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For what its worth...a few weeks ago, my wife had a thick wire in one of her Model Y Perfromance 21" wheels.
I tried plugging it with the usual plugs only to find that the hole was too small and I needed to make it bigger with a power drill. The tires have a foam layer inside which were proving difficult to drill into it.
At the same time, our local ice cream truck pulled up and handed me a few of these rubber screw plugs.
Said he uses them in his double axle Ice cream truck when he has flats and they hold up well.
It took a few seconds to scew it on with the drill and its held up in my wife's Tesla for the last few weeks!
In for one!
60 would be a lifetime supply, if they actually work. But I think I'll stick with the trustworthy old-fashioned plugs that I have a proven track record with.
I haven't used these yet as they're a fairly new design. I can see them coming in handy on tubeless lawn equipment, ATVs, etc. or emergency use on a vehicle to get you home for a proper repair. The only tried and true long-term flat repair method is dismounting and patching from the inside, which usually lasts the life of the tire.
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I haven't used these yet as they're a fairly new design. I can see them coming in handy on tubeless lawn equipment, ATVs, etc. or emergency use on a vehicle to get you home for a proper repair. The only tried and true long-term flat repair method is dismounting and patching from the inside, which usually lasts the life of the tire.
Regular rope plugs are not tried and true tire repairs? I have use at 40 or 50 in my life and never had one fail.
https://www.nealeytirerepairkit.com/ are even better than normal plugs. I ran one in the shoulder of my tire and only had to replace it about once a year when it'd slowly start losing 5-10 psi overnight. Never had to drill the hole out larger either, just pushed new plug in. Got the screw in the shoulder with about 350 miles on the brand new new tires and have an AWD car, so can't just replace two tires. They were factory take offs too, so not like I could have just bought one to replace that tire and called it close enough with so few miles on them. Ran them 34k miles and never had a flat.
Has anyone used these? The idea seems solid enough but the reviews are kind of mixed. I guess they aren't meant for long term use, which makes sense but I can see them being handy to have in the vehicle.
I've used these on 3 different cars and 4 different tires. One is a lifted truck and I didn't have a car jack high enough. I had the plug ready to go, pulled out the nail, then plugged it in a matter of seconds. Didn't lose much air and topped it off at the nearest gas station. Keep a couple in each of my kids cars for just in case scenarios. All the vehicles still have the plugs months later and aren't losing air. Got mine off Temu for like $2, but without the needle nose pliers. These things are great
I tried plugging it with the usual plugs only to find that the hole was too small and I needed to make it bigger with a power drill.
I recently put little baggies of these (different brand) into my plug kits for this scenario, especially where the family member isn't me. Ideally I'll never know if they work.
Last time I participated in these threads, the know-it-alls went nuts about how much extra the tire shop was going to charge you in what particular scenario for daring to use product X in your flat tire. In our area, if you don't get out of and away from the road, you (and your little scissor jack too) are liable to be on the news tomorrow. If you can keep enough air in the tire to keep going a few more miles, then you have the luxury of doing pretty much anything.
FYI there's like a million of these out there, Amazon recommends a cheaper one, some come with glue. I'm glad op turned me on to these type, i have a mower tire that won't take the regular kind, it's too thin to get a grip. But this isn't a good deal versus the scads of others or there, some come with glue that seems like a good combo and lube. Repped though.
Last edited by candelabra May 26, 2026 at 06:56 PM.
I haven't used these yet as they're a fairly new design. I can see them coming in handy on tubeless lawn equipment, ATVs, etc. or emergency use on a vehicle to get you home for a proper repair. The only tried and true long-term flat repair method is dismounting and patching from the inside, which usually lasts the life of the tire.
I used many rope plugs, even on corners near the sidewall where they held up fine until I could get a new tire. Maybe 1 out of 10 continues to leak slowly. Tire shops refuse to patch anything these days, they don't want the liability and rather make more profit selling you a new tire + mount, balance, shop fees, etc. Patching from the inside is the best repair but for how much shops charge these days I rather just put that towards a new tire. Rope plugs can last just as long as a professionally patched tire. Any patch enlarges the hole and creates an imbalance. A repaired tire is never as good as a new tire but rope plugs are not as bad as you make them out to be, I drove around for years on some of them.
