pluging tire question

[Top Cat]

On the way home from the national I had a flat on the rear of my Nomad.
You can read the adventure ::) in the rally return thread.
Anyway, have any of you had a problem getting a plug to seal?
I carry everything necessary to fix a flat on the road. Stop and Go tire repair kit and Air compressor, and could not get the damn thing to hold air. The guy who helped me tried also and it just would not plug.
Do you think it had anything to do with the steel belts or the dyna beads in the tire ???
Do you think I would be better off with a can of Slime tire sealant ???
It is an Avon Cobra tire.
Any opinions ???

[cactusjack]

It had nothing to do with the Dynabeads or the steel belts. I plugged a tire on my car a couple of months back and it worked great. I had plugged a couple of tires on my Nomad with no trouble, either.

What type of plug were you using, the mushroom style or the gooey rope style?

[macmac]

Could you ID what made the hole? If it was a glass like or rock like thing you may have cut a belt and the fix for that is a new tire.

Does there appear to be a lump on one or both sides of the hole? If so that indicates a cut belt, and is like a snapped tendon in a human body. The belts pull back into themselves and thats bad news on a tire, any tire.

If the hole was made by re-bar which happened to me I installed 8 gooey ropes to just get home on a tire I ruined with less than 4,000 miles on it. The re-bar was axp 3/8th" and hard into the ground so the hole was big and ragged. It was on a Sunday of a 3 day weekend and there was no other way. Limp home mode.

[Top Cat]

CJ I was using mushroom plugs.

Mac, I couldn't tell what made the hole. It was weird looking. Almost like a little triangle type cut in the rubber. I had a hard time getting the rasp in the hole to get the plug started.

[cactusjack]

Originally Posted by Top Cat (TC)

CJ I was using mushroom plugs.

Mac, I couldn't tell what made the hole. It was weird looking. Almost like a little triangle type cut in the rubber. I had a hard time getting the rasp in the hole to get the plug started.

I have never used the mushroom plugs, just the "gooey rope" kind.

[Cajunrider]

Originally Posted by cactusjack

I have never used the mushroom plugs, just the "gooey rope" kind.

Same here Tim. Only the rope type. I have plugged several CT's but never had to plug a MC tire.

[billmac]

I carry all the stuff you do TC. Fortunately I havent had to plug my Avon Nomad tires yet. If I ever did successfully plug them, I would continue to use the tire just replace it earlier than normal.

There must be a difference in rope plugs and glue. I have been trying, without success, to plug some mower and car tires with some black rope plugs and patch glue. I switched to some brown rope plugs + different glue and my repairs started working. I am staying with the brown plugs unless someone explains to me what is going on with the black.

[brote]

TC, I haven't plugged a motorcycle tire but did do my lawnmower's front tire with the mushroom and haven't put air in the tire for over a year. Maybe a piece of what ever punctured it was left not letting the plug rest against the tire. Let us know what you find out when you remove the tire.

[cnc]

I never plugged a MC tire, but use the rope style plug on car tires with no issues. I'm not a fan of the slim. I carried that on a previous bike that had tubes and never needed it. I used a bottle as a quick solution to seal a slow leak in one of my daughters car tires. While it did seal the leak, it put the tire out of balance big time. It is also a hell of a mess when you come to demount the tire.

[macmac]

Tears and triangles mean not good, and you can fuss with it some, but in the end I'm betting you get a new tire. If it fails to hold air day to day the lose as you ride will lower psi and create heat. If this goes on for long enough you will suffer a serious blow out. That would likely take months of you adding air because you loose air. This was why before convention of war bayonets were triangular. That type of a hole makes dead meat of men and tires best.

[ringadingh]

I just plugged my truck tire with a rope style plug a couple weeks ago and had no problems. Ive never done a bike tire yet, but don't see why it woudn't work.

[blowndodge]

Tim, I think your cursed!!!

I use Dynaplugs.

[AlabamaNomadRider]

I wouldn't use the Slime sealant. The hole being trangular would be hard to seal with it anyway, if at all. I would use the gooey pluts and use lots of glue. Have plugged car tires with success but never a motorcycle tire.

[upside22]

Originally Posted by billmac

I carry all the stuff you do TC. Fortunately I havent had to plug my Avon Nomad tires yet. If I ever did successfully plug them, I would continue to use the tire just replace it earlier than normal.

There must be a difference in rope plugs and glue. I have been trying, without success, to plug some mower and car tires with some black rope plugs and patch glue. I switched to some brown rope plugs + different glue and my repairs started working. I am staying with the brown plugs unless someone explains to me what is going on with the black.

Same here. I tried and tried using black rope on my garden tractor tires and they never worked. I tried some brown rope last fall and I haven't had to add air to the tire since!

I don't know what the difference is but there *is* a difference!

[nomadbehappy]

I had to plug my front tire last year at the end of the season and used a mushroom type plug. I didn't have a problem with it, but only used it to get home and back to work a couple of times (through town). I wasn't comfortable with the plug being on the front tire so I put her up for the winter early and put new Cobras on in the spring. When I checked the pressure in the spring I was only down 5lbs.