morning all,

i have seen posts about aftermarket spare wheels.

but for the first time in my motoring life, i no longer have one, just the small compressor and sealant for 2024 Octavia.

i have used sealant for years on my bikes but always carry a spare tube for emergencies.

so i was wondering if anyone has actually ever used this kit "in action" as it were...it would be nice to be able to have a few dry runs before having to use it at 3am in horizontal sleet but obvioulsy not an option.

cheers!!

Hi,

Fortunately, I do have a spare wheel.

However, I faced a minor puncture 2 years ago, with very slow pressure loss. As it was almost on the tyre edge, I knew Car repair centres would not accept a classic repair from the inside.

Lost for lost, I bought a DIY repair kit for €10, which contained 5 worms and 2 tools to install them.

Very easy to do and very efficient. I had driven over 10000 km with it without any pressure loss on my right front wheel, before I needed to replace both front tyres.

If you do have a compressor, it's a good solution.

Edited 29 December, 20241 yr by Bap33

I carry one of the worm kits in both our cars. Had to use it a few years ago and that tyre did around 4k miles on my repair. I actually forgot about it till the tyre guy commented when changing the tyres. 

 

Not used a foam can but have heard stories of the tyre being a right off from the glue buildup.

 

From my experience of one event I still have no issues recommending the worms.

I once used a foam "repair" on a motorcycle tyre. When I got the bike to a proper repair place, the mechanic said he couldn't patch a tyre that had foam in it as the adhesive for the mushroom plug would not stick to the tyre. 

 

I have no spare in my car. I still have the can of foam that came with the car, but supplement it with a worm repair kit and a foot pump. In seven years, I've not had a flat tyre, but use the foot pump all the time for topping up before long trips.

When a tyre fitter does not want to repair a tyre that has had foam / tyre weld used tell them to give you 10 minutes with the tyre.

You can clean it of the stuff.  Paper towels, rags, water or nip to a shop and buy some kitchen / bathrooms cleaner.

Then a little roughen with sand paper where the mushroom plug is going. (puncture site.)

 

They just are not going to mess about cleaning it. 

16 minutes ago, Ootohere said:

They just are not going to mess about cleaning it. 

Ha! Neither am I! I'll just carry the worms, thank you.

That is great for those doing that.

But that is not the person going to a Tyre & Exhaust centre and being told it has to be a new tyre because a temp job with tyre weld / foam was used and no repair can be done.

I was driving in Naples, hit a sharp curb stone and took a chunk out of the sidewall, which I didn't notice until Siracusa. Since the tyre had not lost any pressure, I rode it until I got to Palermo. I found a Pirelli dealer (I had Pirelli's on the car) and asked to buy a used tyre - anything to get me home. 

 

The owner's daughter came to help with the language barrier. She spoke to the mechanic, who had a look at the tyre. "I can fix that", he said. Two hours later, my tyre had been vulcanised (almost the same word in Italian) and I was on me way. No charge. I forced the guy to take five euros. Imagine that happening in a UK garage.

In the UK the Tyres usually get sent for a vulcanise repair. So unless you are at a place that does it then it will not happen.

There happens to be a place near me that does them.  Mostly Plant, HGV, Agricultural tyres, some 4x4,s.

 

eg.

 

Edited 29 December, 20241 yr by Ootohere

Great thread for  “ideas”,  this!   
Despite having a spare wheel in the skoda the info here has prompted me to buy a bargain rubber worm kit (of 2 tools, glue and 5 worms for under £4 on ebay).   Can see it being used one day on either minor slow punctures or trailer tyre, or our other cars to avoid using spacesaver spares.

Also Ootohere’d info on vulcanising- Redpath Wooler not too far away from us- handy to know - just in case.

cheers all!

 

lot of mentions of a worm kit.....we call them bacon strips on MTB tyres but i guess the same idea. you fill the hole with a bacon strip, then  dump some sealand in through the valve and inflate with a CO2 cartridge. i know this system works as i've used it   very satisying to see the tyre inflate.

having said that, i strongly adhere to the 7 Ps principle and always carry a spare tube, just in case.

i guess one of the things you pay your money for is the roadside assist....i'd feel a bit sheepish about a callout for a puncture but hey, they didn't give me a spare so i'l get over that.

I have never ever used a sealant with a tyre plug, they have their own sticky coating.

 

For a slow puncture where you have found a nail or screw in the tyre if you are well drilled in the procedure and have your tool to hand you can do the repair in less than 10 seconds without losing more than a tiny breath of air from the tyre in many cases without removing the wheel from the car.

 

The trick is to do each operation with one hand while the other holds the tool for the next

 

Pull out nail/screw.

 

Push in rotary rasp held in battery drill chuck and ream hole.

 

Pull out rasp insert tyre plug held in insertion tool.

 

Pull out tool, knife end cuts plug in half allowing extraction.

