Need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch

I'm gonna patch my first automotive tire this week.

I need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch
as I got a flat today, switched with the spare, and went
about a half mile to the nearest auto parts store.
https://i.imgur.com/kb3a6rs.jpg

All they had are bike-tire-type patches at the one auto parts
store I stopped at today; they only had crappy passenger tire
patches (little round things, very thin).

I prefer rectangular-cut larger patches (dunno why - I just
feel they might hold better). Those that are something like
three or four inches long or so.

I can easily remove the tire and replace it on the rim
and balance it afterward so this question is only about
the patch. I do not want to patch it from the outside
because I feel that isn't as good as from inside.

Where do you get your inside-tire automotive tire patches?
What type of patch/glue/prep do you recommend?
https://i.imgur.com/InL9A8y.jpg

WWS TEXAS wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 08:57:48 -0800:

> The "patch-plug" is the ideal tire repair as it combines the best
> elements of the patch and plug worlds; the patch keeps the plug from
> shifting out of place, and the plug helps the patch to stay secure to
> the tire.

I didn't know those existed, so thank you very much for the idea!

Googling for "automotive tire patch plug" I see that the Rubber
Manufacturers Association recommends them (www.betiresmart.org).
http://www.rma.org/tire-safety/tire-repair/

I found the repair procedure he
http://artsautomotive.com/publicatio...patch-or-plug/

I found a "steelman" brand 1/8th inch tire repair patch/plug unit.
Is that a good brand?
STEELMAN JSG381 1/8-Inch Tire Repair Patch/Plug

Do you suggest any specific glues or tools that might not come
with the patchplug set?

On 12/7/2015 12:15 PM, Danny D. wrote:
> WWS TEXAS wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 08:57:48 -0800:
>
>> The "patch-plug" is the ideal tire repair as it combines the best
>> elements of the patch and plug worlds; the patch keeps the plug from
>> shifting out of place, and the plug helps the patch to stay secure to
>> the tire.
>
> I didn't know those existed, so thank you very much for the idea!
>
> Googling for "automotive tire patch plug" I see that the Rubber
> Manufacturers Association recommends them (www.betiresmart.org).
> http://www.rma.org/tire-safety/tire-repair/
>
> I found the repair procedure he
> http://artsautomotive.com/publicatio...patch-or-plug/
>
> I found a "steelman" brand 1/8th inch tire repair patch/plug unit.
> Is that a good brand?
> STEELMAN JSG381 1/8-Inch Tire Repair Patch/Plug
>
> Do you suggest any specific glues or tools that might not come
> with the patchplug set?
>

Interesting to learn this:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=77

Wondered why it cost me $30 to get a tire repaired a few years ago.
The tire has held up well.

Frank wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 12:23:09 -0500:

> Interesting to learn this:
>
> http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=77
>
> Wondered why it cost me $30 to get a tire repaired a few years ago.
> The tire has held up well.

Out here, at $100/hour shop rates, it could easily cost more just
for the labor, plus you have to rebalance and they often destroy
the valve and they are brutal on your expensive soft rims!

I'm sick and tired of the brutish monkeys prying off my BBS
hubcaps with screwdrivers, damaging the soft rims, torquing
the lug bolts to 100 foot pounds instead of 84, not removing
the old weights when balancing, putting the same psi into
all four wheels, etc. They're just horrid.

So, I'm just gonna do it myself.

But that takes knowledge, so, I'm glad you pointed me to that
web page. It shows that you don't want *air* to get in between
the plies, so that's important to put the plug in there to
prevent air from sneaking in between the plies.

They call them "mushroom" patches in that article and they
say that the patch keeps air in and the plug keeps air and
moisture out of the plies.

I just want to do the job right, instead of letting the monkeys
do the job wrong. This will take all the advice you know of!

"Danny D." > wrote in message
...
> WWS TEXAS wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 08:57:48 -0800:
>
>> The "patch-plug" is the ideal tire repair as it combines the best
>> elements of the patch and plug worlds; the patch keeps the plug from
>> shifting out of place, and the plug helps the patch to stay secure to
>> the tire.
>
> I didn't know those existed, so thank you very much for the idea!
>

I worked at Sears changing and repairing tires and a few other minor
repairs. They had plug/patches similar to them back in 1970. Used a lot of
them.

