The truth about tyre repairs.

[Dog Star]

gizlaroc said:

I got two flats in a day yesterday!

I was swapping to my winter wheels, got a flat on one of the tyres on the way there. Nail in tyre.

Then bugger me, got one last night in the winters too.
Luckily it was again in the middle.

I reckon it is because of all the rain, so much st washed into the road?

Bloody annoying though.

On the M62 yesterday coming home in 30 miles I saw five vehicles stopped at various locations on the hard shoulder (3 HGV, 2 cars) - I never considered rain as a factor before but you might be right.

On the subject of these "I replace my tyres if they get a puncture" mugs - I'd like to know where they live so I can get hold of their perfectly serviceable repaired tyres. On the other hand I would imagine that the fitters keep them and eBay them (and to add insult to injury charge them the "disposal fee" too )

[Pothole]

S1KRR said:

The thing people NEVER think about is that when you get a puncture. You're exposing the steel bands in the tyre to the elements.

No plug will fill the hole completely. Hence why they have the mushroom shaped bit behind which actually seals the air into the tyre.

So unless you never drive in the rain. Or over wet ground. Or wash the car. In time the steel will corrode and eventually fail.

Hilarious. Did you think at all before posting?

[Desiderata]

S1KRR said:

The thing people NEVER think about is that when you get a puncture. You're exposing the steel bands in the tyre to the elements.

No plug will fill the hole completely. Hence why they have the mushroom shaped bit behind which actually seals the air into the tyre.

So unless you never drive in the rain. Or over wet ground. Or wash the car. In time the steel will corrode and eventually fail.

Don't suppose you'll approve of my solution to a nail in tyre then? Remove nail , take a suitably sized woodscrew, smear the threads with general purpose silicon, screw tightly into nail hole using cordless drill. Hasn't failed me yet.

[Liamjrhodes]

S1KRR said:

The thing people NEVER think about is that when you get a puncture. You're exposing the steel bands in the tyre to the elements.

No plug will fill the hole completely. Hence why they have the mushroom shaped bit behind which actually seals the air into the tyre.

So unless you never drive in the rain. Or over wet ground. Or wash the car. In time the steel will corrode and eventually fail.

Really? if air cannot get out how do you expect water to get in and corrode the steel bands?

[Hatson]

Desiderata said:

S1KRR said:

The thing people NEVER think about is that when you get a puncture. You're exposing the steel bands in the tyre to the elements.

No plug will fill the hole completely. Hence why they have the mushroom shaped bit behind which actually seals the air into the tyre.

So unless you never drive in the rain. Or over wet ground. Or wash the car. In time the steel will corrode and eventually fail.

Don't suppose you'll approve of my solution to a nail in tyre then? Remove nail , take a suitably sized woodscrew, smear the threads with general purpose silicon, screw tightly into nail hole using cordless drill. Hasn't failed me yet.

You’ll be ok, until like all other non-recommended 2 together or near the tyre wall repairs, you are in a decent accident and you’ll find you were driving a car with defective tyres when you get to court.

[DaveH23]

zedx19 said:

This can't be a serious post surely? It must be a joke post??

Genuine post, Perhaps a poor comparison. As your tyres are the only contact point it's something I would not like to mess with. If they are damaged, replace them. I appreciate you can legally repair them but it doesn't sit right with me.

[Alex_225]

PaulPGreen said:

Not worth the risk

Absolutely genuine question. What are the risks? Off the top of my head you could say that it may weaken the tyre slightly, is there more risk of a blowout? I'm genuinely intrigued.

I have seen many people have a tyre repair done with no issues at all. I have four good tyres on my car, I spend all my time on the motorway in it. If I had a puncture and it could be repaired, that's exactly what I'd do rather than waste the tyre completely.

[mrfunex]

Desiderata said:

Don't suppose you'll approve of my solution to a nail in tyre then? Remove nail , take a suitably sized woodscrew, smear the threads with general purpose silicon, screw tightly into nail hole using cordless drill. Hasn't failed me yet.

Just hammer the nail in further. She’ll be reet.

[S100HP]

Had two repairs on my car and one on the wifes in the last 3 weeks. It didn't even occur to me not to get them repaired. Why would you throw away a practically new tyre, assuming you've not driven on it when flat?

[S1KRR]

Pothole said:

Hilarious. Did you think at all before posting?

Yes. But I guess just repeating what a major manufacturer list as their guidance for repairs AND their explanation means its not really mine.

Liamjrhodes said:

Really? if air cannot get out how do you expect water to get in and corrode the steel bands?

Water doesn't get INTO the tyre. It sits IN the tyre itself


Here's my amazing Paint picture to help explain it to you.



Here we have you tyre in cross section.

Black is the Rubber

Red is your plug

Purple are your steel cords that run throughout the tyre. Not just on the inside!

Water (Blue) gets down past the plug where shown. Since to fit the plug you have to make the whole a fraction larger than the plug. (Or you'd never be able to fit the bloody thing)

Water is a bugger that can get into most places especially when you squeeze it under a car tyre. Tends to find a way out. (Or cause aquaplaning )


That water then sits on the ends of the steel cords in the tyre. And capillary action means the cords (now damaged on the end where they've been cut flush by the drill bit) start to corrode.


