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Tubeless Tire Plug Opinions

J

John T

Well-known Member
Lookin for opinions here, Ive pretty much made up my own mind but never hurts to get more inputs.

My RV has 225/75 R 16 10 Ply Duals on the rear in which I carry the sidewall recommended max load at 80 PSI cold.

On my recent 8,000 mile tour of 8 National Parks I picked up a nail/wire in a construction zone on an outside dual and my Good Sam Emergency Road service arrived and plugged the tire and shes not leaked a drop of air since.

QUESTION/OPINIONS Now that Im home should I leave it as is orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr take in in and let them break it down and install an inside patch??????????????

I plan to run the tires another year or so (maybe 4000 more miles max) before a new set as theyre still in plenty good enough condition.

PS Ive never had a plug go bad before...

John T
 
Fifteen to twenty years ago when I was an outside salesman for a private label auto parts company, I sold "Blackjack" plugs by the gross.

One selling point was they're better on a steel belted tire because they seal the hole from the outside also and prevent water from getting to the steel belts, causing rust.

I've plugged dozens upon dozens of tires over the years, and the only time I've had a problem was when the hole in the tire was too big for the plug. If the plug fits tight, no problem. On yours, the plug is doing what it's supposed to, so I'd leave it alone. And I'm sure there are those who disagree.

I gotta tell this. When I had that job selling parts, the company president had a Ford conversion van he drove while setting up new business. He carried an awl, and a pack of plugs and plug tools with him, and if he wanted to demonstrate how simple it was to plug a tire, he'd poke a hole in a tire on his van and stick a plug in it. One day, he blew a tire for real, and the tire buster who broke it down freaked out because the tire already had a dozen plugs in it.

Memories..........
 
I dunno,

Never heard of a plug going south.

Think the only reason that the tire shops quit usin' 'em is because they loose the $15 breakdown labor charge. :>)

Allan
 
yes goose is right. i worked in a tire repair shop for 7yr.s and that was the best way to fix them if the hole was not to big. we used a plug called safty seal. i still have some hear at home and have been using them the last 20 yr.s good luck. bob
 
if the plug was done corectly it will last the life of the tire usually, plugs get a bad rap for failure due to several reasons, number one the hole is too big to plug, no plug will stay in a hole that will not keep it in very very tight, plug installed in a sidewall, never, ever under any curcumstances do that, plug inproperly installed in the hole, some kids working in a tire shop or gas station have not been taught how to properly plug a tire, you cant just jab in the hole, the reamer must follow the hole just exactly then the plug must follow the hole just exactly, all the way to the inside of the tire,sometimes this takes a minute to study to figure out exactly which way the hole is, usualy it is not in a straight line thru the tire, but at a angle sticking a plug straight thru the tire that has a angled hole will mean the plug is holding only the outer edge of the hole and it will fail and blow out or provide you with a annoying slow leak at best
 
i been turnin wrenches professionally longer than i care to remember...only plugs i ever saw that leaked or blew out were done wrong to start with...if your tire developes a slow leak...then have it patched.
 
Leave it it will be fine. Better than patches in many aspects. Don't add any of that sealer crap. Really makes a mess when it comes time to install new tires. The guy that had my trailer before me liked that crap. Sure takes a long time to clean the tire and rims when doing the proper repair.
 
If it isn't broke don't fix it. I have seen plugs last for years and I have seen them not last a week but the same holds true for a patch. Back in the day plugs where used a lot to fix many a tire and I have put who know how many in and never used a patch so leave it
 
If the tire has steel belts, they will sometimes cut te plug loose. I would be safe and put a heavy patch on the inside of the tire.
 
Hello John T,
There is really no option from doimg it right.
Here is my pick.
Guido.
a19577.jpg
 
I prefer an inside patch. But, I have had a plug come out. The plug had been put in place for a roofing tack, so not a big hole.

I think centrifugal force has me feeling that the patch on the inside is better. If you think about that tire running at 65 mph and how a rock sounds when it gets thrown out of the tread???

I may be way off base, but I like the patch.
 
