How far can you drive on tyre sealant?

EdGasketTheSecond

Wig wrote: »

BTW I also use these things with great results. But they are not for a novice, they need to be fitted by someone with good DIY skills.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/322017758607

They are not recommended as permanent repairs, but my idea of "non permament" is "it is OK for as long as it doesn't go down". I have never had them go down, they last until the tyre tread wear forces a new tyre to be purchased.

Ah maybe you can answer a question I have? I got one of those 'sticky string' kits which came with a tube of what was supposed to be vulcanising solution so I coated the string with that and plugged the hole and expected it to set into some kind of rubbery lump. However weeks after the string that is still poking out the hole (between tread) is still sticky and can be moved around. Is that how it is or should it have set into a rubbery gloop? Seems like the tube of 'whatever' is more a lubricant than a rubber cement.

Having said all that, the puncture is not leaking but I'd be happier if it had gelled with the tyre more. What do your repairs end up like?

Iceweasel

ukmike wrote: »

Normal pressure for a space saver wheel.

That's true - but where did the OP mention that the puncture was in a space saver?

Wig

EdGasketTheSecond wrote: »

But if you over-inflate there is less rubber in contact with the road reducing your grip!

You are still capable of instinctively knowing / feeling the grip that you do have and drive accordingly as you would with any car you get into. For the unexpected events you should drive safely anyway -as you should with any car- leave sufficient gap, slow down in advance, don't leave maneuvres till the last second. It is unbelieveable the number of drivers who do this, professional HGV drivers are particularly guilty... I just spent the last 2 days driving a car stuck in 3rd gear so 35 - 40mph was all I could do, and although I am on a dual carriageway/motorway the HGVs (and cars) they can clearly see they are coming up on you fast, from a long way off, but do they indicate EARLY and move out EARLY? No, of course they don't, everyone leaves it till the last few seconds. Which for the HGV drivers can result in a forced rapid deceleration behind me, not very clever really. And no, I have no sympathy for them as they can see me from half a mile or a mile away. And I was doing it because I had to, to look for a new car and buy it. (got a new car now, so I have to fix that old car)

EdGasketTheSecond wrote: »

Ah maybe you can answer a question I have? I got one of those 'sticky string' kits which came with a tube of what was supposed to be vulcanising solution so I coated the string with that and plugged the hole and expected it to set into some kind of rubbery lump. However weeks after the string that is still poking out the hole (between tread) is still sticky and can be moved around. Is that how it is or should it have set into a rubbery gloop? Seems like the tube of 'whatever' is more a lubricant than a rubber cement.

Having said all that, the puncture is not leaking but I'd be happier if it had gelled with the tyre more. What do your repairs end up like?

If the plugged hole is on the top of the tyre tread, you cut the remainder off with a stanley knife, and the repair wears with the tyre and becomes dirty from road dust and so it becomes almost invisible and quite difficult to find it if you take the time to look for it a few months later.

If the plugged hole is at the bottom of a tread gulley you will have difficulty cutting off the remainder, but you can still have a go and cut off at least half of it, if it is in one of the bigger tread gulleys. OR you can just cut it off flush with the tyre top and leave the bit in the gulley. It will always stay soft to the touch. Best to just leave it alone, the internal bit that is squeezed into the hole is still doing it's job and is not moving. The fact that it does not dry but always stays chewy and soft is what makes it work to seal the hole.

The rubber cement (RC) is not required, and I agree it is more of a lubricant. But I think I would rather have the RC when I do them. If I have run out of RC I go to poundland and buy a bicycle puncture repair kit, which is a pity because in order to get a 5g tube of RC I have to buy a whole kit, I have 2 or 3 of those kits now Probably best to try to buy 10 or 20 x 5g tubes of RC on ebay in advance before you have a puncture to repair.

This is (surprisingly) the cheapest I could find
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/172718686586?
I would have thought a fair price would be £5 for 25 x 5g tubes from China.

No point buying a big tube or bottle as the stuff just evaporates away once opened.

BeenThroughItAll

Wig wrote: »

55psi is high, but not so high you can expect a failure. I sometimes drive with 50psi, no ill effects, it reduces rolling resistance.

