Good Times

Does anyone carry any tire repair kit on them? If so, what do you have and what do you recommend?

I'm thinking about carrying something like that instead of lugging the spare intown.... figure if I get a flat, it'd be easier to patch it up than trying to throw the spare on or something....

also comes in handy on the trails too

Thanks in advance!

4x4Lamm

I carry the Safety Seal off road repair kit, a bit pricey at near $45 but worth it. When I got a big old spike inn my tire, I just yanked, reamed, lubed and pluged it in a few minutes. You can do it so fast you may not even need to air up soon. Safety Seal simply makes the best repair kits ever. I know of a truck with a sidwall slash plugged up with 5 or 6 of the strips and it has been like that for 10000 miles! If you are serious about a kit you want the Safety Seal line.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

I carry one that I bought at Walmart for around $14 a few years back.
It has all the same stuff the $30 and up kits carry in them.

It's called:
Victor tire and repair maintenance kit.

4x4Lamm

Ah yes, those Victor kits in the yellow boxes are cheap and tempting to your pocket but don't rely on them for heavy duty anything. They use the same ideas but need rubber cement to work, the same rubber cement that you get at office max. Safety Seal has plug cords that are pre treated with a trade secret formula that self vulcanizes with the tire rubber, no adhesive required and trust me, they are 100 times better.

Good Times

cool looks like allpro sells em for 39

I guess I'll have to look around and see what the best price is! Figure this is more of a safety precaution than anything else.

Thanks!

Corey

iTrader: (1)

May be a different one, mine is in a blue case.

BruceTS

Safety Seal off road repair kit

I got mine at the Offroad Expo last year for $32

Highland Runner

I have a kit from Wal-Mart also but less than $10. It has a rasp, a plug push in tool, and 4 plugs. The plugs are the type that look like rope with tar in it. I have used them many times with no leaks. Plugs for this kit can also be bought seperately.

Arnold

I have one of those "cheap" kits and they've always worked great for me. For some reason my old BFG MT's were nail/screw magnets. I swear each tire has at least 3 plugs in 'em and they're all air tight. I've used the plugs on my parent's riding mower as well w/ no probs.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

OK, here is my el cheapo kit from Walmart.

http://www.pnw4runners.com/temp/tirekit1.jpg

http://www.pnw4runners.com/temp/tirekit2.jpg

It too uses the long rope type plugs, same as Boeing uses to fix flats on company rigs.

You don't need to use the cement with these, I think the cement is mainly for the big round black patches they include.

This kit came with a ton of the rope type plugs.

Reldnew

I use the type Corey has (Victor) and the tire always has a slow leak. It needs to be topped off with air at least once a week. Same deal for both my Bridgestones and the factory junklops on my wifes Accord. So, my usual procedure has been to plug the tire and when I get the time hit a tire store and have them remove the tire from the wheel and patch it internally. Which is a hassle, becaue then we get into the whole balancing/Hawaka issue etc...
So the safety seal stuff works great huh? I gotta try it I guess.

When I worked at Cabela's we used to sell a Mushroom Plug Gun tire plugger. It forced a plug with a mushroom head into the tire and it expanded on the inside. They must of stopped selling them though because I can't find them in the catalog. Worked great on all our company trucks including our Polaris six wheeler, which had about 6 plugs in each tire.

4x4Lamm

Perhaps the best statement might be that cheap repair kits can and most times do work well but for $20 a kit that can and WILL always work can be had. BTW- most expert 4-wheelers like Jim Allen, Ned Baccon and Bill Burke all own and like Sefety Seal kits.

Lamm

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Do the Safety Seal kits always hold up?
I bought my kit with the intention of just a "quick fix" as I would take it to a professional tire shop anyways to have them repair the tire if punctured.

The kit I have is only for an "emergency fix" and not permanent.

BruceTS

Plugging a tire is consider a "temporary fix" and in some cases will eventually start leaking. I'm constantly getting punctures in my tires and my last set of wheels had a total of 11 plugs in them. The safety seal kit has much bigger handles and is much easier to use than the cheaper one's. I've used them both and they'll stop the leak the same....

4x4Lamm

Corey,

like Bruce said, a do it yourself tire plug is not a permanet fix, however, depanding on how far off the beaten path you are or how rough the trail back to town is you will want the best and strongest kit you can have. If I were you I would not worry as much as I do because you have a Powertank, but putting 15 lbs back into a 33inch tire can get old with a bike pump. If you ever plan to tackle long trails like in the desert or even do some driving out where towns are far and few between, a good kit is a must. I always try to get the best quality i can in trail repair and emergency gear and the experts agreed and I do to now. I hade my tires installed at Wal-Mart and i got the protectiion plan so when I get back hme I have them do a quality fix on the puncture but if I wanted I am confident I could just trim the plug and roll with it. If you have the money, get the safety seal kit, if your more like me though, just make do till you can do better, don't loose any sleep over it though because it is not that critical or an issue.

Lamm

MTL_4runner

The gummy rope type plugs are just temporary.
For a more permanent fix you should use the internal vulcanized rubber type.
The down side is you need to break the tire down to get it in there.
The plus side is it becomes part of the tire permanently.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the info guy's.
Yeah, up where I go most of the time I am only 20 miles away at the most from the Greenwater gas station.

And if my plug did not hold up that well, my town which has 2 or 3 Les Schwab Tire Centers is only 40 minutes away, with another Les Schwab in a town (Enumclaw) closer to Greenwater than I am.

I must be pretty lucky with flats, as the 4Runner has never had one since I bought it November of '98.

Now I know these are easy to use, but we should get someone to make a video of fixing a tire with one, and I can host the vid for future reference.
Always nice to have vids on tap of how to do stuff.

Biff

this looks good


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=2461998594

02Runner

Cheapo kit here. I seem to be the lucky one to always find someting to run over. Right now I have two or three plugs in my tires.

As far as being permanent fix, I plugged my new tires the day after I had them put on my 95 Tacoma (back in 95). I drove that thing for nearly six years with those plugs while adding more, and I never had them start to leak again. In fact since then I haven't owned a set of tires without plugs in them!

I'm ordering a Power Tank too. Probably in the next couple of weeks or so.

Doug

Arnold

I guess I bought the REALLY CHEAP KIT since it didn't even come w/ a storage box/container.
Got everything stored in a Tupperware container that I "borrowed" from my mom.