Had several plugs put into a front tire on one of these after I popped it on a deer antler, the antler stuck in it. Considerably larger than a nail and way more weight than a TJ.
Tire shop shenanigans
- Thread starter BoldlyGoing
- Start date
Rubicon John
TJ Enthusiast
I worked my way through college at a Goodyear tire center 25 years ago. Same policy existed then as you describe.
1. When you have a screw (any object for that matter) that pierces the cords, it reduces the integrity of the polyester and steel cords in the tire. Fact, can’t be disputed. adding a plug usually enlarges that hole (that's what you feel when you ream a plug through the tread).
2. The closer you get to the sidewall of the tire, the higher likely hood of failure. Everything mentioned in 1 coupled with increased heat and stress and less polyester and steel cord.
Can you successfully plug a tire? Of course, most never have another problem. It’s the Ford Pinto calculation. The one time that an employee of one of these companies repairs a tire and there is a blowout on the freeway that kills a bus full of nuns the corporate lawyers want to avoid. Loosing your business over 1 repair is much less than the lawsuit and subsequent bad press. Ford knew the Pinto would explode. They decided it was worth the risk. That case has caused most companies to reevaluate that cost benefit analysis to the complete opposite extreme.
1. When you have a screw (any object for that matter) that pierces the cords, it reduces the integrity of the polyester and steel cords in the tire. Fact, can’t be disputed. adding a plug usually enlarges that hole (that's what you feel when you ream a plug through the tread).
2. The closer you get to the sidewall of the tire, the higher likely hood of failure. Everything mentioned in 1 coupled with increased heat and stress and less polyester and steel cord.
Can you successfully plug a tire? Of course, most never have another problem. It’s the Ford Pinto calculation. The one time that an employee of one of these companies repairs a tire and there is a blowout on the freeway that kills a bus full of nuns the corporate lawyers want to avoid. Loosing your business over 1 repair is much less than the lawsuit and subsequent bad press. Ford knew the Pinto would explode. They decided it was worth the risk. That case has caused most companies to reevaluate that cost benefit analysis to the complete opposite extreme.
Fine until it needed replaced. Was probably 25 years ago.
Apples and Oranges. The biggest cause of tire failure is heat. Think about the number of times you see a family with a flat on the side of the road. Summer time with all their belongings in the suv. Same tire pressure as going to soccer practice with twice the weight. Compounded by added fatigue of summer heat and stress on tire while driving longer stretches. A lack of air pressure (relative to the weight) which increases heat. Your tractor is moving at significantly lower speeds with significantly more material in the sidewall to handle the weight coupled with 80 psi versus 30 psi on a passenger tire.
Now think of turning on an end row and how much pressure you can load that tire with. Think about that tire bouncing down the road at 22mph with auxiliary fuel and front end weights.
The point was it was probably 1/2” diameter of plugs needed to fill it and it’s a tire that does see severe use.
Rubicon John
TJ Enthusiast
The failure in plugging a tire isn't the plug. It's the fact the plug does not completely seal the steel belts and sometimes will seep air. So you get corrosion in the belts causing separation leading to a failure. Or you lose air slow and run it low ruining it. A proper patch plug is the only way to completely repair a tire. Though a plug can last a long time in the right situation. My kids car has a plug in the sidewall on the right rear. Been there for a few months. He was supposed to buy a new tire, he will wait till its worn out if I know him. I carry a plug kit in my truck and my Jeep. Its easier than changing a tire if its just a small puncture.
Rubicon John
TJ Enthusiast
The reason that science can be thrown out the window many times is because tires are wear items and there’s a big chance it’s already partially worn when a repair is made. The tires will continue to wear and then be replaced. Nobody is suggesting to plug a tire and then go and test it’s limits. If you load your vehicle up heavy for the summer or you race it a plug isn’t your best solution. But it will probably still work. Not condoning it but the rate of failure is incredibly low.
Took the wheel off and laid it down sideways under the front bumper. Took the valve stem out to air down. Put my high lift jack between the sidewall and the front bumper. I think I put a 2x4 between the high lift jack and the sidewall to distribute the force somewhat. Applied enough pressure to break the bead. That wasn't easy. Created an opening just big enough to get the pellets in.
I added 11 oz to each tire/wheel combo and I used 0.25 gr pellets.
The ride/balance is really much better than it ever was with static weights but above 70 mph I can still tell it isn't perfect. Sometimes in long fast corners it isn't as effective either. Another forum participant suggested mixing the airsoft with metal BBs. If I do it again with new tires, I'll probably go with a little more weight and a mixture of pellet and BB sizes.
I wanted to use pellets vs. the balance beads for a couple of reasons: 1) the pellets are big enough that they won't clump together and/or plug the valve stem; 2) pellets were much more affordable and I was just trying an experiment--I wasn't sure if it would help my issue enough and I just couldn't justify the higher cost of the "balance beads."
One other point: the "calculators" suggested a much lower amount of weight per tire--something like 5 oz. As I read the threads on balance bead variations it seemed like a common theme was that they weren't enough. I reasoned that I was taking off a lot more weight from the wheels anyway so I targeted 1% of the tire weight for the amount of beads to add. I'd go with 12 oz next time.
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