Ralph Mowery wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 12:44:04 -0500:

> I worked at Sears changing and repairing tires and a few other minor
> repairs. They had plug/patches similar to them back in 1970. Used a lot of
> them.

Yikes! I hate Sears! I promised myself in 1981 that I'd *never* go
to Sears ever again! I tell everyone *not* to go to Sears!

< begin rant >

When I was young and stupid, I brought my 1970 clunker to Sears for
a $100 alignment.

The car had 90K miles on it and I had failed inspection (in those days,
they lifted the front end and checked for suspension wear).

I brought it to K-Mart, who, for something like $20 told me I needed
to replace the idler arm, the pitman arm, and the tie rod ends.

I replaced all of them, and started to do the alignment but quickly
realized that I just didn't have the tools to MEASURE the angles
correctly (and to convert inches to degrees, etc.). I got as far
as doing the toe but gave up when it came to camber and caster.

I had MARKED EVERYTHING though, with yellow nail polish, because
I wanted a before-and-after look at things (I was pretty detailed,
even then).

So I take it to Sears, pay my $100, and watch they guy. He never
once touched the car, but at one point, I was distracted by the shop
asking me to pay so maybe he did the work while I wasn't looking?

Anyway, I pay and drive home and put the car on a lift to snap
pictures. Guess what. Not a single eccentric was touched! Not one.
I could tell because I was sloppy with the nail polish and not a
single bolt was even MOVED!

The *******s. They stole my money. And my time. And, I'm sure,
I wasn't the only one.

I go back. I complain. They put it on the lift. Not a single thing
was right except for the toe (which "I" had done myself!).

Turns out, they mechanic *ADMITTED* he didn't do a thing!
He said his charts only went back 10 years and my car was 11 years
old! Can you believe that.

I should have complained to high heaven and gotten a refund.
I just let them re-align it.

I wasn't as crotchety when I was young, but I would have complained
to the district attorney or something had I been the age I am now.

It's criminal what Sears does to rip off people.
Absolutely criminal.

I watch all my alignments like a hawk watching a mouse now.
Sears sucks. I will *never* ever go to Sears for the rest of my
life, and I make sure everyone knows how bad they are.

The're criminals.
I'm sorry you worked there, and I do apologize for the diatribe.
It's not your fault they are criminals. It's their fault.

< end rant >

On Mon, 7 Dec 2015 16:45:40 -0000 (UTC), "Danny D."
> wrote:

>I'm gonna patch my first automotive tire this week.

I just use "strings", with rubber cement, and it works well.
I follow the instructions.

I used to use "plugs'.

My probe/rasp tool finally broke, so I bought a better quality one.
Maybe I bought a better quality of both.



>I need your advice on a good inside automotive tire patch
>as I got a flat today, switched with the spare, and went
>about a half mile to the nearest auto parts store.
> https://i.imgur.com/kb3a6rs.jpg
>
>All they had are bike-tire-type patches at the one auto parts
>store I stopped at today; they only had crappy passenger tire
>patches (little round things, very thin).
>
>I prefer rectangular-cut larger patches (dunno why - I just
>feel they might hold better). Those that are something like
>three or four inches long or so.
>
>I can easily remove the tire and replace it on the rim
>and balance it afterward so this question is only about
>the patch. I do not want to patch it from the outside
>because I feel that isn't as good as from inside.
>
>Where do you get your inside-tire automotive tire patches?
>What type of patch/glue/prep do you recommend?
> https://i.imgur.com/InL9A8y.jpg

"Danny D." > wrote in message
...
> Ralph Mowery wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 12:44:04 -0500:
>
>
> Yikes! I hate Sears! I promised myself in 1981 that I'd *never* go
> to Sears ever again! I tell everyone *not* to go to Sears!
>
>>
> Turns out, they mechanic *ADMITTED* he didn't do a thing!
> He said his charts only went back 10 years and my car was 11 years
> old! Can you believe that.
>
> I should have complained to high heaven and gotten a refund.
> I just let them re-align it.
>
> I wasn't as crotchety when I was young, but I would have complained
> to the district attorney or something had I been the age I am now.
>
> It's criminal what Sears does to rip off people.
> Absolutely criminal.
>
> I watch all my alignments like a hawk watching a mouse now.
> Sears sucks. I will *never* ever go to Sears for the rest of my
> life, and I make sure everyone knows how bad they are.
>
> The're criminals.
> I'm sorry you worked there, and I do apologize for the diatribe.
> It's not your fault they are criminals. It's their fault.
>

I was about 19 at the time. Just a part time job while in school.
I don't know about the quality of work, but at that store I know they did
make an attempt at doing whatever was suspose to be done, maybe others
don't.

