Who plugs tires?

[paulsharvey]

So, better tires on front vs back? 2wd, front wheel drive, 100%, best go on front. Rear wheel drive; its more up for debate; bald tires steer fine, but bald drive tires dont. Also, ive heard both arguments, if you have a blow out, do you want a front or rear? Ive heard you want a rear, ive also heard the argument, if you blow one, better a front cause you can still steer to counter the blow out?

Given the choice, I still go good on back

 

[Eagle1]

So, better tires on front vs back? 2wd, front wheel drive, 100%, best go on front. Rear wheel drive; its more up for debate; bald tires steer fine, but bald drive tires dont. Also, ive heard both arguments, if you have a blow out, do you want a front or rear? Ive heard you want a rear, ive also heard the argument, if you blow one, better a front cause you can still steer to counter the blow out?

Given the choice, I still go good on back

Bald tires suck in the wet.... on either end but I can control the rear with throttle but the front will go straight as soon as brake is applied or you need to navigate a 90+ degree downhill turn under hard braking.

I guess it makes a lot difference on the terrain, constant steep hills and twisty roads or flat straight roads. Gravel or pavement
All are factors... I just do not see being able to make a blanket statement.
Rare to have a 100 yard straight section here, all former cattle tracks.

 

[ray66v]

Being that most vehicles are FWD these days it makes even less sense.
Putting new tires on the axle that does not steer, brake or drive is a not a winner.

Guess I have mounted my own tires for so long I'm out of touch with the insanity of people

It didn't make sense to me either at first. Then, I did some reading.

If the rear wheels don't have traction, it's much harder to keep them behind you. Put bald tires on the back in the winter, and see an extreme demonstration of this principal. Every time you go around a corner, you are going to lose the back end, and spin out.

When you are an experienced driver, and the tires all have tread on them, this is a lot less of an issue. Because you react before it gets out of shape.

Since there are new drivers every year, and some people never learn how to drive, it can be an issue though.

 

[Runner]

I can't remember ever buying less than 4 tires at a time. I rotate my tires on all vehicles every 5,000 miles so they all wear out at the same time. Have been fortunate enough to not have a catastrophic failure on just one tire (except on the tractor) due to damage.

 

[WinterDeere]

I can't remember ever buying less than 4 tires at a time. I rotate my tires on all vehicles every 5,000 miles so they all wear out at the same time. Have been fortunate enough to not have a catastrophic failure on just one tire (except on the tractor) due to damage.

You haven't done much drag racing.

I do remember replacing only two tires on two occasions. Once was over 30 years ago, so I can't remember the reason anymore, but the other was when my wife hit a wheelbarrow-sized pothole coming off the PA turnpike at Quakertown in a Jaguar with 30% profile tires. She not only broke a wheel and bent a second, but also damaged two tires. All four tires were essentially brand new, so I only replaced the two damaged.

The funny thing about that story is that she had seen the pothole on her way to work that morning, and made special mental note of it, to remember its location driving home from work in the dark. But just as she was re-approaching that location that evening, an A-hole in a PA state police cruiser pulled an illegal pass forcing her over, right into that hole.

Not sure what the cop was doing, he never turned on his lights or pulled anyone over. He just kept going, oblivious to the damage he had caused.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

If the rear wheels don't have traction, it's much harder to keep them behind you. Put bald tires on the back in the winter, and see an extreme demonstration of this principal. Every time you go around a corner, you are going to lose the back end, and spin out.

Had a hard time getting up some hills in the winter with my first car, so I got two much more snow oriented tires and put them on the rear.

Learned real quick that while going up hills wasn't much of an issue, going around curves sure was. Predictably (in retrospect) now I couldn't just apply a bit more gas when the front started to loose grip since the rear wouldn't step out.

Understeer is no fun, so those rear tires came off within a few days and the car could be driven faster again.

 

[DarkBlack]

It didn't make sense to me either at first. Then, I did some reading.

If the rear wheels don't have traction, it's much harder to keep them behind you. Put bald tires on the back in the winter, and see an extreme demonstration of this principal. Every time you go around a corner, you are going to lose the back end, and spin out.

When you are an experienced driver, and the tires all have tread on them, this is a lot less of an issue. Because you react before it gets out of shape.

Since there are new drivers every year, and some people never learn how to drive, it can be an issue though.

Safely wise… you want your best tires up front. The front tires handle about 70% of the braking, plus steering. Slowing down is more important than speeding up in snow.
Having good grip in the rear on a rear wheel drive, with bald up front, just gives a false sense of confidence , when the driver accelerates, thinking they’re all right. Braking and steering will be severely diminished, and that far outweighs the benefits of better rear traction.
I’ve been driving on snowy/icy roads since 15-1/2 years old. Overconfident drivers are a menace in winter.

