Tire Repair Sealant Products, Does It Work?

[alter_schwede]

hey all,

just got a call from a devastating friend of mine, reasons are:

> got a flat tire on his M3

> it is friday afternoon

> strange tire size 225/45/18

> service garages are closing at 3 - 4 pm on fridays

now the question is, it could happen to me too, cause I'm driving w/o the spare tire due to the space in the trunk!

are the tire sealant products on the aftermarket good enought to help you to get around for a couple days?

or do you have pursches the original Porsche product?

cheers,

Tony

Edited April 30, 2004 by alter_schwede

[wingless]

The source of the leak should be identified and repaired, if possible. A loose valve may be identified and resolved without breaking the bead. But, all other problems require that the tire be removed and inspected, after the leak location is determined. In many cases a patch may be applied as a permanent repair.

[earlyapex]

These products have a limit to the size of hole they will plug up and speed and distance that you can drive after the repair. I would not drive around for a few days with a "sealed" tire. I had an e46 M3 like your friend and I suffered a rear wheel puncture that was too large for the sealant to plug up and thus had the car flat bedded to the dealership. It took weeks for a replacement tire to be located as they wear backordered from the manufacturer. The M3 is now history and I'm happily driving the car of my dreams. Try to free up your trunk and get your spare tire back in there.

[rxbox]

i have a volvo t5r so modded out that the trunk cant even fit a stroller in it ( to think i used to haul lumber with it)....i am taking a chance also with no spare...

proper thing to do is getting runflat tires with tire pressure monitors ....goodyear has one that vettes and prowlers ride on but not sure how it would perform on a porsche or for that matter on a track ...

slightly more expensive too...

[alter_schwede]

what I know, the new GT3 doesn't come with a spare anymore and lots of other brand e.g. Mercedes offer the sealant as standard w/ no cost and a real spare would cost you a few extra euro though.

[b-man]

I have never used tire sealants. However, (I will probably get flamed for this but . . . ) I am a big believer and user of tire plugs. They are surprisingly effective.

b-man

[alter_schwede]

hey b-man,

what are "tire plugs"?

cheers,

Tony

[b-man]

I just did an internet search for a picture and came up with this article which can do a better job of explaining them than me. If you go to the local auto parts store, you will see the tire plug kits for sale. The brand in the picture is higher quality (and more expensinve) than what you will see in most stores. I would say that it's professional quality. The cheap ones and the expensive ones work equally well. But, I think the tools you get with the expensive ones will last longer.

http://www.off-road.com/toyota/tech/safetyseal

Here is another similar product. I have never tried these before but, it's is supposed to be very good or even better than traditional tire plugs.

http://www.dynaplug.com/product_info.html

b-man

[wingless]

The method I have found effective to to bring the damaged wheel / tire to a tire store, have them break the bead, then apply a patch onto the inside surface of the tire.

This works when the leak is in the tread area. Damage on the sidewall is not repairable.

The advantage is that the tire is examined, in detail, on both sides, to determine if it may be repaired safely.

[alter_schwede]

hey b-man,

that way to repair a sport tire is out of the question, it is definately not worth to repair a tire in that way.

I do understand for the SUVs/Off-roads when they are on their way somewhere in the forest/djungel where there are limited way to get to a garage for repair.

another question, how does Porsche warrenty policy say about flat-tire?

cheers,

Tony

[b-man]

another question, how does Porsche warrenty policy say about flat-tire?

cheers,

Tony

I know that here in the United States, the Porsche warranty does not cover flat tires in any way.

b-man