Tire fix in a can?

[oprn]

Today I went into our local parts jobber and bought a can of tire fixer. The guy behind the counter said "You are lucky Xxxx isn't here right now or you would have got the lecture on the evils of that stuff!"

Well, I bought it to fix a slow leak on my firewood trailer that goes 15 mph behind the tractor across the field to the bush and back. No way I'm spending $45 + tax on a repair or $180 + install and tax for a new tire that sees maybe 10 miles a year! It takes a week to go flat.

Seemed to go in and inflate the tire pretty nice so we will see if it stops the leak.

Then I'm thinking "Wait a minute! This is pretty slick, we don't carry a spare in our Manx clone - would this get us out of a bind? Don't take up much room!"

So - what is this great evil I need to be aware of and what are your thoughts? Support your opinions please!

[Dale M.]

I had slow leak in tire that would lose maybe 10 psi in 3-4 weeks.... There was not any holes in tire and it was off rim three time and rim cleaner and bead cleaned and sealer applied and remounted..... Out of frustration I did the fix-a-flat can thing and enjoyed no more leaks till tire was eventually replaced....

Hope you have same experience...

An irony to all this is many new cars don't even have spare tire, but comes with the "can"...

Dale
_________________
“Fear The Government That Wants To Take Your Guns" - Thomas Jefferson.

"Kellison Sand Piper Roadster" For Street & Show.
"Joe Pody Sandrover" Buggy with 2180 for Autocross (Sold)
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All suggestions and advice are purely my own opinion. You are free to ignore them if you wish ...

[oprn]

Yes I have heard that some new cars have a similar can instead of a spare.

The tires on this trailer are old and weather checked so if it works good but if it doesn't oh well. I have only lost $17! My concern on the Buggy is will this stuff damage the rim? The rubber? Or what is this lurking Boogeyman?

Like you Dale, I have a tire on our Dodge 3500 that goes 1/2 flat in about 3 weeks. It has been like that for 4 years now. The tire shop has tried to fix it twice and last fall I put all new rubber on the truck and it still goes flat. I may try that one next!

Last summer we had a concerning incident. Stopped to gas up the Buggy and I noticed a nail stuck in the tread on the rear tire. It was a weekend and we were just about to head up into the mountain pass with no spare. Not the best situation! I found a department store in a mall that sold tires so went there. We pulled the nail out and soaped it up, fortunately it didn't leak and still hasn't so we got lucky.

[Q-Dog]

The fix a flat type stuff is supposed to be used to get you going until you can fix the tire properly. It says so on the can. It should not be used long term.

There is something called Slime that can be left in tires all the time. It was first developed for mountain bike tires but they now market it for many different uses. I use it in my lawn tractor tires.
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Brian

'69 Dune Buggy
'69 Beetle Convertible
'70 Beetle

[oprn]

[cbeck]

My experience is that the stuff in a can does not play well with tpms.
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My cut in half and rebuild thread
www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=647779

[joescoolcustoms]

The Fix-a-flat is highly corrosive to rims and especially to aluminum rims. It can be flammable, and creates a nasty mess inside the tire/rim to clean up once doing the repair.

Great idea to get out of a tight spot. But get it properly fixed on something you care about rather quickly. I used it on my riding lawn mower and it worked until I wore it out. Be sure to tell the tire repair shop it is in the wheel before they start work on it, or be prepared for a possible beat down by the tire guy.

Good long haul device to help out in a buggy when your day goes bad. Every buggy trip across the US, one of us had a can of it just in case.
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Bad News Racing 2018 NORRA 1000 3rd in Class
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Everyone is gifted. Some just do not open the package.

Looks like it was painted with a live chicken,polished with a brick and buffed with a pine cone

[oprn]

[hillmotorsports]

Tire pressure monitor sensor.
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Rosemarie and Paul Hill
Morrisburg, Ontario

(With way more projects than spare time!)

[didget69]

It's a mess to clean up later.

https://www.campanellas.com/car-tips/tire-repair-with-fixaflat-use-caution

Bryan
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I never found the need to impress people with any mechanic certifications, trophies or track wins... unless it was for Mom to post on the refrigerator door.

[tgodber]

I have heard that once some tire guys know the green goo is in there they may refuse to work on it.

I carry the tire kit with cords and reamer. Works very well for nails. Doesn't help with bead leaks.

I have a couple tires that leak down in a week. good candidates for the green goo.
_________________
My wife said I never listen to her.
Or something like that!

[oprn]

In light of the article linked here, is the fix in a can supplied by car manufacturers any different?

[weasel_ugs]

When I was a tech if they used fix a flat I wouldnt patch the tire. I heard the stuff was flammable and if your buffing a tire for a patch and hit a wire cut by whatever caused a flat one spark and boom.

I have also seen how corrosive that stuff is long term, a guy with a Cadillac used it prior and the rims were so bad they had to be replaced.

To some of the posters in here with slow leaks, did anyone ever relace their valve stems? They are rubber and wear out too and can cause slow leaks. I have replaced valve stems on wheels where nobody could find a leak and the tire stopped going flat. I know not all shops replace the valve stems when they replace tires. Just a thought.

[oprn]

Here is another product that seems to be intended as a permanent fill. A pre-emptive thing.

[slalombuggy]

The propellant is extremely flammable. When I worked for Goodyear in the 90's we had a service bulletin to break down ALL tires before repairing them. Appearantly a Goodyear tech had just plugged a tire with the fixer in it. While he was reaming the hole to fit the plug the contacts between the reamer and belt in the tire caused a spark. Blowing the tire off the rim while sitting on the tire machine and putting the tech halfway through a wall causing sever chest and back injuries.

ALWAYS TELL THE SHOP THAT YOU HAVE USED THIS PRODUCT.

From the few tires I repaired over the years that had the goo in them I could tell that there was a lot of ammonia (very corrosive) in it, the smell would just about take your breath away on some. It was also a fricken horrible mess to clean up to get a patch to stick.

I've used them myself a couple of times to get me home, but they are not to be left in for a long tire,

I use a product like the Liquitube in my race tires as they are so thin they are constantly loosing air. It's not a replacement for having tires that are in good roadworthy condition, but, it will help with small pinhole leaks in tires or persistent bead leaks do to rim pitting.

We also used it in our ice racing tires when we ran bolted tires and with it we didn't have to worry about running liners and tubes in the bolted tires.

brad

[cbeck]

Old skool fix a flat, from the baja bugs and buggies book-condensed milk.
_________________
My cut in half and rebuild thread
www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=647779

[oprn]

All good interesting stuff. Thanks!