VEHICLES, CAMPERS, and BOATS > Tires, Wheels, and Suspension

Tire repair

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moto123:
Over the weekend I went to visit my sister-in-law's new house that is in construction.  They found a nice piece of land and a great spot for a house but ended up with about 1/4 mile long gravel driveway.  We visited with them and toured the house for about an hour and left for home.  About 5 minutes after I got back on the highway my tire pressure alarm went off indicating an issue with the left rear tire.  My dash indicated it still had 50 psi, and since the truck was lightly loaded with the family and 300 lbs of cargo, I knew 50 PSI wouldn't be a big deal.  I drove a little further until I could find a safe spot to check it out.  What I found in the tire really surprised me.  Since the leak was slow, I finished my 20 minute drive home while watching the pressure.  It only dropped another 2 psi.  But by the time I parked in the garage I could start to hear the hissing.





It took a ton of effort to pry it out, but here is what I ended up with.  It's not even sharp.  I can't believe my bad luck.  I must have hit it just perfect to force a blunt object through a 10 ply tire.  It's made of cast iron or steel, not sure what it is for.







So I cleaned up the hole a little bit with the reaming tool that comes with the tire patch kit and plugged it.  I used a decent amount of the clear cement glue as well.  I let it sit overnight and filled it back up with air in the morning.  It has now been a day and a half.  I have driven about 30 miles on it and it hasn't lost any measurable amount of pressure.  But it still makes me really nervous to do this on a road vehicle.  I have successfully done this before on tractors, atv's and other off road things.  But never on something that operates over 20 PSI and never on something for the highway.  So I am way beyond my previous experience with this running 60 PSI and carrying heavy loads at high speed.  What are your thoughts?  Should I look at replacing the tire, or is that overkill?

Bear9350:
If it makes you uncomfortable you can always get it patched from the inside.  That is the best repair.  How much more life do the current tires have?  If a lot I would probably have the tire removed and get it patched from the inside.  If you planned on new tires soon anyway I would leave it until you need new rubber. 

Sammconn:
Let 'er buck!
As long as it's not leaking you're good to go.
I use them all the time, when I need them, and I've used up to four to fill a hole once.
I once punched a piece of rock nearly the size of a golf ball through.
That one I did get a proper repair done on after.

Yes you hit it perfectly.
If one plug is sealed well, I'd say run it, but if it makes you feel better you can get a proper boot/plug repair done. I have one in one of my tires right now, been there for 8-10k.

So long story short its up to you.

stlaser:
You'll be ok, if it goes it will start with a slow leak. At that point stop by a tire shop & have them do an internal patch. Speaking of multiple plugs a retired friend of mine from SE KY used to run bald bloggers of 35" variety on his EB crawler. One tire I swear had 5 separate plugs with one hole having 5-7 plugs shoved in same puncture. It did have a slow leak but what would you expect?

moto123:
I didn't think about an internal patch option.  That's a good idea.  I kind of figured it would start leaking slowly and annoy me before anything catastrophic.  But it is good know some of you agree.  These tires have about 4,000 miles on them so far.  So I really didn't want to have to buy a new one right away.

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