Quote:
Originally Posted by Smilodon
I've looked at the factory tire repair kit. Internal sealant goop with a 12 volt inflator.
Anyone used this yet in a real situation? I'm considering replacing it with a plug repair kit and battery powered inflator.
It seems like I could get down the road (slowly) in a few more situations with plugs. Maybe do both? Thoughts?
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My 2018 Hellcat came with a tire repair kit: Canister of tire sealant and an air compressor.
Had to use it when the left rear tire developed a pretty good leak while on the way to work.
The tire repair kit worked well. Just followed directions.
Positioned the tire -- by moving the car -- to have the valve stem low as possible to the ground. (I had managed to make it to a nice parking lot so I could work on the tire in safety rather than work on it on the side of a busy road with no real shoulder.)
Connected the air hose fitting to the valve stem then got the air compressor running.
The tire kit instructions called for the engine running so I started the engine and let it idle while the compressor ran.
Selected add sealant mode then after sealant was in the tire switched to inflate mode and continued to let the compressor run.
Early in the inflation phase some goop leaked out the puncture. It so happened the puncture was also low to the ground with the stem low to the ground.
Took some time for the air pressure to build in the tire. But it started coming up. In the meantime I was on the phone locating replacement tires. Found a dealer about 4 miles away with the right rear tires in stock.
After about 15 minutes tire pressure was up to 40psi. Cold air pressure was supposed to be 32psi but I wanted some extra air in the tire in case the goop didn't seal the leak.
Put everything away then headed to the dealer. Arrived with the tire pressure holding just fine. Not sure if this is allowed by Dodge but it occurred to me I might have been able to just stay with the repaired tire. Both rear tires -- factory original -- had 13.5K miles and both had plenty of tread left but I decided the replace the rear tires.
Anyhow got the rear tires replaced and was on my way.
Oh I had read about tire sealant fouling the tire pressure sensor or otherwise being a real mess to deal with but I hear not one peep out of the service manager, service advisor, or tech who brought the car around after replacing the tires. I do not recall the TPMS having to be replaced. I do remember that after the repair using the sealant I had no problem from the TPMS of that wheel (or any wheel).
Had there been any complaints I was going to point out I used a tire repair kit supplied with the car by the factory. If there are any complaints they should be directed to the factory. Really I would have preferred a real full size spare but of course that ain't going to happen...
Some prefer using a plug repair. And tire shops often use a combination plug/patch repair. In this case the tire has to be removed from the wheel.
I bought a plug repair kit some years ago but I never used it. Required removing the object that punctured the tire. I seem to recall having to use a file like tool to prepare the hole. And then using another supplied tool inserting the plug into the hole.
Pretty much the above would require I jack up the car remove the wheel to get good access to the hole. (The Hellcat didn't come with a tire jack or any other tools necessary to remove a wheel.)
So my feeling is the better method is the tire sealant method. If the puncture can be fixed by a plug it can be fixed by the sealant and using the sealant requires less work on my part.
After years of tire experience with performance cars fitted with high performance tires while I might get a tire fixed I almost always replace the tire punctured and in some cases -- if tire tread differences would be out of tolerance -- have both tires replaced.
But I do make exceptions. The most recent one -- make that two -- was with my M2. Got a tire puncture. Not a bad one. But the tire was losing air pressure and needed topping up -- which I loathe. Had car into local BMW dealer and tire was repaired. $60+ cost. Then not too long after the *other* rear tire developed a slow leak. Dealer fixed this tire, too.
Have put around 4K miles on the tires since and they are fine.
I considered replacing the tires but a new rear tire runs over $500 mounted/balanced/installed. Sure if I had to replace the tires I would but thankfully they were fixed and I didn't have to replace them.