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Modern vehicle tires are tough, standing up well to rough terrain and thousands of miles of driving. Trouble is, tires are not invincible. Every so often car tires spring leaks. Air can start leaking from anywhere on a tire, and the location of the leak determines whether or not you can fix it yourself. And if you can't fix it yourself, the location of the leak will also tell you if you need a professional repair or a new tire.
Whether or not your tire is tubed or tubeless affects things, too, because only tubeless tires can be repaired using the technique of plugging that we'll show you here. The good news is that modern vehicles always have tubeless tires, and this means that repairing with a rubber plug is often an option.
Plugging a tubeless tire is only a possibility when your puncture is in the tread area. If the air leak is where the sidewall of the tire meets the rim — this is called a "bead leak" — you'll need to visit a mechanic with a tire machine to dismount the tire from the rim and remount it with sealing liquid applied to the bead. If your sidewall has been punctured, you need a new tire, because damage there can lead to a blowout at highway speeds, even after repair.
Learn exactly how to plug a tire so next time you spring a leak between your treads, you'll be able to get up and running again in record time.
Total time completing the repair is about 15 minutes. Doing the work yourself will save you about $20 and the time spent driving to the garage and waiting.
Steve Maxwell for Family Handyman
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Do It Right, Do It Yourself!
Originally Published: August 27, 2020
Plugging a tire is so simple and anyone can do it. You don’t have to even remove your tire to plug it.
To clarify, you can fix your tire while it’s still on your car.
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In addition, you don’t even have to deflate your tire to repair it. Above all, using a professional tire repair kit makes learning how to plug a tire an effortless process.
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There are a few factors to consider before determine if you can go on plugging a tire. The following should be considered:
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The size of the puncture, the extent of the damage, and the tread of your tire. The size of the hole must be no larger than 0.25 inches and must be located on the tread of your tire.
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If the puncture is on the shoulder or sidewall, then you will need to replace the tire.
List of all Tools Needed
Please Note: Numerous tires can look fine on the outside, but have started to crumble on the inside. This is usually due to a tire running low on air.
Fix what’s wrong now, before it gets out of hand.
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This would get mighty expensive if it weren’t for the ability to patch a tire yourself. Don’t waste time and money bringing your tire to a shop, when you can do the job yourself faster and cheaper!
If you are trying to learn how to patch your tire step by step, then look no further. Here at God’s Wrench, we provide you with the knowledge you need for the job.
Time needed: 10 minutes.
Plugging a tire step by step
Check your tires PSI with an air pressure gauge. However, if one tire is significantly lower than the rest, this is most likely your leaky tire.
Fill your low tire up with air to the correct tire PSI.
Spray your whole tire with soapy water and look for bubbles. However, spraying your tire will require a spray bottle and dish soap.
Once the object is located, pull it out with pliers.
If the hole in your tire is to big for a plug it can not be fixed. Secondly, if the hole is on or too close to the sidewall of your tire, it can not be repaired. In addition, if your tire is too old, worn out, or there is too many plugs in the tire, fixing the tire is not an option.
Once you have found the leak in your tire, use your reamer tool to widen the hole.
Slide the tire plug evenly through the eye of your plug tool. Secondly, push the plug through the hole in the tire until it’s at least half way through the tire. After that, pull your tire plug tool out fast and with force.
Inflate your car tires to the correct tire PSI.
Spray the tire plug with soapy water to make sure the repair held.
Is plugging a tire a permanent fix?
Tires can be repaired with a string plug (like the one displayed above). This patch may hold air for months, years even for the remaining life of the tire. For this reason, many consumers consider a string plug repair a permanent solution.
When should you not plug a tire?
Repairs should only be made on the tread or the tire. You should NOT repair a tire if the puncture is located on the shoulder or sidewall area. If this is your situation, the tire must be replaced. In addition to tires being replaced, punctures that are greater than ¼ of an inch or 6mm are prohibited.
How many times can you plug a tire?
Tire should be repaired no more than twice. Additionally, you should not repair a tire if two punctures are within 16 inches of one another.
Unit/system: Wheels
Fault: How to fix a puncture on the road
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Never drive on a flat tire!
Possible consequences of failure to eliminate
Driving on a flat tire or with low pressure can lead to complete tire wear, deformation of the rim, as well as to an emergency!
First of all, you need to try to pump up the wheel and get to the tire shop. In case the wheel deflates very quickly, it is necessary to apply a special Liqui Moly sealant spray.
