes the hardest part of the job is extracting whatever is in the tire, but if you have a screwdriver, side cutters and Channellocks, you should have all you need for extraction. This is the kit I am using right now. It is made by ARB and it is heavy-duty -- it will not bend while doing its job like the one "The Wynns" show. Don't cheap-out on this tool.

Bruce

I've found they work fairly well in the tread, not so well in the sidewalls. I currently have one tire on my SUV that's been plugged twice and still has a small leak so I put some tire sealer inside it to finally get it fixed. I only carry a kit in my ATV (no spare tire) as the higher the pressure the less they seem to work... even damaging the tire.
On higher pressure tires (more expensive) I've found a patch on the inside is a safer bet. Often a plug will seal the rubber tread, not the tread belt and air gets between the two and separates the tread from the casing ruining the tire.