HOW TO USE A TIRE PLUG KIT
Introduction
Even when Off-roading is fun enough to give you the thrill of your life, it can be a risky endeavor to your set of tires. The rough Off-roading terrain does not come short of all kinds of sharp objects lying on the road. Occasionally, these sharp objects may take chances against your tires and, most of the time, they can’t get through because the material used to make the tire is hard enough to resist puncture. However, in an unfortunate situation, you will be obliged to cut short the fun and change a tire. What happens when you don’t have an extra tire? That’s sad to even think of.
When a tire is down, and you had not carried an extra, you are only left with one card to play with, repairing it. I understand how stressful that sounds, especially when you think about taking the whole tire off, performing the repair, and finally getting it back in place. However, since it might have been too early to cut the fun short, you have to get your Jeep rolling in the dirt again. Interestingly, I recently found out that repairing a car tire is not as hard as everyone thinks. With the help of a tire-plug kit, it is an easy process that will not take much of your effort or time.
The Tire Plug Kit
I can describe the Tire Plug Kit as a kit with an assortment of tools that make tire-repair an easy task. This repair kit can be sourced from significant shops across the world like Amazon, and you can get one too at your local car-repair shop. This 8-piece Tire Plug kit contains every tool and accessory you need to patch up your punctured tire, all on your own. The components of the kit are;
- 1 T-Handle Reamer.
- One tube of Rubber Cement.
- 5 Tire Strings.
- 1 T-Handle Plugger.
The T-handle reamer and handle plugger is strong enough because they have been designed to go through the punctured tire’s rubber part. The tire strings are adhesive ‘strips’ made from a rubber component and are used to seal the punctured part. The Rubber Cement is used to reinforce the tire strings’ adhesive characteristics; in case they need some reinforcement.
Repairing a Punctured Tire using the Tire Plug Kit
You cannot repair your punctured tire effectively if you do it when attached to your car. The preliminary step towards fixing the puncture quickly is by taking off the tire and work on it on a separate ground. The next step will be to identify the material that might have caused the puncture. That could be a strong thorn, a nail, or any other material that may have pierced the tire. You can do that quickly by locating where the tire is letting out its pressure. On most occasions, that can be heard as a fizzing sound, or even louder.
If the material, say nail, is still there, remove it carefully to prevent further damage to the tire. Pass the T-Handle reamer through the hole left when you have pulled out the nail. That might require some effort, though. The reason for passing the reamer through the handle is to make the puncture-hole even and clean to ease the repair progress. Pick one tire string and pass it through the T-Handle plugger’s ‘eye.’ Be careful not to pass the whole tire strip through to the other side as it works best when it is evenly-sized on both sides of the plugger. Apply some rubber cement on the tire-strip to make it more adhesive.
Insert the plugger that now has the torn strip passed through it into the puncture you wish to repair. This process needs some effort, too, since the prick may be tiny sometimes. Again, be careful not to pass the plugger until all the strip gets into the tire. You can leave 3-4 inches above the tire’s surface, then quickly pull the plugger out and leave the adhesive tire strip to fill the void left by the puncture. The tire strip will automatically conform to the prick and act as an air-tight sealant, and you’re practically done with repairing your punctured tire.
You can cut off the excessive tire strip that is now popping out on your tire, but it does you no harm by leaving it just as it is. Lastly, you can bolt your car tire back and get the engine revving again. However, there are a few precautionary measures one should take while carrying out the process. One should be careful when using the tire reamer and plugger as they can cause bodily harm if used against your hand with reasonable effort. The rubber cement is extraordinarily adhesive and should not at one place come into contact with the eyes. Lastly, since you may have gone Off-roading with your kids or kid-friends, let them not play around with the contents of the tire plug kit.
In a nutshell, that is the simplest way of getting your punctured tire back to action when you are not near a gas station or garage. The method mostly applies to tubeless tires, and you don’t even need to get the tire off the rim when performing the repair. The Tire Plug kit is cheap and readily available in local shops countrywide. Therefore, since prevention is better than cure, it would be advisable if you walked along with this kit in your trunk. It might save your day someday; who knows?