If using them is illegal, selling them might not be. In many states, radar detectors are illegal, but they’re still sold. Cell phone jamming devices are illegal, but you can still buy them and have them shipped here from other countries. Likewise, possessing marijuana is still illegal in many places, but consuming it (say, on a boat in international waters) isn’t illegal. The law is a lot more technical than to make these kinds of assumptions.
All I’m saying here is that seeing the kits for sale isn’t an indication of whether they’re illegal in a professional environment.
As to whether they’re safe, I’ve had plenty of tires plugged back in the day when you could get it done at the local full service service station for $5, and when full service stations were no longer the norm, I installed a few plugs myself. I’ve never had a problem.
These days, I spend the extra $5-$15 per tire to buy road hazard protection, so now my tires get plugged and patched without me having to pay extra for it. The last time I had a tire repaired on someone else’s car, it was pretty expensive, so the road hazard protection always seems to pay for itself.
As far as your professional situation goes, I don’t see your boss okaying patching as a courtesy because of the high cost, so you’re probably better off plugging away.
I got my first cell phone in 1991. Today, the cell I use is nothing like the cell from yesterday. The same goes for bias-ply tires compared to steel belted radials. As with any repair, it’s skill and preparation that determines the outcome of any task.
I’ve repaired tires in the past with string plugs and had them last a long time. At times, some began leaking after six months and even beyond a year. This occurs because a passenger tire footprints roughly 700 times per mile. Cracks created from the initial injury to the tire begin to open, therefore possibly letting water into the belt package of today’s tire. Less of an issue with yesterday’s bias ply tires.
Additionally, when an injury happens to a tire you will not be aware of damage to the inner-liner or side-wall unless the tire is dismounted for inspection. The Rubber Manufacturers Association, Tire Industry Association, and National Highway Traffic & Safety Administration all recognize outside-in repairs as “temporary” or “emergency” repairs and that demounting with a plug-patch combination is now the safe way to permanently repair today’s tires.
Now, do I carry a plugging system in my trunk? Sure, a high quality one in case I get stuck somewhere, not a cotton string kit with gooey brown tacky stuff on it. My car is not equipped with a spare. However, unlike a consumer I know to get my tire repaired immediately the proper way which I have the equipment to do so. A consumer can do so as well with proper research of the shop they visit. In the end, do what you feel is comfortable to you if you feel the industry has no merit.
1- I have had tires plugged in the past and never had a problem
2- Road hazard coverage for tires is a waste of money (usually). I have bought hundreds of tires in my lifetime and paid for flat tire repairs maybe six times. My ex-wife ruined a tire by driving on it when it was flat. If you add up the cost of the new tire plus all my plugged tires it comes out to hundreds of dollars less than buying road hazard coverage. Save your money and pay for the repairs and replacements you need (unless you are a horrible driver that hits curbs and obstacles all the time).
Sorry, but ALL tire repairs are not PERFECTLY safe. It could be argued that plug repairs are relatively safe,but that does not change the fact that plug repairs do fail and at a higher rate than combination repairs - and those fail at a higher rate than unrepaired tires.
In my experience, those tires will lose air at a much faster rate, versus tires that were patched or never needed to be repaired in the first place
I’ve had several instances where the tire had low pressure, you sprayed the visible portion of the plug with WD40 or something similar, and it was clearly bubbling. Not what I’d call a high quality repair
http://www.motorweek.org/features/goss_garage/flat_tires_-_to_plug_or_not_to_plug
The typical way that a tire is fixed, and it’s completely improper, is to take a plug and just jam it through the tread of the tire and that’s the end of it. If it doesn’t leak, everything is fine. But how do you know what the inside of the tire looks like? You don’t. So, the tire always has to be de-mounted from the rim for a proper repair.
Now that also leads us to another problem. You get it de-mounted. What do a lot of people do? They put a patch in there. Well, the patch doesn’t work either, not by itself. The reason for that is real simple. If you put a plug through the outside it seals the outside, but doesn’t necessarily seal the inside. So that’s the reason you de-mount the tire and you put a special sealant around the plug that keeps air from migrating into the plies of the rubber in the tire. Now granted, you can put a patch in there, but the patch doesn’t seal the outside of the tire, therefore water can get in and rust the steel belts.
