Tire Repair - Inside patch or Slime?

[SalisburySenior]

I have a pinhole leak (very small puncture) in the tread of my tractor front tire. I'm undecided whether to get the tire dismounted and patched from the inside ($$$) or just buy a can of Slime and seal the small hole. Anyone have any experience with the Slime approach? I don't want to put the goo in the tire and then regret it later.

 

[kencunningham]

I bought a atv not to long ago and the tires had numerous holes in them, so i put about 4 oz in each tire.
Seemed to work pretty good and when i bought new tires and had to take them off it wasnt that bad. Just wiped the rim with some paper towels. Of course i was putting new tires on and didnt have to worry about getting it off of the inside of the tire. Any reason why you cant just put a plug in it?

 

[Mark Page]

I carry slime in my pickup, only had to use it once and it worked well. If I had my choice with a tractor it would be a tube. I also slimed the tires on my ATV as insurance against getting stuck a couple of miles from home with a flat. The trip to my hunting spot was very rocky in places and over the course of 5 years the slime never let me down. You will have a major mess if you have to reuse a slimed tire. Do you know what caused the leak?

 

[uglyboywith11fingers]

I had a slight leak in the sidewall of a front tire (R4) on my BX24. I slimed both at the same time, early this past spring, and have had no drop in pressure through a lot of FEL work.
Many people advise against slime, but for my sidewall leak, it was either that or tubes.
I would use slime again.

Pete

 

[MDA1775]

I have slime in my tractor, atv, golf cart so basically anything that has rubber tires since everything in TX has a thorn or rock associated with it. I've had good luck with the slime and wouldn't run without it.

 

[mvwicker]

I also had front tire leak. Took the wheel to one place that charged $25 to put a patch on the inside. The guy who did it said he uses Slime on his ATV tires as a preventative measure. He also said that a locust thorn was the likely culprit, and I can believe it. Those things are nasty.

Tire plugs work fine when the car picks up a nail or screw, but who wants to ream a pinhole out to 1/4" ?

 

[SalisburySenior]

Thanks to all who responded. In answer to a question ---- I'm not using a plug because the puncture is like a pinhole and is through the thickest part of the agressive tread.

 

[medic0648]

Only 1 real issue with slime is when you get a hole that needs a patch you can't patch it. And that goes for tires or tubes.

 

[creekbend]

I also had front tire leak. Took the wheel to one place that charged $25 to put a patch on the inside. The guy who did it said he uses Slime on his ATV tires as a preventative measure. He also said that a locust thorn was the likely culprit, and I can believe it. Those things are nasty.

Tire plugs work fine when the car picks up a nail or screw, but who wants to ream a pinhole out to 1/4" ?

I can relate to the issue rgarding black locust thorns. Had a flat on our golf cart last week due to one. The tube cost me $11.00.

 

[PHILIP8N]

I was driving my brand new tractor home from the dealership, owned it less than 15 minutes, and had this 1/4" button head screw go thru my rear tire. I nearly cried. You can still see the manufacturers sticker on the tire! I performed an external plug job, 3 years later, no issues. Philip.

 

[tcartwri]

Sheet metal screw with rtv on it. Nip the head off when it's cured.

 

[SalisburySenior]

In addition, I noticed the Slime website suggests replacing the Slime or adding more Slime after two years. They don't claim it to be a permanent fix.

 

[uglyboywith11fingers]

In addition, I noticed the Slime website suggests replacing the Slime or adding more Slime after two years. They don't claim it to be a permanent fix.

We'll wait and see... we have some hawthorn trees along the fence-rows, get a lot of thorn punctures. At first I'd ream out the pinholes and use plugs, but that got tiring(sorry) real quick. I've had slime in the TG1860 tires for several years already, with no probs.

Pete

 

[boggen]

front tractor tires are normally small enough in diameter. that most auto shops can put the tire on there machine, have it fixed within 10 minutes.

some places may only have machines for smaller size car tires, vs larger size full size pickup tires, and semi tires. so you might want to call and double check, up to what size there machine can handle. and have on hand your tire dimensions as well.

if you add slime to the tire, and then later on take it some place to get fixed for another hole or like, they may end up charging you more.

also clean up the tire, with a wire brush or brush and rag before taking it in. if it is all greease and muddy, they may tell you, to go scram off, and clean the tire up and then come back. or charge you more.

================
my luck has been i see a thorn or nail or screw or something in tire, ok easy fix. then next time around, ok not so easy fix, can not see were the puncture is, even after running air compressor and trying dish soap to see bubbles. but once tire is off the rim, "bingo" there is the thorn.

tubes air fairly cheap, and prefer to get tubes in all tires, if there is not already a tube in them. and helps reduce problems of "bad bead" seal between tire and rim, gives a little extra rubber a thorn or nail or like has to go through and perhaps not cause a leak. also helps deal with any tires that might be dry rooted or starting to crack.

 

[Texan4Life]

I have had excellent results with slime. I now run it as a preventative in ATV tires and front tires on tractors. Just use their guide to calculate how much to put in each tire.

Only 1 real issue with slime is when you get a hole that needs a patch you can't patch it. And that goes for tires or tubes.

Slime is water soluble, you just have to wash the tire out before going through the normal patch routine.