Alternate or upscale tire plugs?

[fsae0607]

having repaired a few thousand tires, (and condemned a bunch as unrepairable), the really big problem with reairing a tire with a plug is you don't get to inspect the inside of the tire. I have seen lots of tires with what should have been very repairable injuries, that a plug would have worked for, but which had been driven flat or low long enough that the inner liner was coming apart from the heat. That's a blow out waiting to happen, and the way to find it is to dismount the tire.

100% agreed.

In my tire shop days, I used to be able to smell a tire and know right away if it was ran flat. They develop a sweet, burnt-rubber smell that's unmistakable. Upon dismounting, sure enough: shreds of inner liner!

 

[churchofdirt]

I've plugged **** tons of holes with generic plugs , slime plugs, western weld plugs ect. I don't bother with the reemer anymore I use a drill bit. I feel like the glue does work in situations where the hole is big and requires 2 plugs. I've ran them in side walls of my tires for hundreds of miles till the tires were bald on a few occasions and not going slow by any means. I still have 1 in the side wall of my Cummins and I tow 20k+, Tire plugs are pretty damn reliable if they're done right. I've seen a number of people quickly yank the plug applicator out after pushing the plug in the tire, I always pull the tool out slowly and carefully so the plug doesn't pull back out. No pun lol..... My 2 cents

 

[seber]

The stick in plug will get you back on the road if you are lucky. Day one with my new Miata I picked up a screwdriver bit in a rear tire. Put one of those plugs in it. (Miatas do not have a spare tire.) I got about half a mile before it blew back out. Those things are hit or miss. Bigger holes are pretty much the miss part. The only ones I trust are patch and fill from the inside. I use plenty of goop on the stem with them. Never had that system fail even on sidewalls. I know, never patch a sidewall BS.

 

[acer66]

I've carried and used them all. I've had punctures that a Stop-n-go couldn't seal and
I don't carry one anymore. I've never had a puncture that one or more gummy worms couldn't seal. My favorite gummy worms are from The Nealey Company. I got a wide shale cut in my rear tire on the Dempster Highway in Canada and I made it out with six Nealey gummy worms crammed into a wide slash. I had to stop twice to air it up again. On the Dempster a tow truck is tomorrow and $1,000.

Might have to get me some since they are heavily plugged over at advrider too.