can a side wall puncture be pluggged? i have got a front and back tire on the warrior that got punctured,and was wondering, if i now need to replce them?, or if some one has plugged a side wall sucessfully.
thanks

 

Ive tried and failed miserable, its near impossible.

Team440ex

 

It depends on the size of the hole. Every tire place I've ever been (worked in a few also) say If it's a sidewall hole they won't fix it. There's just too much of a liability issue around it. IE: They fix it, someone goes flying down the road, turns, tire blow's out, person maimed or killed and a lawsuit follows as a result of them providing a faulty repair/service. Now can it be done, yes provided the hole isn't that large. There ususally patched and a tube is added as extra security. I've done a few for myself when I felt the circumstances were safe. IE: Tire used on a vehicle/situation where no life will be at risk and or very little weight or use. Like a wheel barrow or a car being restored as they typically just sit in garage, yard or driveway and are only rolled around. Tires for these types of cars are usually bald or inferior as who needs good tires to just roll something around. Later there usually replaced with good ones when the car is completed. The last one I repaired was on the rear of an ATC. This ATC only saw sand @ 2-4 MPH with only had about a 30Lb kid that rode it. So if the tires going to see normal action load/speed, I probably wouldn't have it fixed.

Rude Dog

 

I put 3 plugs in one hole on the front tire of my 4x4 and its been in all summer with no probblem.I put 6 in a guys Warrior and put silicone over it and it lasted all weekend and as far as i know he s still running it that way. By the way I do run sealant in my tires too and it helps when you plug tires.

 

I'm with Rude dog on this one. I repaired them the same way when I worked at a Goodyear tire shop, and we even had some "tire boots" that we used that is a special type of tire patch in conjunction with a tube.

Here's some key points:
If you aren't willing to accept all the responsibility for it not working or failing when you least expect it I'd buy a new tire or two.
Most generally for higher speed vehicles it's not recommended.
The more the sidewall flexes the less chance it will work.
Stiff sidewalls in low load low speed applications seem to work the best.
This means no jumping, hitting obstacles, or towing.
If it's just a thorn or small stick hole I'd show it to the tire person, but if it's larger I'd toss the tire.

hope this helps

 

when i bought my 400EX used, it had Razrs, and the guy i bought it off of gave me the stock tires too. the front tire had a plug in it. it was a pretty big hole too. maybe i should see how well the patch works before i sell them.
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Plug away!

I have 4 in my right front in just one hole. been that way all season. You guys are talking radial car tires, your right though they wont plug them in the sidewall on a car. They may patch em, depending on where they are. but when you plug a sidewall on a cars tire you have to ream and break the steel belt to get through, since it supports the weight of the car the steel belting will continue to fail and eventually blow out

but this is an atv, so plug... Im partial to the kit that pepboys sells, its 20$ but will last you a lifetime on atv riding, they are called camels and are the longest lasting plugs I have tried, the black tar ones at 7/11 wont last more than a month since they dry out.