I have had my problems (twice) where I had pinched the sidewall and punctured (more like slit) the tire near the bead and also adjacent near where the tread starts on the sidewall. I tried plugs on these and had some problems. They were both large enough holes to need multiple plugs. I got the plugs to hold but soon found they would leak so I had to go and take the tire off the rim and work from the inside. What I have found is this: The glue that comes with tire patches is weak. the patches themselves are too small and too stiff. The flexing the tire does at the tread is far too much for the thick patch to follow and the will eventually leak.

My fix: The plugs near the rim I coated from the inside with contact cement like you get from home depot. This effectively coated the plug like slime would but dries flexible and stays sealed. The patch I finally came up with was to take a tire tube and cut a patch from it. the tube rubber is far more flexible than a patch and after scuffing the patch and tire and cleaning well with acetone or other solvent, I applied the larger more flexible patch to the hole using the same contact cement, allowing the cement to dry like the label says.

This patch has held far better than any I have bought. even though the patch is thin, I don't worry because it would only be a problem if i had another incident in the exact same spot on the tire (not likely). I still carry plugs anyway but not because of a fear of failure of the patch.

Total cost was less than 10.00. 5.00 for glue and 5.00 for bicycle tube from Walmart. and I have enough left over to make more repairs than I would ever want to.

I thought about double layering at the time but felt this would work against the theory of the flexibility of the thinner patch.

Hope this helps.
Eric

 

I havnt done that since working in the gas station while in HS..1977/78...we used to rough up the area with a wire brush like wheel thing.. spread on some glue..light it on fire..blow it out after a few seconds and place the patch over the hole.... For most cars we only used 1 patch.. did use 2 a couple of times on a Jeep tire...(larger patch over a smaller patch)

 

they do sell plug-patches. it's a rubber plug in the middle of a patch,you pull the plug thru the injured area and roll the patch,permanent repair. most tire dealers have them.

 

So- I did the double patch from the inside- hope it holds!

Here's a pic of my "like new" 27" x 14"mudlite XTR's - He actually gave me 4 front tires & 2 rear tires - all for $125

 

Inside repair is the way!!!! Had a friend put a slice in a relatively new 42”Boggier supper swampier on his jeep. The cut was around 2 1/2 inches long and went from side to side and damaging some cords. I called a guy from my home town of Niagara Falls that has an industrial tire store that fixes tires you can stand in that are used in the salt mines in NY. He sent me an inside patch and the glue. This patch was (not kidding) was like 14” and was in an X pattern with an arrow on it that when installed the arrow need to be put on pointing to the bead. It also has cords in it to put the strength back in the tire from the broken cords. We buffed out the area sprayed down with Cab cleaner put the glue on and let it sit 10 minutes. Laid the patch on it and roll it flat making sure all the edges were down. Let it sit for 2hrs to cure put it back on the rim and aired it up to 25lbs. Put it on the jeep and It has not lost air as of yet. This was about a month ago. Now as recommended by the guy in the Falls this tire is not road worthy this way but the jeep does not see the main road. The patch and glue was $42.00 with shipping. When you think that the tire was over 500.00 new, this worked. The Patch was made by TECH Tire industries and come in sizes from 2 inch to 43 inches and you must use their glue as he says it vulcanizes the to rubbers together. Had to tell you the story!!!

 

I have a brand new ATV with a tire which has a tiny pinhold leak in between the treads. Hate to make the hole larger just to put a plug in. How do you get the tire off without destroying the bead?

 

Valve core needs to be removed and the tire beads has to be broken down. Best to have a tire shop break the beads or you can carefully use a 2x4 as some have done and drive over it without damaging the rim! Tire can be slipped out enough to rough up the area where the leak is and either use a simple patch or better yet a plug patch. If it's real small hole a bottle of tire sealant will do the job without breaking the tire down. We installed sealant on almost all machines we sold.A pinhole leak shouldn't be a problem with tire sealant.

 

If you're set on getting it patched/plugged, I'd take it to a tire shop that does big truck tires. They'll prep it right and use a plug/patch like OPT suggested. Got one done for my bike for 10 bucks and haven't had any problems with it.

 

propane will soften up that tire bead

 

Maybe not this weekend.