Plug or patch?

[Hypoid]

I sorta pranked the neighbor last night. He's retired, has back problems, was out trying to change a tire on his little Ranger about dusk as I was walking the dogs:

Me: Whatcha doing?
Him: Trying to change a tire, where do they keep the spare?
Me: Under the back I think...Got a flashlight?
Him: In the house. How do you get the damn spare outta there?
Me: I think it lowers on a cable, there's a crank for it somewhere. Let me put the dogs up.

I take the dogs home, trying to remember where I put my patch kit. I find the kit, I have plugs, cool! I go back with a flashlight and wrench for the lugs and he's not at the truck. His floor jack is still there so I knock on the door, his wife answers:

Me: So where's the old man?
Her: In the shower.
Me: I came to help him with the flat, I have tire plugs.
Her: He got discouraged, decided he'd change it in the morning.
Me, evil grin forming: How about I fix the flat anyway, just to mess with his head?
Her, starting to smile: OK.
Me: Where should I put the jack when I'm done?
Her, pointing: Over there.
Me, with BSEG: Don't tell!
Her: OK.

As I'm rolling his flat tire to my house I'm starting to think: He's had this Ranger for a few months now, is he turning into one of those Elitist Snobs? Is he gonna throw a snit because I used a plug instead of a patch?

While I wait for his reaction, I want to ask you guys what you prefer for tire repair: Plugs or patches, and why?

[shawns 64 F100]

I prefer patches as long as I can get the tire off and mounted back on myself, A plug wont always seal and usually doesnt last as long as the tire can, they are for fast repairs to get you home. I do use plugs but dont feel as comfortable with one, matter of fact I am gonna plug one on grumpy until I can get it patched :D
oh if you want hes parked in my garage but I can take the tire off for you if you want and you can stop by while im inside eating ice cream, either way you can fix it for me, ill pretend I didnt even know and act all suprised when you are finished

[Hypoid]

Ice cream????

Now I'm really reaching, remember the big flap over tread seperation? I remember some dog and pony show about improper repair that failed to re-bond the plies allowing further seperation. Is that fact or crap???

[84broncoII]

A plug is a plug and a patch is a patch .when I worked in a station that sold tires .eons ago .We used to charge more for the patches because you had to dismount the tire to get the patch on ,use the machine electricity all that .I had patches go bad didn't matter what you did burn em scratch em too close to the sidwall and they would just fall off delaminat whatever sometimes a plug in the same place would work I think cause the outer edges didnt reach the sidwall with a plug .either way we didnt warrentee any patchwork as it wasnt OEM? It was all up to the customer at the time of the repair .We could order tires and have them in the store usually coupla hours thats if we didn't have one in stock .
As far as personal expierence goes I have had both fail and I always carrie plugs .If it fails I have pulled over to the side of the road and put in another plug that worked untill the tires were bald .I also carrie a compressor with Me in My daily driver . When I was younger I used to have this hose that I could attach to the flat tire and then to the other tires in succesion and pump up the flatt tire so all the tires had equal pressure untill I could get to the compressor at the station and pump up all the tires on the vehical to the correct pressure .I havent seen one of these hoses in along time though dont know if someone still sells one I thought at the time it was a great idea as i couldnot afford a compressor for My truck

[mattadams]

I've used plugs off-road several time, and they worked pretty decent. Not that I'd count on it 100%, but it'll sure get you off a trail!

[Hypoid]

The old boy just came by. His wife watched him get up, didn't tell him the tire was fixed. He went out with 4-way in hand to change a tire that wasn't flat. He couldn't remember fixing it the night before, and where did the jack go???

LOL, He didn't throw it through the front window or anything.

[Hunter]

I sold tires for 15 years. This is the low down from the tire maufactures. A plug is fine for a bias ply tire but not for radials. The problem with a plug in a radial is that air can seep past the plug inside the tire. Although the plug may 100% seal the leak on the out side. This can cause the air to get between the ply's and seperate the tire.

As always you do what you have to get off the road again. If you use a plug on a radial tire it is advisable to have it removed then patched. The best way is a plug-n-patch witch does both.

Just my opinion I could be wrong. :-)

[84broncoII]

Back in the old days when Most tires had tubes the tire manufactures used to say the same thing get a new tire as soon as possible .or a new tube at the very least but only getting a tube wasn't safe because thier is always tire damage when a leak occures .Kinda makes You think that everyone wants You the owner of the tire is the responsibvle one in the event of any damage when My mother was younger the guys used to warrenty all the tires on her car and then put little pin holes so she would always come back she was a real looker in those days

[RayLCC]

I usually prefer long cut, but given the two choices I would have to say plug. Those nicotine patches taste terrible! :) Back when I was working in the shop I was told that patches were best cause they would hold more securely. I was told that plugs failed more often. Whether that is actually true or if they just prefered it cause it cost more is up for debate.

[Professahillblly]

i would reccomend using a patch, now im still kinda young and probably dont know the most of tires yet but i have worked in a small town tire shop for the past 8 monthes and we only use patches with the occasional patch-n-plug... i cant count the number of tires we got in becasue a guy would plug his tire, not knowing that it didnt seal right, and blew it on the highway or in the field... we patch everything from lawnmowers and dolley carts to cars and trucks, to semi-trucks, to combines... patches only fail if a guy tries to patch a ruined tire, uses the incorrect size of patch for the hole, or the patch is imporperly used. But i lived in a small town full of farmers and truckers, so it may vary depending on location....

[RevT]

I've only ever used plugs and never had one fail. I worked at a small store in BFE louisiana and we (I) plugged tires, never heard of folks coming back for any reason. I have one in my expy tire now going on about 3 months.

RevT

[NorthernStar08]

I usually prefer long cut, but given the two choices I would have to say plug. Those nicotine patches taste terrible! :) Back when I was working in the shop I was told that patches were best cause they would hold more securely. I was told that plugs failed more often. Whether that is actually true or if they just prefered it cause it cost more is up for debate.

I was begining to wonder where you went... you were being qwiet for a while....

that or i am blind

[RayLCC]

I was begining to wonder where you went... you were being qwiet for a while....

that or i am blind

Sorry, been away for awhile. problems abound, but the good part is the Explorer is almost ready to hit the street tomorrow. I have been away a while. Did you buy a truck?

[NorthernStar08]

Sorry, been away for awhile. problems abound, but the good part is the Explorer is almost ready to hit the street tomorrow. I have been away a while. Did you buy a truck?

Yea unfortinly its a chevy I am looking at a f250 tomorrow for my BF so that I can try to offroad this season (shhhh dont tell him I am not allowed to take the trucks tail cherry)

[84broncoII]

I've only ever used plugs and never had one fail. I worked at a small store in BFE louisiana and we (I) plugged tires, never heard of folks coming back for any reason. I have one in my expy tire now going on about 3 months.

RevT
I've had two plugs go bad on Me in My life one I drove the tire till it was bald litterally and I think thwere just wasnt enuf rubber anymore to hold the plug in LOL the other time the hole was rather large but in the center of the tire the plug didn't come out like the bald tire but it leaked really bad so I put in two plugs at once and drove on it till I could afford a replacement :o The patches i had go bad on Me were anyones guess as to why they went bad to close to the sidewall too big of a hole installer error I dont know I do know I plugged a coupla botched patches and they worked till I got different tires