Nail in trailer tire

[Herk7769]

Bobby,
Thank you.

I always "knew" plugging was a "bad idea"; now I know why!

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by herk7769

Bobby,
Thank you.

I always "knew" plugging was a "bad idea"; now I know why!

Lou, it can have its place. On low air pressure applications, like atv's, lawn mowers, etc.......I wouldn't worry about a plugged tire in the least. You also aren't likely to get hurt from a tire failure on these either.........as long as the air pressure is low.

All of this talk reminded me of a funny customer story. We had this woman come in and tell us that the plug we put in her tire was coming out.

We told her that we don't even carry a plug and that couldn't be. We patch our tires from the inside.

She argued with me for awhile, and wouldn't believe me. Basically called me a stupid liar. I eventually went out to her car to see what she was talking about.

She had run over about a four inch long piece of black electrical tape, and half of it was stuck to her tire and half was flapping in the breeze.

I reached down and pulled it off, and asked her if that piece of tape was her problem. She got in her car and left.

You know, she didn't even apologize to me

[Herk7769]

Funny story.

[kanati]

Thanks everyone for the info.
The whole plugging is bad info was new to me.

I am going to mount the spare
It is less than a year old.
I will plug the bad tire just to keep Murphy at bay.
My drive home is about 50 mi.
The tire shop is only a mile from the house

I will buy four new tires and put the spare back on the rack.

I like the ramp idea for changing the tire.

Now I just hope the tornados didn't hit the camper out at the farm. It was a close one at my house there were houses damaged within a mile and semis flipped.

Thanks again.

[prof_fate]

[QUOTE=herk7769;93987


As you can see plugs; regardless of type are not recommended.[/QUOTE]

Umm...who you gonna believe? Teh tire companies? Are they being safe or trying to sell more tires? The plug folks I tend to trust a bit more as their risk is nearly as great and they have less money to make off lying to you.

Plugs dont' leak if installed properly, and of them. Even in teh side wall. The issue is most plugs are auto-style - meaning the go in from the outside and are held in mechanically by the tire cords/plys. The have none on sidewalls plus you get more flex there.
If you have tires that are not belted/radial type tires - which are common on tractors, atvs, motorcycles then you need the kind of plug you insert from inside the tire - so it has to come off the rim. It has a large flat area that is glued inside the tire so that it stays put, and the the plug part goes in the hole and is cut off where it sitcks beyond the tread.

Will they stay in? They're good to go in 150mph motorcycle tires - I've installed many of them and never had an issue. I've used normal car plugs in the sidewall (just beyond the tread patch, not up in the letter area) on 3 or 4 of my own cars over the year and never had a leak or blowout or other issue.

If you want to skip the plugging bit all together try some Slime SLIME - Worldwide Leader in Tire Care - Repairing a flat tire? Slime Tire & Tube Sealant

[MtnGuy]

Chris, I have been on several forums with wmtire, and he gives straight up answers. He should know.....he is in the tire business.

As far as plugs on a radial tire: My DD and SILs had a tire go down in their driveway. My SIL took it to a garage, they found a hole, and plugged it. About 300 miles later while we were in western NC, that same tire went flat again. By the time the campers in back of him could radio him via CB, and find a place to pull over, that tire was shredded.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by prof_fate

If you have tires that are not belted/radial type tires - which are common on tractors, atvs, motorcycles then you need the kind of plug you insert from inside the tire - so it has to come off the rim. It has a large flat area that is glued inside the tire so that it stays put, and the the plug part goes in the hole and is cut off where it sitcks beyond the tread.

What you are describing is a patch insert (which is what we use)..........not a plug. Is this a pic of it below (or extremely similar)? Some refer to it as a plug/patch combo which may be confusing the terminology

[prof_fate]

Yep, something like these.

I've got about 18 years as a mechanic, sales, service, service manager at a couple of car dealerships, powersports dealers, wholesale tire sales, and started at ye old fashioned corner full serve gas station where I first learned to plug tires with the 'quickie plugs' talked about here.

Tires lose are for all sorts of causes - rust rims, nails or thorns, defects, valve stems (very common) and just from air molecules being to small (hence the advantages of nitrofil).

Tire guages may not be accurate - get 3 and check them against eachother or better yet get a good one and have it calibrated (yes, it can be done). Tire pressure is not a 'X psi' thing. The tire manufacturers list a max pressure based on load rating, the car companies ( and I'd guess the trailer manufacturers as well) list one too - for best ride and handling. Mercedes and some others will tell you to add 3 to 5 psi to your tires for sustiained highway driving as the air helps cool the tire - the above referecend tire shredding incident was likely from inderinflation causing excess flexing which resulted in overheating and tire failure.

Was the repair at fault? I don't know. Was the tire tanked to check for other leaks? (put under water and you watch for bubbles). You can pick up more than one nail and not all repairs are good. Perhaps the guy that reinflated the tire had a bad guage or used the wrong pressure. Or perhaps the tire was damaged already or ran over something else in the road. None of us can say.

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by prof_fate

Yep, something like these.

Well, then you are doing it the RMA way already. Good deal.

Talking about liability and such, even the plug manufacturers cover their self. Check out the link below from Blackjack on their plug product page. They state that RMA guidelines require that you remove the tire from the rim and patch the tire from the inside.

BlackJack Tire Repair | 4" Large Diameter Chemical Cure "Blue wrapped"

And this is from the Camel site:

CAUTION: Puncture repairs made “on-the-wheel” are classified as an emergency repair. If an emergency repair is made, the tire must not be run more than 100 miles at speeds no greater than 50 MPH until tire is removed from the rim, inspected carefully, and a permanent repair is made.

So in reality, even the plug people are saying it's temporary at best, when using their products.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by prof_fate

Umm...who you gonna believe? Teh tire companies? Are they being safe or trying to sell more tires? The plug folks I tend to trust a bit more as their risk is nearly as great and they have less money to make off lying to you.

If you want to skip the plugging bit all together try some Slime SLIME - Worldwide Leader in Tire Care - Repairing a flat tire? Slime Tire & Tube Sealant

These were the plugs that I was refering to. Slime Deluxe Pistol Grip Tire Plug Kit | Tire Repair + Sealant | Northern Tool + Equipment

The internal patch/plug was what I was refering to as a "tire shop" off rim repair.

Tried that slime stuff on my wheel barrow. Ruined the wheel barrow tire. Plugged up the schrader valve and it still loses air.

[prof_fate]

Yeah, it can do that to valves for sure. One side of my property is all blackberry bushes and locust tree -thorn city (technically it's the neibors property so I can't do clean it out) and my tractor has slime in all 4 wheels as does my garden trailer. It's been the only way to keep the air in there.

The key is to put in the slime, add air and spin the tire for a few minutes to distribute the slime to the inner tread surface. Still no guarantee you won't get it on the valve but it does reduce it a lot. Oh, and don't put too much in!