I do know lots of places will rip you off. Local Ford dealer did to a
friend. He took a car with a V8 to get the plugs changed. It came back
with the same miss in the engine it had. They only changed 7 plugs as the
8th was very hard to get to. He went back and complained and was asked how
he knew the plug was not changed. He said because 7 were of one brand and
the hard to get to was another.

I hate that a local 'shade tree mechanic' got too old and quit. He was an
honest man and good at what he did. I had him to do several jobs for me
like changing a timing belt. He recommended a few othe things such as the
water pump as it was driven by the belt and all it was 4 bolts to do it.
Said it would not be any more labor and just his cost of the part. Bet not
many if any dealers would do that.

On 12/7/2015 12:39 PM, Danny D. wrote:
> Frank wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 12:23:09 -0500:
>
>> Interesting to learn this:
>>
>> http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete....jsp?techid=77
>>
>> Wondered why it cost me $30 to get a tire repaired a few years ago.
>> The tire has held up well.
>
> Out here, at $100/hour shop rates, it could easily cost more just
> for the labor, plus you have to rebalance and they often destroy
> the valve and they are brutal on your expensive soft rims!
>
> I'm sick and tired of the brutish monkeys prying off my BBS
> hubcaps with screwdrivers, damaging the soft rims, torquing
> the lug bolts to 100 foot pounds instead of 84, not removing
> the old weights when balancing, putting the same psi into
> all four wheels, etc. They're just horrid.
>
> So, I'm just gonna do it myself.
>
> But that takes knowledge, so, I'm glad you pointed me to that
> web page. It shows that you don't want *air* to get in between
> the plies, so that's important to put the plug in there to
> prevent air from sneaking in between the plies.
>
> They call them "mushroom" patches in that article and they
> say that the patch keeps air in and the plug keeps air and
> moisture out of the plies.
>
> I just want to do the job right, instead of letting the monkeys
> do the job wrong. This will take all the advice you know of!
>
>
>
>
Until I looked into your problem, I thought they were just plugging from
the exterior and NTW (believe Sears owned) said they had to patch from
inside.

My flat was on a Sunday and I took it to NTW as dealer where I bought
tires and repairs my car was closed.

I had extended warranty as AWD on Subaru requires all 4 tires are equal.

Company would not honor warranty since I did not return to where I
bought them but the shop where I bought them reimbursed me.

Frank wrote, on Mon, 07 Dec 2015 13:13:37 -0500:

> Company would not honor warranty since I did not return to where I
> bought them but the shop where I bought them reimbursed me.

I make every mistake you can make, and I've made that buying tires
by warranty mistake also. In addition, I bought the useless extended
warranty.

Once I tried to return a tire I thought wore too early and the tire
under warranty would cost MORE than a tire NOT under warranty because
I had to have THEM do it, and I had to pay for the mounting and
balancing and I originally bought it on sale where it was no longer
on sale (although I could get it from Tire Rack cheaper!).

End result, even *with* the pro-rated warranty, the replacement tire
under warranty cost more than that same tire (same exact brand and
model!) not on warranty!

Likewise, I have paid for the extended warranty, which, when you bring
a tire back, they told me that alignment wasn't covered (which may
be true - but then why did I bother). So I never buy extended or
by warranty ever again.

Also, I used to get tires at Costco for the "free" mounting and
balancing and repair, but, unfortunately, the *wait* at Costco is
forever (hours and hours) so it's not worth it unless you drop it
off and come back (which isn't convenient for me).

So, I forgo all warranties and just buy tires from Tire Rack by
performance and price and fit. And I mount them myself now that
Harbor Freight sells that nice red mounting kit. And I balance
them statically, very carefully - and since they have expensive
rims, they're almost perfect and don't vibrate at all. Who knew
that dynamic balancing was a waste? I didn't. Until I tried the
static balancing.

Which so far works perfectly for me.