 

[Too many Kubotas]

Braking and steering will be severely diminished, and that far outweighs the benefits of better rear traction.

If the front tires remain the same, there should be no reason for them to not deal with stopping and steering the same as before changing the rear tires.

But as mentioned above, for someone who likes to steer with the throttle, putting the better ones in the rear was not a good idea.

And if I'm not mistaken, doesn't tire chains generally go on the drive tires?

 

[ray66v]

Safely wise… you want your best tires up front. The front tires handle about 70% of the braking, plus steering. Slowing down is more important than speeding up in snow.
Having good grip in the rear on a rear wheel drive, with bald up front, just gives a false sense of confidence , when the driver accelerates, thinking they’re all right. Braking and steering will be severely diminished, and that far outweighs the benefits of better rear traction.
I’ve been driving on snowy/icy roads since 15-1/2 years old. Overconfident drivers are a menace in winter.

I am only explaining the tire industry's position.

I don't abide by their rule on my vehicle.

 

[paulsharvey]

Anyone tried or seen the new style plugs, that are a silicon coated screw, that you screw into the hole?

 

[scootr]

Anyone tried or seen the new style plugs, that are a silicon coated screw, that you screw into the hole?

I have not but I can add this. I ran many off road creations in the desert. Some were sand buggies, dirt bikes, and others were just VW pans with a motor and cage. Flat tires were an every day event. I carried an assortment of pan head sheet metal screws that worked great for sealing punctures on the spot. Some of those screws remained in place for the life of the tire.
Pull out a nail or a stick and thread in a screw. So seems these would work just fine.

 

[paulsharvey]

.

 

[scootr]

Or $6 worth of screws

Amazon.com

 

[DarkBlack]

I’ll stick with gummy worms

 

[WinterDeere]

I’ll stick with gummy worms

That was my gut reaction, as well. But I can see how these screw things might work well. It’ll be interesting to see data on how well each holds over 3-5 years, on average.

 

[ning]

That was my gut reaction, as well. But I can see how these screw things might work well. It’ll be interesting to see data on how well each holds over 3-5 years, on average.

I'd think that you'd want something that would flex about the same amount as the tire around it - I'd be concerned about the threads of the screw gradually chewing up the sides of the hole.

 

[slingworks]

Worked mail routes for a few years. Average around 100 miles about half on gravel. Flat tires are a given. Always ran 10ply truck tires at lower pressure. Was/is not uncommon to end up with a few plugs in each tire. Sometimes up to 10 or 12. I always used rope plugs, they were the easiest to use and seemed to last the life of the tire. Sometimes being more durable than the tire itself. I could also stack them if the hole was really bad. any more than 3 or 4 would blow out though. Like I said, that's with reduced pressure. 25psi or so. Always carried a can of glue and a few packs of rope plugs!

I would never suggest using more than one rope plug in a hole though if I were running at full pressure.

 

[drizler]

My last adventure and plugs having used them for about 53 years quite successfully was a plug gun. That’s similar to the ones the shops were using in the 60s and 70s Bias tires. It’s one of those that you load the mushroom into the barrel and squeeze like a caulking gun until it pops out the end. Well two years ago I ran over a commercial building panel screw that put a nice almost quarter inch hole right in the tread of my F 150’s tire. I tried the ropes. I’ve used forever and even some slime but it kept leaking. That’s when I thought of trying the plug gun having not seen one since the early 70s. I shot that thing in which does have a mushroom head thinking I wonder how this will go. Fast-forward two years, held there better than all the rest of them and the tires are pretty well worn out now I put air in that tire once in two years.
I’ll also say it was the most painless thing to use I’ve ever tried. No hassles beyond reaming out the hole a little. If the head of the gun fits into the hole in the tire, you’re all good.

 

[DarkBlack]

My last adventure and plugs having used them for about 53 years quite successfully was a plug gun. That’s similar to the ones the shops were using in the 60s and 70s Bias tires. It’s one of those that you load the mushroom into the barrel and squeeze like a caulking gun until it pops out the end. Well two years ago I ran over a commercial building panel screw that put a nice almost quarter inch hole right in the tread of my F 150’s tire. I tried the ropes. I’ve used forever and even some slime but it kept leaking. That’s when I thought of trying the plug gun having not seen one since the early 70s. I shot that thing in which does have a mushroom head thinking I wonder how this will go. Fast-forward two years, held there better than all the rest of them and the tires are pretty well worn out now I put air in that tire once in two years.
I’ll also say it was the most painless thing to use I’ve ever tried. No hassles beyond reaming out the hole a little. If the head of the gun fits into the hole in the tire, you’re all good.

Like this?

https://www.amazon.com/GRAND-PITSTOP-Puncture-Repair-Mushroom/dp/B08BNPMS87

 

[DarkBlack]

No idea why my post needs “approval”