LOL yep did it for a living for a while and I sure did fix a lot of tires way back when I was doing that. Learned a few trick along the way also
 
John T I owned a tire shop for over 22 years. I have never heard a professional tire repair man recommend you put a plug in a tire. You can use them to get you to the tire shop, to have the repair done professionally, or you can take a chance. That tire carries 80 lbs of air, with a plug in there you, are waiting for an explosion, on a 100 degree day, to happen. Usually will happen in the middle of nowhere. I have scrapped thousands of tires that would have been saved had they been repaired properly.
 
Bet you didn't know that 25 or more years ago it was in fact common to have a tire plugged and be on your way BTDT and did many of them back in the day but yes now days the plug is a lot less common and few know how to do them the correct way but if done right they can/will last as long as the tire will. My daughter will be 26 on the 5th of this month so that was the last years I worked in a tire shop and we did hundreds of tire plugs but also patched a good number it all depended on what the hole was like which way it was done back then
 
Yep a patch/plug all in one. If you get a tire fixed at Wal-mart that is what they use or did the last time I got one fixed there. Neat set up and seems to work well
 
Used to work for a landscape supply company and we used skid loaders to load mulch and wore out a setof tires every 8 months.Plugs would not last 10 minutes turning on concrete but these plugs would last till the boss finally gave in and bought new tires. Plugs are fast and easy to put in, whereas you have to dismount tire to put these in but they WILL HOLD.
 
I would go with that patch/plug that Guido showed. Thanks for posting that picture by the way.
If you find the right shop it might not be too expensive to get that patch installed. I had a metal valve stem installed in one of my motor home tires after the rubber one was broke by a valve stem extender. The shop only charged me $5.80 for the stem and the installation. Of course I brought the wheel in to their shop.
 
Hello Crem,
That is not a fake picture.
Here is the link.
When the site lunches, go to the product category and look for truck tire patches.
Let me know if you can't find it.
Guido
tire patch
 
Putting a plug in is nothing more than cobbling, hacking, _____rigging. With lawyers today, I'm surprised any business will actually plug one. If you put a plug in a tire, and then a few miles down the road it comes out, and the driver happens to lose control, wrecks, and people get hurt, who do you think they are going to come to for compensation? Still think plugs are a good idea? Not me. Guido has the best way to fix them...
 
If it doesn't leak, leave it alone. If it does leak, try the radial plug/patch. They generally hold.

Rod
 
I'd go have the inside the tire plug installed in the picture below.
There were some plugs out there that you use a special tool like a calking gun and it shoots them in and the plugs have a head on them so they can't come out. My uncle used these years ago and I think they held.
If they just used the rope plugs it will likely blow out. I had them come right out of my trailer tires before. They are good for low pressure off road things like lawn mowers and 4 wheelers.
 
I drive/haul/tow for a living and have a plug repair set for when I get nails, etc., and a DC portable air compressor. Easier to plug than to pull the spare off the rear under rack. I've got three plugs in 3 tires right now that have over 100,000 miles on them. Last set was the same way. I always push my tires out to about 100-115k miles, (one year), and use plugs all the time. Not saying they are the best way to go, but I've never had one fail. And I've had a lot of plugs over the last 950,000 miles/10 years. Probably 25-35. Never had a slow leak or failure. Up until 10-15 years ago seems like that's all we ever used, don't know when they got such a bad rap.
 
Hello Mile M,
The plugs you describe work good also.
Only thing is you have to go to a truck tire shop. Passenger type tire places are just that.
Guido.
 
If you had a blow out after it was patched and caused damage what would the jury consider a proper repair....

Far as I know a plug job (outside repair) is considered a temporary repair and noted and signed by the customer on the repair order,,, when plugged from the inside its considered a permanent repair so all the BS can be bypassed....

I have had to re-do a outside repair but never a inside repair,,, outside repairs do leak over time,,, the fast money is in a outside repair,,, the satisfaction of doing the job right is in the inside repair and can be a lost leader,,, I had rather a lawyer have to figger out if I did the inside repair correctly than throw my arse under the bus for a proven temporary repair...

I can understand were the outside repair fits the need tho I can not understand were a outside repair can be considered a permanent fix,,, I hope yer good sam's club guy noted this if not he's liable for his work till the day the tire goes to the scrap tire pile...
 
John I run plugged tires for miles and miles. And NAPA has those patch/plug comibinations under Balkamp part # 710-1643 Plug N Patch. Paul
 
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