Changing over to Winter Tires.

My wife’s vehicle has one tire that keeps going flat, so in the spirit of the season I’ve decided to put her winter tires on, about two weeks early, so that I can get a clearer look at the tire, and see if I can patch it.

After removal I see it has a screw lodged inside the tire between the treads. I pulled it free and then the air started to blast out in my face. Lovely. I used the rasp to clean up the hole, and hopefully size it to take the ultra sticky fibrous plug. Rasp moves in and out with ease after a few several reams of the hole.

Whoo boy getting the plug in the needle is a struggle all on its own. That was a process. I don’t hold out much hope that this plug will sink into the hole all nice like, and be an easy fix. I must prepare my wrists for maximum efforts.

Yeah that was a bitch. I got worried the plug would get stuck only barely into the hole I widened with the rasp. I thought about whacking it with a hammer, but if I break the tool then 8 really can’t fix this tire — at all. So I basically had to sit over the top of the tire and pour my entire body weight into the needle to get the patch to pass through the hole 2/3 rds of the way and then pull only the tool out, leaving the patch behind. Luckily enough it worked out.

I used my Knipex flush cutters to remove the excess patch material, filled the tire up, and then sprayed it with soapy water to watch for bubbles. Looks all good so far. We will know if it took, if come spring time when I go to put it back on the vehicle and the tire is still at 40 lbs. If it’s completely flat I know I failed miserably and we should buy at least two new summer season tires.

Weather was 20°C, a tad windy and the rains have held off. A successful Sunday morning. Only needed one trip to Canadian Tire for parts, and now I’ve washed the tires and can put them away after I finish lunch.