Value kit, a solid (temporary) fix!
Noticed what I thought was a nail in my tire when I parked, and was able to overnight this kit to plug it. These are the classic “bacon strip” tire plugs that are a squishy sticky red rubber material, and they don’t require vulcanizing fluid. The value of this kit is that the tools are all metal and have excellent T-handles, which you will appreciate if like me, your puncture actually turned out to be a flat piece of metal. The T-handle tools made it possible to get the reamer into the very flat hole (had to lightly hammer it into the flat puncture hole using a loose padlock). Also made it easy to slam the plug in and yoink the tool back out. I’m glad I got these with the full metal tools given how much force was needed given that my tire was still seated and holding 22psi at the start of the repair (and was still holding 17 psi at the end of the repair). Even if you’ve never used one of these before, these quality metal tools will make it easy to get the leverage/apply the force needed. I used this to plug a motorcycle tire and had the benefit of doing this the first time at home. You’ll need to add a pair of needle nose pliers to the kit to use this on the side of the road, and will probably also want a compressor to add pressure back after repair. Tip: fill a container with water and then add some dish soap (without foaming it up) and pour on the repair after it sets to verify it’s not leaking (if you see white foam or bubbles, it’s still leaking). Read more
