Suspension Tyre puncture repair kits?

[pauljygrant]

Hi All,
First trip with new Basestation and picked up a nail in one of the tyres.
2 local tyre dealers quoted $32 and $30 for a basic puncture repair , not including any usual extras such as new valve or balance.
Several places sell 4x4 puncture repair kits for between $20-$30 so would be cheaper on just one puncture, and effectively free for future punctures, not to mention peace of mind storing the kit in the car just in case get into trouble somewhere on the road.
My query is has anyone used these kits and do they work as well as a tyre place taking the tyre off the wheel and sticking a patch on from the inside?
Cheers,Paul

 

[mrhappi]

Do they still patch? I thought they plugged these days?

 

[Robbie Reddog]

I've got one of the ARB puncture kits which has been sitting in the back of the car for a number of years. Haven't used it to date.
In Townsville a couple of years back it may of helped but the tyre was too far gone

 

[Drover]

Have been using the puncture kits which you leave tyre on wheel/hub and plug the nail hole with a fibre core covered in glue, have carried and used them since about 1980 along with the good old green slime in the tyre and they work a treat on trucks, 4x4's and vans...they do recommend you get a proper plug job done asap and shouldn't use a patched tyre on a steer but have at times run the tyre another 40,000km or more without any problem........but if your new to tyre repairing then use them but get it fixed or put it as a spare as you really need to know what to look for to see if the puncture caused any damage other than a hole.

For an emergency repair they are brilliant, you do need an air compressor though and get shown how to use the kit before you need it is also a time saver. Always have it in the ute.

Slime is good for those small hard to find little holes, you can tell by the little green dots on the tyre, very handy for a lot of bush driving. Some say it upsets the balance but that is BS, I've balanced and spun up wheels with it in and all is good, ran a semi out west with litres of the stuff in the tyres, saved a lot of puncture repairs on the side of road.

 

[Meanderthals]

I've got one of the ARB puncture kits which has been sitting in the back of the car for a number of years. Haven't used it to date.
In Townsville a couple of years back it may of helped but the tyre was too far gone

View attachment 36544

I see your problem, no green valve cap so probably means you didn't have the recommended Nitrogen filled tyres

 

[Moto Mech]

Plugged hundreds of tyres successfuly over the years with plugs but be aware they are now illegal to leave in place. Only to be used as a temporary repair to be later repaired internally by tyre shop.(well so they tell you, Id happily drive the life of the tyre with a plug in it)

 

[Tone]

I have used the plugs on trailers without a problem. Also used to use a self tapping screw and silicon on our 4wheel motorbike before plugs became available, used to get heaps of punctures.

 

[bigcol]

the plugs are a great bit of kit to keep in the back of your 4wd and your Van

have plugged many a tyre

and yes they DO recomend that you get the tyre looked at asap, but as @Drover said, once you know how to do it properly, its a no-brainer

as long as you cut the "tail" off once you have the plug in, no problemo

 

[Drover]

Once had a triangular bit of steel hanging out of a trailer tyre and used three cores to plug the hole up eventually, never did do anymore to that tyre, it never went down or blew, by the time I got back I had forgotten about it and only remembered when the tyre fitter was putting new rubber on and wanted his mates to check out the biggest plug he had ever seen. I got a tyre safety lecture off him as I recall and that I should be doing my own tyres....yeah right.

 

[pauljygrant]

Thanks for the feedback. Based on what I have heard, and from some youtube videos for and against (those against their use are perhaps not surprisingly representing the tyre / tyre retailing industry), I am going to buy a kit and give it a go.
The tyre had only done $1,000km and will become the spare so I can easily keep an eye on the pressure, and by default, it's only a 'temporary' repair in that I hope the spare will never be needed!
Looking at Ironman, ARB and Slime....the Slime is significantly cheaper and I use their products on the pushy so that's my direction for now. Will post how I get on.
Cheers, Paul

 

[Drover]

Just go to Supercheap and buy a kit, way cheaper and just the same as a 4x4 shops, use Slime in conjunction with the plugs.

 

[Moto Mech]

Dont buy the cheap plastic handled kits either, I bought one once when we needed to plug a hire car tyre and when putting the plug in the plastic handle broke off and nearly put the metal stem through my hand.

 

[pauljygrant]

Ended up getting the Slime kit from SCA and the tyre appears to be holding air! Very easy to use and the remainder of the kit will now live in the back of the ute for any future emergencies.