Tire Plugs Any Good?

[slomove]

My left rear tire was slowly leaking air for the last few weeks. Since I will be going to the Monterey Historic Races on Friday I had another look and found this nice antique nail (maybe 1/2" long or a bit more) sticking in the grooves of the tread.

 

Since I don't have an opportunity to take it to a tire repair shop tomorrow, I picked up one of these tire plug kits at Autozone. No big deal, plug went in in a few minutes and holds pressure. Technically it looks like a decent way of sealing a tiny hole and I believe the pro repair shops don't do much differently.

 

Now it does mention it is only intended to get you to the next tire shop but that might be a product liability disclaimer, I guess. Anyway, should I be concerned to just keep it that way and do the 800 miles round trip to Monterey?

 

Thanks,

 

Gert

[jlumba81]

It should be fine depending on how close to the sidewall the puncture is. When I worked at an auto shop we used plugs too. The tire should be fine for highway speeds, but keep an eye on it and check on it on gas fillups.

[RGTorque]

i generally never plug within 1" of the sidewall so elsewhere is fair game. if your worried i would pull the tire and patch it from the inside.

[slomove]

Thanks guys, it is about 1.5" from the side wall. I think I will just take a 12V compressor with me.

 

Gert

[JohnCh]

I carry a Motorcycle/ATV tire repair kit similar to this one. It simply adds CO2 canisters and an adapter to the standard plug kits so you can inflate on the road. I carry 6 cylinders which should be enough to get me going again. They don’t take up much room and are lighter than a compressor

 

-John

[Kitcat]

I carry a spare tire at the back of my Se7en. Realized recently that I don't routinely carry a jack or a lug wrench. Hmmmm.

[TheDingo8MyBaby]

Gert,

 

I actually just replaced one of the plugs on my tundra's tires on tuesday. It lasted for over a year, but began to leak about a month ago. i kept refilling and finally decided to replace it with another one. This one seems to be holding just fine too.

 

Just bring extra plugs with you. Worse case is that we have to re plug it and fill it with air. Most likely it'll be fine or just leak a small amount.

 

I wouldn't take it to the track with a plug though. Any decent tire shop will pull off your tire, take an abrasive wheel to the area surrounding the hole and put on a patch from the inside. These tend to do a bit better over time.