 

Trim plug flush.

On 28/12/2024 at 19:28, NZsteve said:

so i was wondering if anyone has actually ever used this kit "in action" as it were...

 

I've used the compressor & foam on one tyre. 

It didn't really fix the puncture & made an absolute mess of the inside of the wheel/tyre.

The only other time I needed one, I'd lost the valve from the tyre so no kind of kit would help 

 

I always spec a spare wheel since...

Manufacturers only provide these kits to save weight of the "base model" to reduced the weight of the car for emissions classifications.

1 hour ago, Ootohere said:

When a tyre fitter does not want to repair a tyre that has had foam / tyre weld used tell them to give you 10 minutes with the tyre.

You can clean it of the stuff.  Paper towels, rags, water or nip to a shop and buy some kitchen / bathrooms cleaner.

Then a little roughen with sand paper where the mushroom plug is going. (puncture site.)

 

They just are not going to mess about cleaning it. 

I'd be worried if they weren't doing that as standard!

 

But yes the goop does bring about "I don't want to" rather than "It can't be done."

I prefer a spare, having seen people getting no results from a sealant bottle, (I suspect the sealant was out of date)

I was chucking sealant into a deflating tyre for years and years on my MK1 Octavia, when I finally came to replace the tyre (myself with manual tyre changer) the gunk and slosh that came out not only looked but smelt disgusting, it was mostly putrid liquid with a solid mass resembling the alien in the movie of the same name, it cannot have done the wheel balance any good although the liquid would have, the drum on my Maytag commercial washer at the hôtel is hollow containing water which dynamically balances the load at max RPM.

thanks all,

 

concensus seems to be a worm kit which is exactly the same as the MTB tyre repair kit with bacon strips. i have a couple of those in the shed so into the car its going....

 

btw ootohere - i know wooler very well, the whole area in fact, my folks are buried there and i really need to take a trip over again, its been a while

 

sorry - off-topic and rambling

 

 

On 30/12/2024 at 08:22, Ootohere said:

In the UK the Tyres usually get sent for a vulcanise repair. So unless you are at a place that does it then it will not happen.

There happens to be a place near me that does them.  Mostly Plant, HGV, Agricultural tyres, some 4x4,s.

 

eg.

 

On 30/12/2024 at 08:22, Ootohere said:

 

 

@NZsteve I've not heard them called bacon strips before and been in MTB game for 30 years. Maybe it's a circles thing. As in who you hang out with.

Also worth noting that the noodles/worms/bacons you get for car tyres are a fair bit larger than for push bikes. I have a kit on each of my gravel and big bikes as well as for each of our cars. The car kit worms are at least double the diameter. I'm sure many holes could be patched with the bike version but I'd be looking at getting a car specific kit in your shoes.

i'll bw grabbing a set soon, chuck in the back of the car.

re bacon strips, these are what i was meaning...

https://www.mtbdirect.com.au/products/wolf-tooth-encase-bacon-strips-15-pack

Is this something you can really do at the roadside in pouring rain & get you motoring again? 

 

Finding the cause of the puncture isn't so easy in the dark, nor is removing a nail or a splinter key alone getting access to the tyre from the right angle..

 

I'd much prefer to have a full-size space saver knowing it would at least get me home without too much hassle/stress

This kind of repair kits are more meant for slow pressure loss. Typically, not the kind of puncture that you must address "at the roadside in pouring rain to get you motoring again" 😉

It's more for punctures, that quietly look for at home on a week-end.

13 hours ago, Gabbo said:

Is this something you can really do at the roadside in pouring rain & get you motoring again? 

 

Finding the cause of the puncture isn't so easy in the dark, nor is removing a nail or a splinter key alone getting access to the tyre from the right angle..

 

I'd much prefer to have a full-size space saver knowing it would at least get me home without too much hassle/stress

 

I try to cover all angles, I have a space saver spare carried all the time now instead of rear seats although I am wondering did I put a jack underneath everything?

 

I have a mushroom plug machine that could only work for a front wheel still on the car and also on the outer tread.

 

I have a tyre plug kit for repairs on or off of the vehicle.

On 02/01/2025 at 22:37, Gabbo said:

Is this something you can really do at the roadside in pouring rain & get you motoring again? 

 

Finding the cause of the puncture isn't so easy in the dark, nor is removing a nail or a splinter key alone getting access to the tyre from the right angle..

 

I'd much prefer to have a full-size space saver knowing it would at least get me home without too much hassle/stress

 

I've done it. Not in the rain but in the dark. 8 was on my own mind. Had the family been in the car and it taken a while to find the hole, I may have called for assistance. 

 

The GTE has no practical space for a spare of any size. Not does the Hyundai EV that is our other car.

A worm kit is my first line of defense.

Then a can of foam.

Then roadside assistance.

Somewhere in there would be a call to family or friends depending on where I am at the time and the time of day.