Poor Supra today… the tires are soft.

[Andrew4Supra]

Thump thump thump… what the heck?!?

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[Andrew4Supra]

Now with a plug / patch in place we are back on the road…

 

[White Shadow]

I mean.....that's going to happen with virtually any tire.

If you don't want to go the "plug & patch" direction, look into those mushroom tire plugs. They work great and I highly recommend them. I personally use the Stop and Go tire plug kit.

 

[Evolution]

My DD has "self sealing" tires. I got a wood screw in one of the tires about 2 weeks ago. All I had to do was pull the screw out and I was good to go! Pretty nifty if you ask me.

 

[YukonSupra]

I did that with only 300kms on the odometer! Didn't pay attention to all the screws I needed to pick up off the driveway after installing my ZL1 rock guards

 

[Branflakes123]

One of my favorite analysis of tire plugs out there

 

[White Shadow]

One of my favorite analysis of tire plugs out there

I remember watching that video a long time ago....the guy basically bashes the mushroom style plugs based upon the fact that he was able to push it into the tire using something resembling a narrow screwdriver. I don't remember exactly what he was using, but it was still the most stupid thing because a tire plug is never going to have that kind of force against it. Sometimes YouTubers can be just ridiculous and will do anything for clicks.

 

[Branflakes123]

I remember watching that video a long time ago....the guy basically bashes the mushroom style plugs based upon the fact that he was able to push it into the tire using something resembling a narrow screwdriver. I don't remember exactly what he was using, but it was still the most stupid thing because a tire plug is never going to have that kind of force against it. Sometimes YouTubers can be just ridiculous and will do anything for clicks.

Isn't that the same force that puts a hole in a tire in the first place?

 

[Tsuki]

I remember watching that video a long time ago....the guy basically bashes the mushroom style plugs based upon the fact that he was able to push it into the tire using something resembling a narrow screwdriver. I don't remember exactly what he was using, but it was still the most stupid thing because a tire plug is never going to have that kind of force against it. Sometimes YouTubers can be just ridiculous and will do anything for clicks.

Just watched it for the first time. It was a scale used to measure the amount of force it would take to dislodge the plug. While obviously not a 1:1 comparison with real-world situations, it's about as reasonable of a test as you're going to get.
The key takeaway is that he could not dislodge the rope plug (as he penetrated it instead), and even then, it resealed itself.
Not really sure what was ridiculous there, especially since he was literally making fun of YouTubers who will do anything for clicks the entire time.

 

[White Shadow]

Isn't that the same force that puts a hole in a tire in the first place?

It sure is.....so that being said, if you were to puncture your tire with a screw or other similar object, then fix it with a plug, and then run over another screw in the same exact place on the tire again and at the same exact angle, well, I guess that's possible. LOL

And if a screw can puncture your tire when you run over it, then it's going to puncture any plug as well. That's my point....his gauge for testing the plugs is about as unrealistic as it gets.

 

[White Shadow]

Just watched it for the first time. It was a scale used to measure the amount of force it would take to dislodge the plug. While obviously not a 1:1 comparison with real-world situations, it's about as reasonable of a test as you're going to get.
The key takeaway is that he could not dislodge the rope plug (as he penetrated it instead), and even then, it resealed itself.
Not really sure what was ridiculous there, especially since he was literally making fun of YouTubers who will do anything for clicks the entire time.

As mentioned above, the ridiculous part is that you're never going to get that kind of pinpoint force directly on a tire plug. It's just not going to happen.

I've plugged many tires using both rope plugs and mushroom plugs and I've never had one fail ever. Unfortunately for me, my neighborhood is new and the houses have been being built for six years now. That leads to all kinds of screws and shit in the roads, so I've become a bit of an expert at tire plugging lately. The mushroom style plug is my plug of choice because it's quick, easy, and I like the fact that it has a mushroom head that seals up against the inside of the tire.

 

[Tsuki]

As mentioned above, the ridiculous part is that you're never going to get that kind of pinpoint force directly on a tire plug. It's just not going to happen.

I've plugged many tires using both rope plugs and mushroom plugs and I've never had one fail ever. Unfortunately for me, my neighborhood is new and the houses have been being built for six years now. That leads to all kinds of screws and shit in the roads, so I've become a bit of an expert at tire plugging lately. The mushroom style plug is my plug of choice because it's quick, easy, and I like the fact that it has a mushroom head that seals up against the inside of the tire.

It doesn't need to be pinpoint force to put that kind of pressure on a plug. Regardless, it's more of a synthetic benchmark than an actual expectation.

Obviously use whatever you want, just because it's the worst at responding to outside pressure doesn't mean it's not just fine for doing its job. Being the worst in one benchmark doesn't mean it's not sufficient.

 

[White Shadow]

It doesn't need to be pinpoint force to put that kind of pressure on a plug.

It absolutely does. This isn't even debatable. Think about pushing something, say, 1" in diamter against the tire tread and tell me that it would be even remotely possible to push any plug out of the tire. Think about it....

It's a silly way to gauge a tire plug.

 

[Tsuki]

It absolutely does. This isn't even debatable. Think about pushing something, say, 1" in diamter against the tire tread and tell me that it would be even remotely possible to push any plug out of the tire. Think about it....

It's a silly way to gauge a tire plug.

I guess you've never driven on gravel before? An errant point of a stone under the weight of your car is going to exert more pressure than that guy did with his hand. It might not push the plug through, but it could certainly unseat the back side of it from the inside of your tire and leak.

And no - I don't for a minute think it would be remotely possible to push a plug into a properly inflated tire with the force of my hand pushing something larger than the plug. Regardless, my car's tires are punished on a regular basis by much more pressure than that.

You know who agrees? The people who make these plugs. That's why they're supposed to be a temporary solution - because they can fail in all sorts of different ways, even your mushroom plugs.

 

[White Shadow]

I guess you've never driven on gravel before? An errant point of a stone under the weight of your car is going to exert more pressure than that guy did with his hand. It might not push the plug through, but it could certainly unseat the back side of it from the inside of your tire and leak.

And no - I don't for a minute think it would be remotely possible to push a plug into a properly inflated tire with the force of my hand pushing something larger than the plug. Regardless, my car's tires are punished on a regular basis by much more pressure than that.

You know who agrees? The people who make these plugs. That's why they're supposed to be a temporary solution - because they can fail in all sorts of different ways, even your mushroom plugs.

True, they are supposed to be temporary. I agree with that. But you know what? I'd bet that the vast majority of people who install plugs in their tires (or pay someone else to do it) use them as a permanent repair and never give it a second thought.

I'm pretty sure I have at least one plug in each of my tires on both my Audi and my Jeep. And that's the way they'll stay until the tires are worn enough to replace. I don't think that's unusual....I think that's the way almost everyone does it.

My Audi never sees gravel, but my Jeep does all the time. Gravel, rocks, smaller river rocks on the lake shore....and yet I still never had a plug failure a single time. And that's using the non-glued mushroom plugs in all of my tires.

I really can't wait until the construction is done in my neighborhood so that I can stop puncturing my tires on a regular basis.

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