Some days are just incredible!

My youngest son (27) is moving from Birmingham, Al to Duck North Carolina....tonight. Why he is determined to leave tonight, I do not know. Maybe he wants to get half way tonight or something. Anyway, he just bought a brand new left over 2014 Dodge 4x4 black on black 5.7 pickup. He is proud of it. $30,000 is what he got them down to at 0%/4 years payment since there was a large discussion on pickup prices recently. Has a covered Uhaul to move his stuff. Well, he calls a while ago and was just pulling out from the apartments he lived at (nice gated place) and said he has a large screw in one of the tires. Well, he wants to know what to do at 8pm and everything car repair wise is closed. I am 90 miles away and at work tonight so not much I can do but give advise. I told him to go to walmart and get one of those tubeless tire repair kits with the t-handle. Then watch on youtube to see how to do it correctly. Hope he can get it okay as those are nice tires he has on there. I know it's not a great approach to do this to radial tires but I have done this many times and never had a problem. I did tell him to get a proper patch put on the tire since they are new and rather expensive, when he gets settled. I have come to the conclusion at 59 years old (in April) that youngins' are definitely aggravating! I told him that moving at night is not the best plan as things do and can happen late at night on the road and being broke down and stuck somewhere in who knows where bug tussle USA would not be any fun. Oh well, they live and learn don't they. He's moving up in management and doesn't have to be there until Monday...what's the rush? :shock: I do admire him though, he's not afraid to take risks and move to where ever advancement is available. I'm not a risk taker and like to be in one place forever and ever.....I hate change...lol.

I have had pretty good luck plugging them, if it's
a fairly new tire I take it in and have a plug
with a patch connected installed from the inside.
You don't want road salt getting to the steel
belt.

Boy he sure picked a bad night.
He does know there is ice/snow falling out east of Atlanta tonight. Maybe it will change over to rain time he gets that far.

I just recently plugged a tire with the T handle, I must be getting older (51) as I had a heck of a time getting the plug pushed in the hole!

gwdstang,

He's right fine getting a plud into that tire. The tire is not the first problem, getting him into a new location is.

I'd give him similar advise, plug it, get the immediate done, then worry about what you may have done better.

D.

No modern tire manufactor will recommend a plug. They can and do cause the tire to separate. Steel belted radial tires do NOT like plugs.

He should have a tire shop cut off the plug and patch it from the inside to keep it from getting air between the layers and causing the tire to separate and fail. Sooner would be better than later. Plugging will almost always push on the the very small wires into the inside along with the plug. Air will migrate down the wire and start the damaging process. Once the air start the separation process between the layers, squirm and heat will finish off the tire, usually with a sudden failure.

Are you telling us that a new $30,000 dollar truck
doesn't come with a spare? 20 minutes to swap
tires and back on the road. Faster than running to
Wal-Mart and back.

Does the pickup have a new full size spare tire? Can he run on the spare tire for the long trip? For a 750 mile trip with a heavy load, I'd feel safer running on the new spare tire. Later he can either move the the plugged tire to the spare wheel or replace the tire.

Good luck with the weather.

I don't think the spare is full sized. He didn't want to fool with it. He called and said he got the plug in but the tire had gotten too low, so now he gets to take the wheel off anyway and take it to the gas station to pay .25 cents to put air back in it. The fun never ends. I've about decided Jesus does not like Dodge pickups anyway...lol :shock: I don't think I've ever known anyone that had exactly 100 miles on a new pickup and got a flat already.

I hope he isn't coming up 85 through SC. Roads are terrible.
Richard in NW SC

He's going to stop somewhere along the way for the night...but yes 85.

I also forgot to mention that the red headed swmbo is with him. Of course she is the one that keeps calling me and asking what to do. Anyhow, they are on their way. She will be flying back later this week after she gets him settled. Women and kids...ugh sometimes. I mean come on. Who on here cannot figure out that if the tire is fixed and very low on air...the little air compressor that plugs into 12v won't fill it (heavy 4 wheel drive truck) then you have to take the tire off and take it to fill it. Luckily she drove her car up and was leaving it until she flies back to get it. So they took it to get air into the tire. We'll see how this goes. I've always told them not to have any problems when I am on night shift as I am the only one here for 12 hours...and cannot leave short of a death.

c'mon, I've plugged probably a hundred steel belted radials with no problems, and at one time as an outside salesman I sold Blackjack plugs by the gross.

Selling point on plugs is they seal the hole from the outside and don't let water and road salt rust the steel belts.

I don't know what you mean by modern but in the last 15 years
I've picked up numerous things in tires at scrapyards on the
highway etc. I buy that victor or whatever it's called kit with
the t handel and I think they're leather plugs you ream out the
hole put in the leather plug with some lube, cut off the part
stickig out of the tire with a jackknife and it's been fine.

Farmerjohn, I know what you mean, especially truck tires, nearly impossible to get the reamer and the plug in!

One trick I've used is get a drill bit about the size of the reamer, put it in a drill and run it backward while pushing it in, keep running it backward as you pull it out. That will push the steel inward so the plug will go in much easier.

He will be fine with a plug. I have used them many times and never had a problem. I know many people hat them, but I have had nothing but good luck with them. The have always lasted the life of the tire for me.

Greg

Everyone is raised how they are, not everyone could be raised poor back in the 50's and 60's. We were far enough away, and my dad and old, tight, farmer, that we had to change our own.

I was teethed on tube tires. I am guessing that by age 14 I could take a flat tire off, break the beads, work the tire off, pull the tube, patch the tube, then put it all back together and go again.

But that is the way It was for us, and we had the shop, and tools to do it.

Now that I dont have to, I probably haven't actually patched a tire myself for 20 years.

And I have not gone without AAA for 40 years.

Gene

(quoted from post at 21:30:09 02/16/15) Farmerjohn, I know what you mean, especially truck tires, nearly impossible to get the reamer and the plug in!

One trick I've used is get a drill bit about the size of the reamer, put it in a drill and run it backward while pushing it in, keep running it backward as you pull it out. That will push the steel inward so the plug will go in much easier.

Click to expand...

Good idea with the drill!

Well, they called and said everything is going well and they stopped in Atlanta for the night. They sure will have to check the weather/road conditions in the a.m. before taking off again. At least he knows how to put a plug in during an emergency now.
I did forget to mention that the flat tire/plug issue was going on during a rain storm where a front is blowing through there. That is why he didn't want to mess with the spare.

A brand NEW truck certainly would have roadside assistance. One phone call and they would of came and fixed it or put the spare on for him.

He's on ice if he is on 85 this morning. It is supposed to warm up to 42 later today, Tuesday.

KEH

Duck North Carolina?
Isn't that where Tom Duley lived? The one they wrote a song aboot?