Flat tire emergency kit, are they useful as a permanent solution?

Discussion in 'Ask An Owner Operator' started by AlexanderK, Dec 29, 2018.

  1. Intothesunset

    Intothesunset Road Train Member

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    Is it illegal to plug on tire shoulder? I keep getting tire shops like loves say this.
     
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  3. GreenPete359

    GreenPete359 Road Train Member

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    I don’t think it’s illegal, but it won’t hold. No tire shop will plug or patch a tire with a hole on the shoulder or sidewall. Not even on a passenger car tire.

    Edit:
    I know this thread is old, but still relevant.

    With a super single (wide base tire). A plug will get you down the road, but get that tire properly patched ASAP!!! If that plug blows out, your tire will rapidly deflate & now you buy a tire & a rim. Don’t risk it, just fix it!
     
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  4. Rideandrepair

    Rideandrepair Road Train Member

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    I like what they call a plug/ patch. Those give you the best of both advantages. The plug part, rubber coated thin wire, keeps belts in place and water out, best repair.We used to do a plug, and a patch, for large, holes on cars, now they’re all in one, also used to put a radial tube, after patching near sidewall, on cars, to keep patch in place. Not common these days.Most Truckstop’s use them now. The plug kits are useless as a do it yourself, without a good reamer, and preferably a small drill,otherwise plugs just too hard to get it through tire, unless it’s a good straight clean puncture.
     
  5. Intothesunset

    Intothesunset Road Train Member

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    I'm never ever going to run super singles.
    For that reason. I just tried plugging a leak on inside of shoulder. It's not dealing. I think I may have used two big a drill to clean it. I used 7/64 I think. Just under 1/4 bit. I used 2 plugs but only car plugs from Walmart. If no shop will patch it I guess I will run it until it blows. Than boss will need to buy a tire.
    The hole was a sideways hole int the tread.
     
  6. uncleal13

    uncleal13 Road Train Member

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    I had a grader tooth go through the sidewall of a drive tire. found it about 7:00 at night on a Sunday in Northern Ontario.
    A service call would have been outrageously expensive being an 1-1/2 hrs to the closest large town.
    I put in one of those plugs. Got me all the way to Toronto Monday morning. As I was maneuvering in the parking lot to back into the dock the plug let go. But a tire shop was only down the street. So it saved me several hundred dollars.
     
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  7. snowwy

    snowwy Road Train Member

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    You don't want a good reamer. I bought a kit from autozone for a flat tire on my car. It made the hole easy to plug. Unfortunately, it was tooooooo easy. Needless to say. My car tire isn't holding air.

    15k on the car and tires. I needed an excuse to buy new tires before the snow flies. Now I got it. LOL
    The tire got ridden on since I was very close to home. So it's not worth trying to patch it.
     
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  8. starmac

    starmac Road Train Member

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    If you have the safety seal kit or equivilent for truck and heavy equipment tires,yes they are a permanent fix.
     
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  9. kemosabi49

    kemosabi49 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    In the past, I have coated a big screw with silicone and screwed it into the hole in the tire. Would get me to a shop and one time made it 600+ miles back to the yard without losing any air.
     
  10. starmac

    starmac Road Train Member

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    I have put the same one back in and done the same, and even paid for it to be fixed by an arky tire service truck. lol
    Long story.
     
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  11. x1Heavy

    x1Heavy Road Train Member

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    Replace tire as a pernament solution. Patch old tire, put into spares pile.
     
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