Quote:
Originally Posted by sugarwood
All these tall tales of heroic roadside tire plugs don't even make any sense.
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Why not? As I'm sure you have noticed, quite a few of us have affected this repair on the side of the road. Many of us more than once. It's a very common procedure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sugarwood
I just plugged my tire after a few weeks of a slow air leak from a nail. Once I noticed the nail, I then installed a plug, in my garage. In my case, a nail was a slow leak that took several days to even notice.
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I've picked up many nails, screws, and other such that rendered a tire flat out on the road. No slow leak or anything wrong with the tire before embarking upon the trip, often verified by checking pressures before I leave.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sugarwood
Who exactly is plugging tires on the side of the highway (in 60 seconds no less) ?
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60 seconds? I'm not sure anyone has made that claim. It's never taken me more than five or ten minutes, though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sugarwood
Did your tire go flat? If so, why didn't you just install the spare tire? Or no spare, yet you carry a tire inflator, pliers, and a plug kit?
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No spare tire on a motorcycle. Like I said earlier, that's where I learned to do it.
I don't have anywhere to carry a spare tire in my 911. It has a 100 liter tank, and oil cooler lines cross over from the right to the left cooler right above and behind it. So I carry a plug kit instead.
On other cars, I just don't like the mini spare tire. If it's pluggable, I would rather plug the full sized tire. It's a lot faster and easier than changing to the spare. I would only use the spare if the full size tire could not be plugged, like if it had a big gash in it. It really is that much easier just to plug the one already on the car. Really.
And yes, all of my vehicles are equipped with tool kits, plug kits, and some means to inflate a tire. I wouldn't leave the house without any of that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sugarwood
Or was the tire just low? If so, why not just inflate it and drive home? A nail is a slow leak that does not need to be fixed at the side of a highway.
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As stated earlier, a nail, screw, or other puncture can definitely cause a fast enough leak to require roadside repair. It's not always a slow enough leak to be able to reinflate and go. Besides, leaving the nail or screw in the tire can cause further damage if you continue to drive on it. It's always best to remove it and repair the tire before driving on.
I have to say, I find it a bit odd that such a simple, common procedure appears to have you so completely out of sorts. You appear to be at such a level of disbelief (that other folks commonly employ this method with no trouble whatsoever), that you have actually gone so far as to accuse us of "lying" about it. Weird.