I just got a puncture in the center of one of my run flat tires. I have both the Slime pack as well as a plug kit and I'm trying to decide which fix I'd like to use long-term.

I've heard anecdotally that either can be a permanent solution, even for run flat tires, but I'm not sure which is better long-term.

Any suggestions/opinions?

Thanks

 

my vote is for a plug kit..

The best is to unmount the tire and patch from the inside out.. Most tire shops can do this for around $20. That is cheap for "peace of mind" when motoring.

My two cents..

 

Plug Kit

Or professional repair.:th umbsup:

 

sorry to hijack the thread.. should i change run flat to normal tires?

 

I'd go with professional repair. Slime is meant to get you into the nearest repair shop, so not needed for runflats. IMO, same is true for the plug.

 

This really doesn't have much to do with whether to slime or plug a tire.

You can search for "non runflat" tires and find that it is recommended for those that don't need runflats or don't want runflats but need to replace their tires.

Non runflats will work fine- cost less, wear better, ride and handle better.

 

Dynaplug.

You're lucky you don't have one near the tread wall.

 

I've plugged several punctures in runflats, and the repairs have lasted the life of the tires.

Many shops won't plug or patch runflats, but that's not because either type of repair is necessarily unreliable. It's because the shop has no idea if or for how long the tire was run "flat", and there might be hidden damage to the structure of the tire. The shop doesn't want to be the last people that touched a tire that later ends up rupturing at an inopportune time.

With all of my repairs, I always caught the leak before the tire got anywhere near flat, so I wasn't worried about damage to the tire.

 

I have heard that the slime that is used creates quite a mess when dismounting the tires later.

 

I've heard that Slime is water-based and can be washed out when the tire is removed from the wheel. I've also heard that Fix-A-Flat is not water based and cannot be washed out -- leading to tire places being unwilling to repair the tire. This is all hearsay. I have no direct knowledge on any of it.

 

my understanding is you must tell the shop you have used slime, or they will be in for a surprise when unmounting and quite possibly annoyed . But it is water soluble and easily removed.

 

I used fix a flat cans on my old R53s. They turn into water inside the tire leading to a puddle when the tire is dismounted. I had my tech keep the tire filled up so I could see what it looks like. There was a good amount of water in the tire, at least 8oz.

Also, the fix a flat/slime will slosh around and throw the tires out of balance. So instead of just plugging it and being done with it, you need to dismount the tire and let the water out and then rebalance.

And like another poster said, if you drove on the runflat without any air in it throw it away: it's toast.