[]So the ideal situation is a plug patch. This is both a plug and a patch, and this goes from the inside of the tire to the outside. It’s pushed through and then you grab it with a pair of pliers and you pull it. It has a rubber plug that is built into it, so once this is pulled through, the metal piece comes off, the inside is considered a
permanent repair…
It is important that the tire technician remove the tire from the rim so that the inside can be thoroughly inspected. Many times, a simple object such as a nail in the tread can result in severe damage to the sidewall that cannot be seen on the outside of the tire. Therefore, on-the-wheel wheel repairs like string plugs are not recommended and must be considered temporary.
The only way to properly repair a tire is to demount it from the rim so it can inspected on the inside, remove the damaged material, fill the void with rubber, and seal the innerliner with a repair unit.
A plug by itself or a patch by itself is not an acceptable repair because the plug does not permanently seal the innerliner and the patch does not fill the void left by the penetrating object, which allows water to enter the body of the tire and starting corroding the steel belts.
It would never end up in criminal court. Instead in civil court. If the tire was plugged improperly and shortly after the driver was numb an accident due to the plug failing - lawyers would be waiting in the wings to take that case.
I always thought plugging a tire was your only option in the outer tread block where the steel belts still exist, but tire retailers/repair companies refuse to patch due to the curvature of tire in that section and the flexing that takes place. Personally, I get it done professionally so I know that I’m not too close to the edge of the steel belts and that the hole isn’t too large. They also apply the cement separately at the tire dealer I visit for repair and I’ve never had issues over the past decade I’ve used them.
Naturally. What fool would say otherwise if there is the potential to be sued as an industry professional? Look around you. Every single service discipline has similar CYA recommendations just like this one.
I agree, and it applies to a great many things. Company policies and shop policies have a great many groundrules not based in legal mandates but there to protect them against lawsuits. Many are based on legitimate studies, many are based on published successful tort suits, many are directives from their lawyers, and many are just common sense, but to the mechanic on the job they all seem have to force of law and many workers assume most of them are based in law. One such case that is a personal pet peeve is the policy of putting new tires only on the rear when only two tires are purchased. I understand why they do so, and I’ve seen the studies and the film from whence this policy originated, but I’d prefer to have the choice. But I’ve had beadbusters tell me “it’s the law”. There’s a lot of misunderstanding in the world, and it’s in all industries, not just the auto industry.
Well, “The Rubber Manufacturer’s Association” is a collection of TIRE MANUFACTURERS. They MAKE MONEY when you buy a new tire! So of course they have a vested interest in making repairing tires (comparatively) expensive and inconvenient. It’s like when “The Diamond Institute” says you ought to spend 2 months’ salary on an engagement ring…or when “The Hot-Fudge Sundae Institute” tells me my ideal weight is 350#.
I have sat in on the committee meetings at the RMA (Rubber Manufacturers Association) where these repair guidelines are debated before they are published - and while everyone in the meeting is aware that they work for companies that would like to sell more tires, the numbers are low enough not to make a difference. No one’s job is on the line because they approved certain statements by the RMA.
The folks in the meeting have seen the data that repaired tires fail more often than unrepaired tires - that plugged tires fail more frequently than combination repaired tires - and that is what is driving those guidelines.
It’s unfortunate, and certainly not the fault of the committee members, but unfortunately well-meaning guidelines from industry organizations become fodder for tort lawyers and thus become policy for companies engaged in beadbusting, leaving the consumer without options. I offer no solution, only an observation.
Well, perhaps if we followed the Bard’s recommendation…
“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.”
Tractor trailers run recaps all the time , just not allowed on steering wheels , front wheels on the truck . My father in law has 3 tractors & about a dozen trailers . I guess I assumed most if not all those big hunks of rubber that looks like a piece of tread came off recaps knowing tractor trailers run them . I assume other big trucks do too . I didn’t stop to examine them so maybe they all came off virgin tires as you snarkily suggest .
Trailer tires are near impossible to monitor while driving, those towing RV trailers rarely have tires patched because the tires shred before they are aware that they are punctured.
Car owners don’t always bring the whole tire in for replacement, the debris on the road are from both commercial trucks and passenger vehicles.
