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

[MetalMonkey]

The tyre strings you insert externally are only supposed to be for off-road use, i.e if you have an accident on the road with one in you could get some trouble.

The "proper" repair requires the tyre to be removed and the puncture area cleaned and a plug patch glued in. It is possible to buy these and do it yourself, but without access to a tyre machine it is likely going to be a lot of effort. Last time I paid for one to be done by a tyre shop it was a fiver...

 

[Erie Fred]

Don't have a tire machine ?

Why not ?

Everyone needs a tire machine.

 

[MetalMonkey]

I only have one because I'm fed up with alloys getting damaged by tyre shops, but I fully admit for the amount of use it gets it is not cost effective and takes up a lot of valuable space. But I'm ok with that, because when you need it, it is super handy. It's not really a tool I'd expect or recommend most invest in if I'm honest. Plus you then have to buy a balancer to go with it....

 

[not done it yet]

The tyre strings you insert externally are only supposed to be for off-road use, i.e if you have an accident on the road with one in you could get some trouble.

The "proper" repair requires the tyre to be removed and the puncture area cleaned and a plug patch glued in. It is possible to buy these and do it yourself, but without access to a tyre machine it is likely going to be a lot of effort. Last time I paid for one to be done by a tyre shop it was a fiver...

This^^

I wouldn’t want a temporary repair on a piece of kit that is the only contact between car and road. Car will do nearly 120mph (OK, not on UK roads) - a rapid deflation is not what anyone, even at 70mph, wants at anytime or anywhere.

A £20 repair is far cheaper than a crashed vehicle. I would always consider the tyre life before making a decision of repair or replacement.

 

[eddie49]

its easy when you know how

fit a 4x3 onto a board and use 2 clamp over so you can pull the tyre sides down so you can wire wheel the tyre itself or sand whatever you want to call it

put on the tyre glue and also glue the spike thats going through the tyre and then pull it through now use a roller to roll out all of the air and so it sticks to the tyre

yeah ive done it before often

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

 

[Farside]

View attachment 467094


Used some leak detection spray to confirm this is where I'm losing one PSI or so a day; I've had tyres repaired several times before but wondering whether its a job for the tyre fitters - or are the DIY kits that use the plugs considered a permanent fix these days?

In fact, do tyre fitters insert the plug externally, or do they remove the tyre from the rim..?

If anyone could personally recommend a decent self-repair kit I'd be grateful.

I'd do a proper job on that with a flat-headed repair plug.

 

[Tangledfeet]

The tyre strings you insert externally are only supposed to be for off-road use, i.e if you have an accident on the road with one in you could get some trouble.

The "proper" repair requires the tyre to be removed and the puncture area cleaned and a plug patch glued in. It is possible to buy these and do it yourself, but without access to a tyre machine it is likely going to be a lot of effort. Last time I paid for one to be done by a tyre shop it was a fiver...

This^^

I wouldn’t want a temporary repair on a piece of kit that is the only contact between car and road. Car will do nearly 120mph (OK, not on UK roads) - a rapid deflation is not what anyone, even at 70mph, wants at anytime or anywhere.

A £20 repair is far cheaper than a crashed vehicle. I would always consider the tyre life before making a decision of repair or replacement.

Good points, well made - thank you.

A job for the professionals indeed.

 

[Morrisman]

I’ve had four rear punctures in the last four rears tyre on my bike. Never the front though.
One scrapped the nearly brand new tyre, but the other 3 I repaired myself. Two with wiggly worms, the last one with the screw in type repair bung. No problems, I have no qualms using them.

Some people obviously think that’s dangerous, a death wish, but punctures happen anyway, yet we still ride, or drive our vehicles.

 

[addjunkie]

I’ve had four rear punctures in the last four rears tyre on my bike. Never the front though.
One scrapped the nearly brand new tyre, but the other 3 I repaired myself. Two with wiggly worms, the last one with the screw in type repair bung. No problems, I have no qualms using them.

Some people obviously think that’s dangerous, a death wish, but punctures happen anyway, yet we still ride, or drive our vehicles.

I use that slime stuff in bike tyres…works well when you pull the nail out!

 

[voipio]

Good points, well made - thank you.

A job for the professionals indeed.

