Most tire repair material manufacturers recommend rubber buffer for cleaning the liner of a tire prior to buffing for the repair unit, and cleaning the buffed area with a steel or brass brush. Patch Rubber company allows the use of its liner cleaner on a buffed surface. Check with your supplier before using liner cleaner on any buffed surface.

If properly applied both types work extremely well. There is a difference however, in how they can be used.

A one-piece repair is appropriate if the angle of penetration through the tire does not exceed 25 degrees. When a single piece repair is installed with the stem angle at greater than 25 degrees, the stem often breaks off at the patch.

A two-piece repair can be used regardless of the penetration angle.

• Nail hole repair outside a tire’s crown area cannot be repaired. The crown is defined as “anywhere from an inch to an inch-and-a-half from either shoulder — basically, the center of the car or truck tire.
• Anything outside the crown area, including all injuries to the shoulder and sidewall, are considered section repairs.
• Injuries that occur near belt edges should be treated as section repairs.
• Sidewall injuries must not exceed one-and-a-half inches in width by three and one-eighth inches in length.
• Any tire with an injury exceeding one-and-a-half inches in width should be taken off the highway.
• Injuries within 2.5 inches of the bead area should not be fixed.
• Sidewall injuries should not exceed one-and-a-half inches in width by three and one-eighth inches in length.
• Tires that exhibit bead area damage should be scrapped.
• Do not try to fix separations.

The Bad News

No part of a car or truck is subjected to as much abuse as tires. Every day your tires run over countless objects which have the potential to do great damage to your cash investment. Nails, screws, metal objects, stones, etc., all contribute to tire injuries. That’s the bad news.

The Good News

The good news is that proper tire repairs, performed by knowledgeable repairers using up-to-the-minute tools and materials, can often allow a tire that otherwise would have been scrapped to be put back into full over the road service.

It is estimated that as many as 15 tires out of every 100 tires in scrap tire piles could be repaired and placed back into full over the road service. This can translate into very substantial savings.