Hey Guys,

I was thinking about picking up a tire repair kit... you know the Plugs you can use to fix nail/screw damaged tread. Do you guys have a recs on kits or experiences?

I was going to get a $5 plug kit; but then i read about mushroom plugs, are they better then the standard plugs? How about those fix a flat cans?

I was going to add a kit to my car (cause recently my gf had a flat, replaced with the donut, which ran flat)... so what do you guys recommend?

thanks!

 

inflate a tire. it's a can u can buy w/ a clear hose nozzle on the top. It's good for a while, not a permanent fix tho. Just enough 2 get u off the road.

 

yeah i was thinking about putting cans of fixaflat in her car and mine. Which plug type do you think is better as the long term solution? regular plug or those new mushroom plugs?

 

I have always used plugs for permanent repairs, with permanent results.
But the package says its only for temporary repair!

So if the hole is small go ahead, the mushroom plugs are good too.

 

i got a screw #10 screw in my tire about 2 weeks after i got it...had it for almost 3 months now. fixed it with plain plug...works great. drive my car pretty hard sometimes(lotta the time) still no problems.

 

Wrong guys.....the push plug kits you can buy are only for temporary fix. Fix a flat is temporary also. You need to have the tire professionally fixed. Those plugs are nylon and will absorb water causing the belts to rust. If you take it and have it repaired correctly the facility should fill the hole with a rubber fill plug and then patch it from the inside. If you go to your local Discount / America's tire they will repair it correctly for free.

 

thats for letting me know. ill have to get on that...about how long til i should be worried? any way to check it?

 

They can inspect the plug to see if it's absorbed too much water.....

 

JMHO

I carry the Fix-A-Flat cans in all our cars to get the car home. In 40 years of driving I only had two tire "incidents" where I had to mount the spare on the side of a road.


The Plug kits seem to work for a long time...not forever, though. Eventually they will leak again but they can be re-plugged. Never had any problem from rusty steel belts.

Have not used the mushroom plugs, can't comment.

I have had mixed results with the "professional" type repairs noted below by "User Name". Often they seem to leak, might have something to do with the skill of the installer at the tire store. IMO not worth the cost or the risk of damage to your rims during the tire mount/dismount.



PS FWIW Our Acura has the original tires from 1998 on it, several of them have been patched over the years. They are hard as rocks, but still rolling...

 

if you have tpms sensors fixaflat will kill them. ive seen many come through my shop, none are warranty .. a self vulcanizing plug kit is adequate, though. we use those in our shop and they work pretty well

 

Those plugs are not RMA approved.......I'm just trying to help.

 

uh oh... haha

 

When I was a teen I used to work at a tire place. From what I remember(someone else may dispute) fixaflat was a no no. That crap stays in the tire and makes a flat repair impossible. It's a chemical and makes patching or plugging difficult. As for plugging, we would reem the hole (no laughing here) to remove burrs and such. Then apply rubber cement to plug, insert with tool, twist and pull, then razor off excess. This was adequate. I believe the heat from tire would then bond it at some point. As for patches you can patch but not too close to sidewall.
Lastly, in case some don't know, make sure they balance again since it did add weight to it. And when you get your tires balanced make sure they don't tack weights all over the rim, that means they didn't counter balance it or zero it out. They should move the first weight forward or backward on rim to zero out not add more weight to it.

 

I concur.....I'm a manager for Discount Tire Co. if that helps

 

Like Frog Daddy and User Name, I also worked for a tire shop as a teenager, but I don't think that the aerosol cans of "Fix-A-Flat" even existed then. I have carried these cans in all my cars hoping to never need to use them (and I never have used one yet). I consider them an "Emergency" item only. As the previous posters said, this stuff coats the entire surface of the inside of a tire. If you are lucky, it will temporarily stop the leak from a (small) nail hole, but a permanent patch on the inside of the tire later on will be either difficult or impossible.

In my trucks and SUV's, I carried a tire plug kit AND a battery-powered compressor. With my Fit, I don't want to waste the space carrying a compressor, so don't carry a plug kit either since you need an air souirce to use them. I do still carry a Fix-A-Flat can for an emergency, but intend to rely on my spare to get me to a tire shop for an inside patch repair of a nail hole.

 

Check this out Welcome to Dynaplug®.com! Home of the World's best Tire Repair Tool!

 

Evidentally it isn't that great of a repair tool.....They leave the determination if it is repairable to people that can't even check the air on their tires regularly......


"Where more than one plug is used, the additional plugs are even easier to insert because the first plug lubricates the hole"

"Inspect puncture to determine if it is repairable"

 

If you read the paragraph it came from it makes perfect sense to me. "Inspect puncture to determine if it is repairable. 97% of on the road punctures are round or oval and made by objects less than 3/16" diameter. These normally cause little or no cord damage and the holes are completely repairable. Holes caused by large blunt objects are large and ragged and usually have many broken cords. Tires with these large holes with exposed cord should allways be removed and inspected on the inside to help determine the extent of the damage". You can get a full explanation here. Tire Repair Guide

 

I understand because I'm a trained professional. Would you know what to look for to know if it's damaged or not? That's what I'm saying, the general public would have no clue what is or is not repairable. It's not just the size of the puncture.......

 

***don't Ever Put That "gunk" Stuff That Lines The Inside Of The Tire*****

The chemicals in there actually end up eating the liner and then the tire is no good. I'd recommend buying a compressor that can be plugged into your cig. lighter, or just keep your spare tire. That's why it's there.

PS: I'm an automotive mechanic.