There are some "eco" models which have 50psi as standard.

I suspect the AA guy over flated it as a precaution against the slow leak... a slow leak, I might add, which is sounding to me as though it has now sealed ok.

What you want to do is put some washing up liquid over where the hole is and see if there are any bubbles. However as it is a foam seal, maybe washing up liquid would be the wrong thing to use (might eat away the foam), so just spit on the tyre instead (i.e. spittle from your mouth).

Assuming 50psi is not the manufacturer's recommended pressure for your tyres, the only reason I can see for running yours at 50psi is for some crazy hypermiling reason?

If it is, you may want to avoid having an accident, as Police accident investigators and possibly your insurer's assessors will certainly check the tyres were within the range of normal inflation.

System

Wig wrote: »

. I just spent the last 2 days driving a car stuck in 3rd gear so 35 - 40mph was all I could do, and although I am on a dual carriageway/motorway the HGVs (and cars) they can clearly see they are coming up on you fast, from a long way off, but do they indicate EARLY and move out EARLY? No, of course they don't, everyone leaves it till the last few seconds. Which for the HGV drivers can result in a forced rapid deceleration behind me, not very clever really.

They don't move out early because they're not expecting to come across an idiot driving at half the speed limit on an express road.

You're committing an offence, driving without due care and consideration. If there was to be an accident I think you'd find that it would be you that was deemed to be at fault and your insurance company doing the paying out.

Wig

Tarambor wrote: »

They don't move out early because they're not expecting to come across an idiot driving at half the speed limit on an express road.

You're committing an offence, driving without due care and consideration. If there was to be an accident I think you'd find that it would be you that was deemed to be at fault and your insurance company doing the paying out.

No, let's be clear on this, they can see me from half a mile away, they get closer, and closer and closer and closer and closer, they must be looking at the road ahead otherwise they would be in the ditch. They are fully expecting me to be there because they have been watching my car for the last half a mile getting bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger. Just as I have been watching them in my mirror, thinking !!!!!! dont you indicate, you don't have to pull out but at least you should be indicating to show your intention to pull out, so that other road users will make room for you. They are idiots. If I can see them they can see me.

Anyway, my speed on the motorway would have been about 42 - 45mph which is not much slower than regularly seen Heavy Loads doing 50mph. I don't care, I had to use the car to go A-B for 2 days, and the 2nd day I only went on a dual carriageway for about 3 miles each way not a motorway.

EDIT update: I just got back from a trip to the cinema in my new little car which is a 1.0 litre, and it is new to me so I am not going to go fast in it. Anyway, the cinema is 10 miles down a dual carriageway (70mph). I was quite happy to tootle along at 48 - 50mph and you see the same idiots driving fast (as they are entitled to do) but they come up in lane 1, behind you and swerve out at the last second.

And on the way home, I pulled out onto the dual carriage way, a police car followed me out, I tootled along at 48mph and the police over took safely with no issues, did not pull me over to say I was driving too slow. My point being, that 42 - 45 is not much slower than other slow vehicles you encounter on the express roads. But I gaurantee if you slow down on the express roads to 48mph it won't be long before you see idiots (HGV and cars) behind you who know you are there, who know that they are going faster than you, but who resolutely refuse to indicate at a safe distance and pull out into lane 2 at a safe distance.

Another example of stupid driving is on a 30 zone, when there are parked cars on one side of the road, the oncoming road ahead is clear i.e. there are no cars oncoming. Drivers of cars going on the same side of the road as the parked car/cars will drive straddled over the white lines, thus only leaving a couple of feet between themselves and the parked cars. Which to me, is stupid. A pedestrian/animal could appear stepping out into the road or someone could be sitting in those parked cars and could open their door. What I always do is completely cross over the white lines and drive on the "wrong side" of the road, whether it is to pass 1 single parked car or a long line of parked cars. If someone appears oncoming, obviously, I will move over and straddle the white line, but why do that if you don't have to? In my estimation 90 - 95% of drivers will straddle and not many will do what I do. I do the same for cyclists.