Tire plugs - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

san rensho · 12-04-2011, 02:26 PM

I fixed a flat on the rear with a tire plug. So whats the concensus on plugs? Some say they are unsafe at speed and not to use them, that the correct remedy is to replace the tire.

Opinions?

Jake D · 12-04-2011, 02:53 PM

I put a new set of tires on my car last year and within a month I got a hole/slash on the tire right as it starts to curve by the sidewall. When I worked at a repair shop we wouldn't plug tires near a sidewall because its more dangerous than say the middle. With it being my car I decided to try to plug it so I could make it home but it held up.
I didn't like the tires so I decided I'd just keep running them and burn them off. It took me a year.. Like an idiot I did a couple high speed runs near 150mph with no issues from the plug. Seems a little foolish looking back at it now but oh well..

Anyways, I replaced the rear tires the other week, and guess what happened.... Yup got a nail within a week. It's in the middle of the tire so I plugged it.

I would say if your tires are getting thin or if you don't like them then swap them out otherwise just stay on top of the pressure and switch them when they get thin.

san rensho · 12-04-2011, 04:07 PM

Luckily the hole is right in the center of the tread. And, the tires are expensive Bridgestone that only have about 6k miles on them and have tons of tread left.

I've noticed that the insides are just starting to wear a little more than the outsides, so I'm thinking of rotating the tires side to side and at the same time getting the punctured tire patched from the inside while they have the tires off the rims.

BYprodriver · 12-04-2011, 05:52 PM

Plugging a tire from the outside is a temporary fix at best. Sometimes it can cause the tire to seperate & it always lowers the high speed capabilities. The tire should always be patched from the inside but this still lowers the speed rating of the tire like any puncture, that being said there are interior patches with integral plugs for larger holes & I don't know how much they lower the speed rating. Sidewall puntures cannot be repaired because the sidewall is constantly flexing & helps support the weight of the car

jaykay · 12-04-2011, 06:44 PM

Both my rears have had a nail stuck in them....lots if construction around TO. The punctures were in the middle of the tread away from the side wall.

They were patched from the inside by a shop that sees a lot of race and track cars. It was non issue for them. They told me that month they had pulled enough nails to build a barn.

Since then I have run the car on a circuit that is tight and very hard on tires... They were melting! I have run them at a high speed track as well with no problems. I know of other that have plugged track tires as well.

There are guys on here that are dead against it for the track

A Porsche dealer will not plug tires

I would look for a competent race prep shop and have them take a look

Hopeful this helps

kabel · 12-05-2011, 05:46 AM

DIY plugs really should just be a temporary fix. As soon as you can, always have a tire shop do a patch/plug from the inside.

I would and have autocrossed on a plugged & patched r-comp tire as well as a plugged & patched street tire. I would be less than enthusiastic about doing a track day on a plugged tire, but my guess is it would be fine as well.

986_c6 · 12-05-2011, 10:00 PM

Just my exp, but have plugged many tires of all types of cars (wife is a magnet for nails in tires ; ( , no problems on the street, no pressure leak, etc.

I wouldn't track them though.

harryrcb · 12-06-2011, 01:04 PM

Plugs for radial tires is ridiculous and dangerous. A radial must be plug patched and performed with proper procedures or it can fail as well. If done properly they will hold up. The tire should only have one plug patch or it should be replaced. I know people who do other things and sometimes get away with it. Most tire shops and dealer will NOT patch high performance tires because of liability issues Here is a picture of the correct patch to use.

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Bob O · 12-07-2011, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaykay

Both my rears have had a nail stuck in them....lots if construction around TO. The punctures were in the middle of the tread away from the side wall.

They were patched from the inside by a shop that sees a lot of race and track cars. It was non issue for them. They told me that month they had pulled enough nails to build a barn.

Since then I have run the car on a circuit that is tight and very hard on tires... They were melting! I have run them at a high speed track as well with no problems. I know of other that have plugged track tires as well.

There are guys on here that are dead against it for the track

A Porsche dealer will not plug tires

I would look for a competent race prep shop and have them take a look

Hopeful this helps

I had the same thing happen a couple of days before the last DE. New tires (less the 1000 miles). Picked up a screw in the right rear tire. There was no time to replace tire since Tire Rack would have taken four or five days to get them to the shop, no one in town had a replacement tire, and the DE was the next day. This particular shop is owned by a long time SCCA racer. He had no issue at all with plugging the tire, from the inside and sending me out to the track. He stated that he had plugged hundreds of track and street tires with no issues. I did three days on the track and have taken at least one long (3000 mile) trip with these with no issues at all. (And yes, mine were also melting around the edges at the DE) I think if the plug is done from the inside and done correctly there shouldn't be any problems. Doing it correctly is the key though. I'm sure there will be differing opinions, and the dealers certainly won't do it, but in my experience a plug done from the inside is just fine. That is if the hole is far enough away from the sidewall!

Bob

Johnny Danger · 12-07-2011, 09:47 AM

A couple of times in the past I resorted to "plugging" a tire as well . My experience has been, if the puncture is relatively small and it's located along the centerline of the tire, there should be no problems. Provided, however, that the plug/patch is done by a qualified and experienced individual .

DenverSteve · 12-15-2011, 08:00 PM

Same as Johnny and above. No problems ever seen with plugging. If you're taking it in to a tire shop, have it patched and plugged. If you're doing it yourself, and there's no leak, it will be fine. As stated above, I probably wouldn't race it, but I don't do that anyway.

coreseller · 12-15-2011, 11:43 PM

We built a house in a development 14 years ago that had ongoing construction for several years after we moved in, plenty of drywall screws and roofing nails. I'm guessing I've plugged upwards of 20 tire punctures between my, the wife's and kids cars, never had an issue. Never tracked any of them either though. If I would have taken the same steps others here have, that would total up to some serious coin for all those new tires.