Posted: 3/20/2014 7:57:06 PM EDT
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We've had several threads about inflating and plugging tires.
Here's one Tire repair And another... Inflation A few minutes ago I plugged a tire and wanted to mention ---that getting the reamer/rasp thru a steel belted light truck tire can be a real issue sometimes. A lot of men sometimes won't have the strength to do it, and if they manage, it will be a real workout. Other times it goes pretty easy. So if you're carrying a repair kit, don't be assured you will be always able to plug the tire. The last couple times I plugged a tire, I had to cut the rubber away from the screw or nail imbedded to get pliers onto it. If the object is threaded, prepare for a fun time. Tonight it was a small nail and came right out, once I cut enough tread away to access the object with a medium diagonal cutter. The last time a pair of long nosed Vice Grips was able to unscrew the object once enough tire was cut away [not much usually] to get a good bite and hold of it. Tonight, I tried the reamer and saw how much resistance and the fight I had on my hands. So I used a cordless drill with ~ 1/8" bit and took the easy way. 
Then the reamer had no issue. The leak today was real slow and I was putting it off and while I had the truck up tonight looking for a squeak, I thought why not get it fixed now. It only took a couple minutes to get the tire off and find the leak, and another 10 or so to plug and 5 to mount. I posted about getting some torque sticks on ebay a month or so ago. They work great, my lug nuts are torqued to 150 ft-# and the stick is spec'd at 140 so a torque wrench has only a slight amount of rotation to finish. In any case, just a heads up to carry more than the plug kit, so you can deal with embedded objects and get the rasp into the tire. |
| I sometimes use a hammer to get the reamer in. The only downside is it ends up breaking a lot of handles, but I don't have to have a drill and bit handy on the side of the road. I have used a drill before at home, though. For threaded stuff I've been lucky that usually I can unscrew it with a screwdriver. |
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I always take a few minutes to make DARN SURE what direction the object is stuck into the tire. It may not always be obvious, as the head of a nail/screw can/will bend from the road pushing on it. Taking it out in the right direction also saves TONS of aggrivation. Kind of like trying to pull a tent stake out the wrong way. I use the drill method as well However, since we got a tire changing machine at the farm, when I was down there I would just pull the tire off, pull out the object, put a PATCH in and be done. In my experience, a plug will ALWAYS leak again later. They are just a temporary fix until you can get it fixed PROPERLY. YMMV and all that.
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I work in a garage, and probably have plugged and patched 100's if not thousands of tires. The first thing I can tell you is it is harder than hell to try to ream a flat tire, air that bastard up, and you might get somewhere. Also the quality of the reamers is a big part of it as well.
It's normally not hard to plug a tire, but all of them are different 
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For a challenge, I try to plug the tire while its on the car. The last one was just like EXPY said. Real hard to get the reamer into the hole. I think I just forced it in, and gave it lots of twists and pulls. I must have looked like I was doing something crazy with the back end of the car. My reamer(s) have a T handle, and would not chuck into a drill. It took a while longer than usual, but eventually got there.
On another note, based on a thread here in the last month, I bought one of those air hammers. I have a collection of Sears 19.2V tools, so I bought their Craftsman 19.2V Hammer. Its pretty powerful. I have yet to use it on a wheel, though. |
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Whats really a bastard is getting a screw in there and having it stuck on a band.
I had my dewalt impact for the last one and it backed right out, but to do with pliers would have been futile. I usually just put the spare on and take the tire to a guy in town, he does a vulcanized plug and patch for $20 It's crazy really, I go to construction sites all the time an have only picked up one screw in my truck, my seems to get one every 6 months or so. I think at one point a few years ago all 4 tires got patched in the course of 18 months. |
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Quoted: ... I thought why not get it fixed now. ... What 5 years of driving around N. Central TX fields full of mesquite thorns taught me: Take it to a local ( and the ones selling used tires are better at it and cheaper) tire shop, have them PATCH it from the inside. It won't take any more time or money to fix, but it'll really work right, and on the first try. |
| I have plugged a many semi tires and I refuse after years of trying to force that reamer through the tire, now I will get a drill out and drill the tire. There is no sense in straining trying to shove something through a hole that was made by something 10 times smaller. To make sure I am positive of the angle though I have a special screwdriver that has been ground down very thin that I will shove through the hole first for reference. |