Repairing a slow leak in a car tyre; professional repair only - or are DIY kits good enough?

[Erie Fred]

The "spike" that Gaz refers to is on a "mushroom-type" plug and patch:
www.castleengineers.co.uk/p/ty136

Yes, I call them a "Witches Hat" repair.

 

[RWD3M]

No offence was intended @Smallfry but what is the HCLFA? Google draws a blank

 

[Keithmac]

I don't think £20 is unreasonable for a proper mushroom plug repair.

Tyre off, carcass inspected and drilled, roughed up with a sanding ball tool, adhesive applied and allowed to set, mushroom plug fitted (from inside), tyre mounted and inflated and checked for leaks.

Proper repair back up to the tyres speed rating.

 

[dobbslc]

You didn't mention wheel over tightened with an Ugger Dugga.


Having been in the unfortunate position of spending over £500 with National Tyres on a set of four new Yokohama AT tyres on my Surf that they: Massively over inflated, (45psi instead of the correct 29psi) didn't balance properly, didn't replace any of the 9 year old valves and overtighened the wheel nuts I'd say fixing a small puncture yourself with a string is far less likely to cause an accident then letting a talking monkey do the job

 

[Erie Fred]

letting a talking monkey do the job

Yours speak ?

 

[Smallfry]

No offence was intended @Smallfry but what is the HCLFA? Google draws a blank

Its the Hansom Carriage Lamp Fitters Association, surely you must have heard of us ?

We are right up there with British Tyre manufacturers in up to date relevance

Oh, and no offence taken !

 

[Farside]

Its the Hansom Carriage Lamp Fitters Association, surely you must have heard of us ?

Single-handedly holding back progress since 1888.

 

[dave h 2]

You didn't mention wheel over tightened with an Ugger Dugga.


Having been in the unfortunate position of spending over £500 with National Tyres on a set of four new Yokohama AT tyres on my Surf that they: Massively over inflated, (45psi instead of the correct 29psi) didn't balance properly, didn't replace any of the 9 year old valves and overtighened the wheel nuts I'd say fixing a small puncture yourself with a string is far less likely to cause an accident then letting a talking monkey do the job

Tire pressure monitoring maybe? Extra £45 per wheel. Otherwise stay away from big box chains and use an independent, they are totally reliant on goodwill to exist.

 

[Smallfry]

Single-handedly holding back progress since 1888.

We do our best

 

[james butler]

Tyre Repairs and Tyre Punctures | National

Book your Tyre Puncture Repairs at National. Skilled, experienced and certified tyre technicians carry out tyre puncture repair and maintenance services.

www.national.co.uk

 

[barracuda816]

What I get from above is they are not worried about the string coming out or the tyre going flat. More that people have been running on t he flat and damaged the tyre.

That’s totally valid for those who don’t have any clue about these things. But if you know the history of the tire?

 

[Bobupndown]

Our local reliable indy tyre place charges £25 for a puncture repair, does it while you wait. Not even worth getting your hands dirty when they'll do it for that amount.

Seems expensive, puncture repairs cost a fiver seemingly not too long ago?

I'd have no qualms using a sticky string repair, probably safer than most of the bald under inflated tyres that are so common on our roads.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Which became Cooper Tyres and is no longer making tyres in the UK.

had Avon rangemasters on a defender. Brilliant in as much as they just simply did not wear. Otherwise they had all the grip of a lump of hard plastic and driving in the wet was a terrifying experience. Second only to bar grips in the terrible handling tyre stakes

 

[Wozzaaah]

Seems expensive, puncture repairs cost a fiver seemingly not too long ago?

I think you'll find that was a very long time ago! We used to charge a fiver back in the mid 80s!!

 

[Wozzaaah]

had Avon rangemasters on a defender. Brilliant in as much as they just simply did not wear. Otherwise they had all the grip of a lump of hard plastic and driving in the wet was a terrifying experience. Second only to bar grips in the terrible handling tyre stakes

In my early days I used to build 7.50/16 Rangemasters and they were truly horrible things to build. God knows how any of them ever left the factory even remotely round. No wonder they always needed a ton of lead to balance them.
The steel belt "breaker" was evil, you only had to look at it the wrong way and it would shred your hands.

 

[brightspark]

15 quid the last puncture i had got done that was 3 years ago fitted a few strings myself since

 

[RWD3M]

had Avon rangemasters on a defender. Brilliant in as much as they just simply did not wear. Otherwise they had all the grip of a lump of hard plastic and driving in the wet was a terrifying experience. Second only to bar grips in the terrible handling tyre stakes

And conversely, I ran probably 4 or 5 sets of the Avon ZV series on my SD1 Vitesse ove 120,000 miles or so and thought they were brilliant

Edit: Oh, and I have Avon H.M. Tourist 4.50 x 17's on my Morris 8. Though to be fair, it's hard to say whether they are good or bad given the car they are on!

 

[Nick67GT]

Single-handedly holding back progress since 1888.

Must be affiliated to the Personnel Dept (Sorry - Business Prevention Dept Human Resources Dept) where I last worked.