Flat tires and tire repair

[aldive]

Has anyone noticed how difficult it has become to get a flat tire fixes?

On a recent 2k road trip, I had 2 flats ( via nails ). One in Gainesville, FL and the other Inverness, FL.

It took over an hour in each local to find someone that could actually fix a flat.

Please add your experiences......

 

[ok89]

well i havent had a flat on the Explorer (knock on wood) but on the old minivan with el cheapo Pep Boys tires I used to get them all the time. Each time I got em all I had to do was take it to pep boys and they put a patch in it. I know discount tire will also repair the tires. And Discount stresses that people should NOT use a Fix-A-Flat type product.

 

[mattadams]

I've never had a flat, but I have stopped to help people with them before. I use tire plugs all the time and these literally hold for several thousand miles I keep in my truck three things... tire plugs, tire patches, and an air compressor. The tire plugs are for n ail holes, etc. in the tread. The tire patches I have used on sidewalls before and while I wouldn't trust them for the life of hte tire, they'll definately last you til you can get a new tire. The compressor takes a while but is much better then nothing. We have also used tire plugs many times off-road and they come in quite handy!

 

[Hartman]

Discount Tire will plug flat tires for free, they're nice about that. BUT, if you tried to use something like Fix-A-Flat before hand, they'll charge you $30 to clean all the gunk out of the tire. I made that mistake.

IMO Fix-A-Flat type products are garbage anyway.

 

[TwoToneX]

Like hartman said, discount tire is a good place to go. I had two flats in Arizona and it wasn't too much trouble finding a place with a used tire, and fixed another. Fortunately I just switched to good tires, so I don't imagine I'll be busting any anytime soon...

 

[mattadams]

Originally posted by Hartman
IMO Fix-A-Flat type products are garbage anyway.

I agree, fix a flat is garbage, never really heard of it solving any flat tires? I've even heard of some tire people getting serious burns from that stuff... I know one guy at a local tire shop here had to go to the ER... seems a woman had a flat tire and for about a week every day was just pumping fix a flat in, brought it in for repair and didn't bother to tell anyone what she'd been doing, he went to go pop the tire off the rim to fix it, somehow there was an ignition source nearby (people had been smoking or something) and it engulfed him in flames. Luckily they had a fire extinguisher so I don't think he was hurt too bad, did get some nasty scars from it though!

 

[Hartman]

Originally posted by mattadams


I agree, fix a flat is garbage, never really heard of it solving any flat tires? I've even heard of some tire people getting serious burns from that stuff... I know one guy at a local tire shop here had to go to the ER... seems a woman had a flat tire and for about a week every day was just pumping fix a flat in, brought it in for repair and didn't bother to tell anyone what she'd been doing, he went to go pop the tire off the rim to fix it, somehow there was an ignition source nearby (people had been smoking or something) and it engulfed him in flames. Luckily they had a fire extinguisher so I don't think he was hurt too bad, did get some nasty scars from it though!

Not to be sexist or anything, BUT COME ON! Even if that woman had absolutely NO common car knowledge she could've figured out that that wasn't the right thing to do. I bet she feels like an idiot.

 

[leenjen]

i usually just buy a new tire.
i carry an air compressor and a can of fix a flat type stuff. that stuff worked on my daytona's tire. i put a can of it one of the tires that had a nail in it in March of 2000. the tire is still on my car and it holds air just fine
maybe it works better on low profile tires...

 

[MONMIX]

Once upon a time I worked in a tire shop.
( National Tire and Battery )
Let me tell you, Fix-A-Flat is some NASTY , NASTY stuff.
You get that crap on you and you stink the rest of the day!! Don't get me wrong , it works. But is just nasty.

The only flat story I have is when I got on in my 65 Chevy Impala , wnet to put on the spare. Guess what ?
That had gone flat too !!!!

The moral to that story. Check your spare from thime to time , espicially befor your next road trip.

 

[toad]

Im with Matt I carry A plug kit with me all the time and Have used it several times works great . likely weakens the tire as your cutting some of the belts but unless its a high speed tire I dont see a problem.
Oh yea if you buy a kit get the "T" handle set not the plain screw driver set, much easier on the hands . I learned this the hard way.