But, hey what would I know...

[spaximus]

S1KRR said:

Pothole said:

Hilarious. Did you think at all before posting?

Yes. But I guess just repeating what a major manufacturer list as their guidance for repairs AND their explanation means its not really mine.

Liamjrhodes said:

Really? if air cannot get out how do you expect water to get in and corrode the steel bands?

Water doesn't get INTO the tyre. It sits IN the tyre itself


Here's my amazing Paint picture to help explain it to you.



Here we have you tyre in cross section.

Black is the Rubber

Red is your plug

Purple are your steel cords that run throughout the tyre. Not just on the inside!

Water (Blue) gets down past the plug where shown. Since to fit the plug you have to make the whole a fraction larger than the plug. (Or you'd never be able to fit the bloody thing)

Water is a bugger that can get into most places especially when you squeeze it under a car tyre. Tends to find a way out. (Or cause aquaplaning )


That water then sits on the ends of the steel cords in the tyre. And capillary action means the cords (now damaged on the end where they've been cut flush by the drill bit) start to corrode.


But, hey what would I know...

The plugs are bigger than the hole. If you stretch a length of rubber it gets thinner, let go it swells back up. That action along with the adhesive used fills the hole and makes it watertight.

Worked in the tyre industry for many years, never saw rusty chords in a repair of that nature.

[S1KRR]

spaximus said:

The plugs are bigger than the hole. If you stretch a length of rubber it gets thinner, let go it swells back up. That action along with the adhesive used fills the hole and makes it watertight.

Worked in the tyre industry for many years, never saw rusty chords in a repair of that nature.

What about BEFORE you put the plug in and it's some wood screw?

[Douglas Quaid]

If air can’t through how is water going to? Anyway if this did actually happen then tyres would fail all the time from this. But they never do, so it shows you’re talking bks. Sorry.

[Oilchange]

As long as it doesn’t look like this

you should be fine

[anonymous-user]

S1KRR said:

Since to fit the plug you have to make the whole a fraction larger than the plug. (Or you'd never be able to fit the bloody thing)

You know its made of rubber, which is stretchy?

[irocfan]

S1KRR said:

Pothole said:

Hilarious. Did you think at all before posting?

Yes. But I guess just repeating what a major manufacturer list as their guidance for repairs AND their explanation means its not really mine.

Liamjrhodes said:

Really? if air cannot get out how do you expect water to get in and corrode the steel bands?

Water doesn't get INTO the tyre. It sits IN the tyre itself


Here's my amazing Paint picture to help explain it to you.



Here we have you tyre in cross section.

Black is the Rubber

Red is your plug

Purple are your steel cords that run throughout the tyre. Not just on the inside!

Water (Blue) gets down past the plug where shown. Since to fit the plug you have to make the whole a fraction larger than the plug. (Or you'd never be able to fit the bloody thing)

Water is a bugger that can get into most places especially when you squeeze it under a car tyre. Tends to find a way out. (Or cause aquaplaning )


That water then sits on the ends of the steel cords in the tyre. And capillary action means the cords (now damaged on the end where they've been cut flush by the drill bit) start to corrode.


But, hey what would I know...

I suspect (from a layman's perspective) that you'd have more worry about if there was a cut in your tyre which 'only' went 25% of the way through and wasn't noticed. Do you check each tyre all the way around every time you set out on any journey?

[V8RX7]

PaulPGreen said:

Most of the time I always get a new tyre fitted.

Not worth the risk

But that's the point - there is no risk, if done properly

[V8RX7]

Dog Star said:

On the subject of these "I replace my tyres if they get a puncture" mugs - I'd like to know where they live so I can get hold of their perfectly serviceable repaired tyres. On the other hand I would imagine that the fitters keep them and eBay them (and to add insult to injury charge them the "disposal fee" too )

I fished a pair of 20" tyres out of a skip I was passing

Sold for £80 on ebay !

Obviously my motivation was helping to save the environment

[Liamjrhodes]

S1KRR said:

Water doesn't get INTO the tyre. It sits IN the tyre itself


Here's my amazing Paint picture to help explain it to you.



Here we have you tyre in cross section.

Black is the Rubber

Red is your plug

Purple are your steel cords that run throughout the tyre. Not just on the inside!

Water (Blue) gets down past the plug where shown. Since to fit the plug you have to make the whole a fraction larger than the plug. (Or you'd never be able to fit the bloody thing)

Water is a bugger that can get into most places especially when you squeeze it under a car tyre. Tends to find a way out. (Or cause aquaplaning )


That water then sits on the ends of the steel cords in the tyre. And capillary action means the cords (now damaged on the end where they've been cut flush by the drill bit) start to corrode.


But, hey what would I know...

As lots of people have pointed out, the plug is bigger than the hole, it is an interference fit, this is even more appropriate to the modern way of fixing punctures of focing the piece of cord into the tyre from the outside without removing the tyre

Also i would be very shocked if the nail/screw causing the puncture damages the steel cords and doesn't just slip between them

[anonymous-user]

Years back some youths decided to lob some stuff out of a builders skip, old boards, nails etc, into the road. Punctured two fairly new tyres. Both repaired and ran them until they were at the bars. No problems really.