The use of the Reifen-Reparatur-Spray Tire Repair Spray allows you to quickly and independently repair and inflate tubeless tire punctures when operating the car in places remote from the service. Allows you to get to the tire shop without changing the wheel. The contents of the cylinder are sufficient for pumping into a tire up to size 215.
Code: 3343
Volume: 0.5 l
Do not use if the tire is torn or comes off the rim. It is not recommended for use in the presence of a centralized tire pressure monitoring system.
Reifen-Reparatur-Spray tire repair spray allows you to quickly and reliably repair damage, continue driving without changing the wheel.
Bicycle
Code: 6056
Volume: 75 ml
Motorcycle
Code: 1579
Volume: 300 ml
Vehicle
Code: 3343
Volume: 500 ml
As a result of a puncture, the pressure in the tire decreases, and then the driver sees a corresponding signal on the instruments of his car.
It often happens that you can’t get to the nearest service with such damage, so you have to repair the wheel on your own using improvised means. Let's tell you how it's done.
In case of any damage to a car tire, it is important to act in accordance with a clear algorithm of operations.
It is equally important to choose the most suitable flat tire repair option. Experienced car owners usually know what to do, and newcomers in most cases are lost.
If you find that the car has a flat tire, park on the side of the road, turn on the emergency gang, evaluate visibility and put an emergency stop sign at a distance of 15 m from the car - in the city, 30 m - on a country road.
According to the rules of traffic rules, a punctured wheel can be considered the reason for stopping in a prohibited area, but you should not abuse it. Usually with this damage you can drive 20-30 meters and stop in a safer place. Don't forget to take into account the amount of space on the side of the machine that is needed to clear a wheel puncture. Following the voice of reason (and the Rules of the Road), wear reflective clothing at night or when visibility is poor.
In order to cope with the problem of rubber puncture on your own, you need to purchase a repair kit at a car dealership and always have a repair kit with you.
It contains thread-reinforced cords, glue, a round rasp with notches, an abrasive awl with a holder, or a needle for installing a tourniquet. Pay attention - too "toothy" awl can break the cord threads, and its task is to push them a little.
Separately, purchase a sealant, a sharp knife, a screwdriver and pliers. With such an arsenal, in most cases you will be able to repair the damage without disassembling and removing the wheel.
If a nail gets into the wheel, then the puncture site is not always visible to the naked eye. To find it, you need to listen - the air leaves the tire with a low hiss. You can also apply a soapy solution to the wheel and find a place where bubbles will inflate. Instead of a soapy solution, you can water the protector with plain water and watch for the appearance of bubbles.
Tire repair with a patch consists of the following steps:
The best patches are produced by Maruni, Rossvik and Tip-Top. They use special thick rubber.
Instead of a patch, you can put a flagellum made of raw rubber, which will serve as a miniature patch. It is included in the repair kit. Here's how it's done:
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The advantages of such a repair are simplicity, low cost and decent reliability. It allows the tire to be used at least until the end of the season. But there are also disadvantages. For example, when installing a harness, you can damage the cord. Therefore, if possible, it is better not to enlarge the hole, but, having pumped up the tire, drive to the nearest car service.
You can repair a punctured tire with a liquid aerosol sealant, which is sold in cans. We take out the object that has fallen out of the tire, pour the sealant through the valve and scroll the wheel so that the product is distributed inside the rubber. After that, we pump up the wheel and drive 4-5 kilometers at low speed. So the sealant is finally evenly distributed inside the tire.
This method is easier than repairing a puncture with a patch or flagellum, but the sealant will not cope with a hole that is too large.
Another disadvantage is the possibility of wheel imbalance.
If you punctured a tire, found a puncture, and there were no foreign objects in it, and you don’t have a repair kit or a spare wheel, you can use the “folk” method. Find a self-tapping screw (if it is not available, unscrew it from some part in the cabin) and screw it into the puncture up to the very head , as in a plastered or wooden wall. A tightly screwed self-tapping screw will be able to maintain pressure, and use a sealant to repair minor damage inside the rubber. Of course, this will not make the wheel completely sealed, but it will give time to get to the nearest service. And in the best scenario with such a repair, you can drive up to a month, periodically pumping up the wheel when the tire pressure drops below 1.5 atmospheres.
It is better to inflate a completely flat tire without a spool, since when air is injected, resistance to the pump occurs.
