jharry3 said:There is a plug on the market that is a combination plug and patch. You need a special tool, it pushes the plug through, but you bottom out with the base which is a larger diameter chemical patch. This method was for larger holes in bias ply tires but no way I would try it on a modern steel belted radial.
I used those all the time on steel belted radials, in the late 90s when I was working for a local tire/repair chain. (If you are in NE Ohio you probably have heard of them) No problem at all.
Of course, they required technique. You HAD to buff the inside of the tire smooth, you HAD to clean the rubber surgically clean (Fix-A-Flat and other similar products basically made this impossible, they soaked into the rubber), and you had to roll the patch into the tire.
The rule with those was, the patch could not extend into the sidewall. This was for practical reasons: the patch would break free within a hundred miles or so from the gyrating flexing motion. Been there, tried it, failed. Oddly enough this is where a Tech plug would work better, as there's nothing to break free. It becomes part of the tire, instead of a patch which is ultimately just a piece of rubber that is glued over the hole.
