The Things You See

with (TRUTHFUL) PHIL BIANCHI TO PLUG OR NOT TO PLUG

Being a keen remote area 4W driver, often doing so cross country, it’s almost certain I’ll cop a dose of punctures from stakes. It's not my way of collecting firewood, but staked tyres go with that type of 4W driving.

My worst puncture experience was doing cross country exploring in goldfields mulga country - four tyres got staked. One was terminal; even a carton of plugs couldn’t get this one to hold air. Limping into a wheatbelt town, tyres bristling with plugs, I was lucky to find and have fitted two second hand tyres to go with the two that had escaped the mulga carnage. On another cross-country trip, every vehicle suffered punctures, with some punctures needing four or more strings to plug a leak. Towards the end of that trip, with stocks of tyre strings among the group rapidly depleting, I considered locking mine up, fearing a raid during the night. When doing cross country work, always endeavour to plug a leak, and use the plugged tyre as long as possible. This

There is no fixing this tyre.

way you are protecting your spares for use when highway driving when going home. So what’s a tyre plug? They are lengths of spongy cord and are usually made of rubber-like compounds, some having fibres to make them stronger. In simple terms they are used to provide a temporary fix by being inserted into a punctured tubeless tyre to seal it so it will hold air again. A kit is probably the best way to go, because you get everything you need to complete a plug repair. Kits usually consist of a reamer, plug insertion tool, plugs and a grease-like lubricant to reduce friction when inserting the plugs. Others include pliers, a sharp blade to cut off excess string, tyre pressure gauge and a small collection of valve removers, valves, and valve caps. How do they work? Your tyre sensor goes off or your vehicle is pulling heavily left or right. On getting out of the vehicle a hissing sound greets your ears. Before we go on, let’s assume you’ve got a tyre pump, and you’re working on the puncture in a safe area, away from traffic, the ground is stable and so on. Once you’ve found the puncture, make sure the hole is clean by removing

Multiple plugs needed here.

the stake, nail or screw. If you can’t readily locate the puncture, spray soapy water onto the tyre and any puncture will soon reveal itself with a stream of bubbles. It's critical the puncture is free of all debris or it won’t hold air when plugged. Place a string into the insertion tool and fold it back at its midpoint. I prefer to smear tyre tube glue on the string rather than lubricant. The glue acts as a lubricant and provides additional holding strength in the hole when it dries. Commence pumping up the tyre while spraying soapy water. If no bubbles are present then the hole is plugged. If bubbles continue, insert another plug and use soapy water again until the bubbles stop. Are they legal? No simple answer here, yes and no. If they were totally illegal, they wouldn’t be sold in the shops. I plug a puncture to get me back to civlisation so I can make a legal and more permanent repair or buy new tyres. Tyre plugs should not be considered a permanent repair. New tyres aren’t that expensive when you consider that at speed a plug may let go and you could roll your vehicle and injure the occupants. What kit should you get? I recall an incident many moons ago, when I saw a

lady with a flat tyre by the road, I offered to help. I soon found a tek screw was the culprit. "Let’s get the spare on for you", I said. There wasn’t one. She didn’t know there wasn’t a spare, she was borrowing the car. "No worries", I said, getting out my tyre plug kit. I explained what I was doing and when she got going that she should get the tyre looked at by tyre people because the plug was an emergency fix and not a permanent one. I put a string into the insertion tool, gave it a liberal coating of glue and commenced pushing. Suddenly the plastic handle of the insertion tool snapped off revealing the metal shaft which fortunately for me, grazed my wrist by running along it and not piercing vital nerves or blood vessels. Lesson learned. I got rid of any plastic handle tyre repair equipment. They are dangerous, yet still sold in auto shops. Pay more and get all metal tools, not only are they much safer they don’t have any give like the plastic variety. Some dealers may repair tread punctures using mushroom plugs fitted from the inside. Most dealers however won’t repair a tubeless tyre. They are often accused of money making. Not so, it’s all about liability and litigation. The dealer doesn’t know if the integrity of the punctured tyre has been compromised by being run flat. Although not visible, wires, cords and rubber polymers may be damaged. Such a repair could fail and the tyre dealer may be liable for any accident resulting in damage or injury. Plugs are not a permanent tyre repair; they are an emergency repair to get you back to civilisation from the middle of nowhere. You should then go to a tyre dealer and have it checked out and probably have the tyre Insertion of a tyre plug. replaced.