A rough guesstimate of the number of string repairs performed, based on the replies in this thread so far, suggests there have been something in the region of 60 string repairs done by forum folk, and not one of them seem to have let go. As those that have done these repairs know, when these strings are put into the puncture hole, they don't go in easily. You just know they aren't going to come out again. As an experiment, I've deliberately put a thin string into a hole made by a 6mm bolt, and it was a sloppy fit. The string held the air in OK, but started to slowly ooze out (tyre still had about 20psi in it), so was replaced by a thicker string, which fitted properly, and never let go for the remaining life of the tyre.

 

[Greeves246]

My twopennorth. Yes , I have used plugs and string repairs in the past and would use one as an emergency repair again, BUT, having repped for a tyre manufacturer and worked in the motor and motorcycle trade for many years I have seen first hand what can, not will, happen. I’ve seen a nail that punctured a tyre, and was successfully plugged later brought in for replacement. The nail point had chewed an area of the side wall as the wheel had rotated before it was plugged, enough that it was severely compromised. I had no doubt that it would have failed shortly resulting in instant deflation. Probably a bigger risk in low profile tyres.
With regards to Slime type products personally I would never use them in anything with a high performance capability, but that is another story.

 

[jimbo84]

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.

 

[dave h 2]

My twopennorth. Yes , I have used plugs and string repairs in the past and would use one as an emergency repair again, BUT, having repped for a tyre manufacturer and worked in the motor and motorcycle trade for many years I have seen first hand what can, not will, happen. I’ve seen a nail that punctured a tyre, and was successfully plugged later brought in for replacement. The nail point had chewed an area of the side wall as the wheel had rotated before it was plugged, enough that it was severely compromised. I had no doubt that it would have failed shortly resulting in instant deflation. Probably a bigger risk in low profile tyres.

I had a nail like that, ate it's way out through the sidewall and left a hole you could put your thumb through.

 

[Matchless]

That's a bummer, but at least it's bang in the middle so can be repaired, plenty of tread too so worth repairing.

I've never used them, but see no reason why you can't use something like this:

Blackspur - Car Tyre Puncture Repair Kit - 6pc - Black | DIY at B&Q

This kit is ideal for emergencies & will fix all tubeless tyres with a puncture of up to 6mm. Contents: 1 x Filing Tool, 1 x Strip Insertion Tool, 3 x Seal Strips, 1 x Rubber Cement

www.diy.com

I have used those strips many times, I always carry them in my Iveco, I have used them with an inflated tyre on the vehicle, one tyre on my now dead Polo had 8 or 9 of them, when someone from the caravan club objected to me (as a local councillor) keeping an eye on what they were up to on the track behind the station!

 

[Smallfry]

Don't have a tire machine ?

Why not ?

Everyone needs a tire machine.

And a balancing machine ..........

 

[Morrisman]

I have used those strips many times, I always carry them in my Iveco, I have used them with an inflated tyre on the vehicle, one tyre on my now dead Polo had 8 or 9 of them, when someone from the caravan club objected to me (as a local councillor) keeping an eye on what they were up to on the track behind the station!

Friend of mine got a car lead weight rammed into his bikes rear tyre, in Spain. He showed us pics. How a blunt soft lead weight could get rammed halfway on is beyond us, but I guess the front tyre flipped it into position and the rear tyre hit it at 70mph, and it just went in like a bullet.

He pulled it out, rammed several wiggly worms in the hole, and covered another 200 miles until he found a tyre place. That was on a Triumph 1200 Explorer.

€108 he paid, for a tyre that costs £200 in the U.K., and that included fitting.

 

[Nomad]

A mate runs a car repair workshop, I've never seen him use one of the "fit from inside" patches.

Options with him are one of the cord plugs being discussed above or a new / part worn tyre, I've never had a problem with any of his repairs.

Tips: when fitting a cord repair make sure you turn the tool to create a knot inside the tyre. Use a sharp knife when done to trim the excess cord flush with the tyre tread.

 

[Erie Fred]

And a balancing machine ..........

Yup, got one of those too.....

If your gonna DIY, then DIY.

 

[More Amps]

If all the wiggly worm repairs were failing all over the place, it would take no time at all before politicians wanted to ban/licence/regulate them and as that hasn't yet happened I think we can assume that people are generally fairly sensible about their uses and limitations. As for those who aren't - well there's always Darwin's law...

 

[james butler]

https://www.btmauk.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Minor-repairs-to-passenger-car-and-light-van-tyres.pdf

see page 3 of 3 "The following ‘repair’ methods are not recognized as acceptable"
i would assume insurance companies would see this info the same after a crash is caused by blow out of incorrectly repaired tyres