| Author | Message | ||
     Porter Mann (Porter) Member Username: Porter Post Number: 48 Registered: 05-2003 |
Here's a little incident I had. Last week I went to American Tire Co to have a nail removed. They patched the tire with a plug and I was on my way. In Oregon, tire repair is a free service, but here in California it costs anywhere between 15-25 dollars depending who you go to. After an hour and a half, I paid my 15 dollars and was on my way. A day later, I checked the tire and noticed that my Land Rover valve stem cap was missing from the fixed tire. I know, a petty thing, but I got them for my birthday. I went back to the store to see if they still had it. They said that they didn't keep those things and are tossed out each night, but said that if I bought the set (I told them they don't sell them individually) that they would reimburse me. That was honorable of them, and so I went to the dealer and got a new set, which by the way is not anywhere near me - but I figured that my cost for not checking myself to make sure the stem cap was there. When I went back to the tire company, one of the guys saw how much they ran for (almost 30 dollars) and said "well, we'll pay you for 1 of them." After much arguing, and me telling them that I was not about to have "spare" caps, and that the final cost to me would be 40 dollars to have a tire patched ($15 for the tire serivce and $25 for the 4 extra caps), they finally gave me my 30 dollars back but kept the other 4 caps. What they're going to do with it - I don't know. So, this week, I found a screw in the same tire, even bigger with a washer attached. There's a lot of construction around my area right now. I told my buddy about the incident I had last week and how I was dreading going back, pay another 15 dollars, and wait another hour or more to have them patch the tire again. And so he pulled out the Safety Seal kit he had. Since we didn't have a pump, we drove to the gas station. We pulled the screw out, reamed the hole, plugged it and aired up. The whole process took no more then 5 minutes and I was on my way again. In fact, it took less time to patch the tire then it did to fill up with gas. I didn't even have to remove the tire from the Disco. I tell you - the next thing I'm getting is a Safety Seal kit and pump. | ||
| Greg French (Gregfrench) Senior Member Username: Gregfrench Post Number: 605 Registered: 11-2002 |
Just don't use the fix-a-flat stuff in the can. I used it on my last vehicle and it ate through the tire from the inside. Caused a big pregnant bubble. (33in BFG Muds) Had to get a new set. Expensive fix. | ||
| Max Thomason (Lrmax) Senior Member Username: Lrmax Post Number: 251 Registered: 11-2002 |
Hey ya'll, dumb question: if you plug a hole in your tire with a safety seal kit, is it permenant? I didn't know if the Safety seal kit was used as a temporary fix to get you off of the trail or if the fix would last you until the tire wore out. Greg, yea the fix-a-flat stuff ain't too good. Sometimes it can be hard to balance a tire once that stuff has been put in it. Although the destructive properties of it suprise me. Max T. | ||
| Joe M. (Little_joe) Member Username: Little_joe Post Number: 181 Registered: 11-2002 |
SafetySeal is permanent - the plugs vulcanize to the rubber around them. I've patched about 20 tires w/ my SS kit and each one that I know of is still running fine - some as much as ~3 yrs later. http://www.4x4wire.com/reviews/safety_seal/ joe | ||
| Rupert J (Tehamarx) Member Username: Tehamarx Post Number: 47 Registered: 11-2002 |
Agreed. Safety Seal is rugged and easy to use. It costs more than the POS that's sold at Wally World or others, but it definitely is better. | ||
| Porter Mann (Porter) Member Username: Porter Post Number: 49 Registered: 05-2003 |
I was told that Safety Seal plugs are permanant as long as its not in the sidewall, in which case it should be considered a temporary fix - not becuase of the plug material, but becuase damage and punctures to the sidewall are different from punctures on the tread. You know, I tried that tire-in-a-can stuff a long time ago, and it didn't work for me. Not only did it not inflate the tire like it said it was supposed to, the stuff just kept peeing out until it emptyed itself from the tire. You know - I looked at the patch from American Tire Co, and it looks like a plug from Wally World! | ||
| Read (Read) Member Username: Read Post Number: 57 Registered: 11-2002 |
Back in high school I worked a a 76 station. We used the same Safety Seal kit to fix punctures. We charged $10 but that was 12 years ago. That tire-in-a-can stuff is some nasty stuff. I hated de-mounting tires that had that crap in them. Plus in some cases there was an explosion hazard depending on the propellent used |