We've tried these a couple time for quick repairs to trailer tires and a mower tire. They lasted the day or two we had them on before replacing, I just don't know how much abuse I'd trust with these over a proper repair kit.
Brought my car to Walmart to patch a flat tire about 6 months ago and they've used these screws to plug the leak. It lasted for about a month and started leaking again. I had to push the screw in and used a regular glue rubber plug and it was good ever since . So these are only for temporary fix.
For what its worth...a few weeks ago, my wife had a thick wire in one of her Model Y Perfromance 21" wheels.
I tried plugging it with the usual plugs only to find that the hole was too small and I needed to make it bigger with a power drill. The tires have a foam layer inside which were proving difficult to drill into it.
At the same time, our local ice cream truck pulled up and handed me a few of these rubber screw plugs.
Said he uses them in his double axle Ice cream truck when he has flats and they hold up well.
It took a few seconds to scew it on with the drill and its held up in my wife's Tesla for the last few weeks!
In for one!
I have a MYLR and my first nail was about 2 months ago, but it was in a good spot and I had America's Tire plug it for free.
2nd nail happened last month and it was in the first row of treads, they won't plug it and I'm only 12k miles in and was so damn upset I researched what off roaders use and it's this product called Safety Seal.
Costs like $50 for a set of 30 with the tools included and I guess the most important thing is the plug self-vulcanizes and to my surprise has held up and isn't leaking so far. Reviews are great but I'm not that tall so getting enough leverage to push the plug in was quite the effort, but I think I just saved myself from having to buy a $400 replacement tire for the cost of a $50 kit I can keep in the trunk in case this happens when I'm on the road (I keep a DeWalt pump, breaker bar with proper socket and a heavy duty scissor jack where the spare would be if Tesla would include a damn spare).
Not sure about these plugs, if they don't self-vulcanize then I'd be worried about a blowout since our tires are at a pretty high PSI.
Yeah, originally designed for farm tractors and stuff back in the 70s I guess. It makes a nice round glob on the inside, vs what the normal plug does. I had a shady tire shop plug my tire the first time with the nail in the shoulder and it started leaking bad after a couple hundred miles, but they told me it wouldn't last long. That's why I went looking for newer, better tire plugs on the market. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwxuEDcJGfQ
There's other modern day plugs out there, and some might be better, but Project Farm has a video comparing other plugs and I still like the Nealey's. I've been running one in the center of my tread of my current front driver's tire since last Sept when Costco refused to plug my tire bcuz they claimed there was a "needle hole too close to the nail hole, and you'd need a dental pick to find the needle hole, so they couldn't patch it". And then I picked up a screw right in the shoulder in Nov, but it's still in there and I haven't lost a single PSI since plugged it, or picking up the screw in the shoulder.
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I used many rope plugs, even on corners near the sidewall where they held up fine until I could get a new tire. Maybe 1 out of 10 continues to leak slowly. Tire shops refuse to patch anything these days, they don't want the liability and rather make more profit selling you a new tire + mount, balance, shop fees, etc. Patching from the inside is the best repair but for how much shops charge these days I rather just put that towards a new tire. Rope plugs can last just as long as a professionally patched tire. Any patch enlarges the hole and creates an imbalance. A repaired tire is never as good as a new tire but rope plugs are not as bad as you make them out to be, I drove around for years on some of them.
Yep. Costco refused to patch my tire last Sept bcuz they claimed there was a "needle hole" too close to the nail in the center of my tire tread, told them put it back on and I'd go home and plug it myself. They told me I'd need a "dental pick" to find the needle hole. There was, in fact, no needle hole, and since plugging it, it hasn't lost a single PSI. I check PSI monthly or bi-monthly bcuz AWD. Come to find out, old neighbor's wife with her AWD vehicle was told the exact same story this spring... "Needle hole, too close, can't patch" but all four new tires! I assume the same Costco told her that, but haven't remembered to ask since, just know she shops at Costco, and bought tires there a couple years ago, so...
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I tried plugging it with the usual plugs only to find that the hole was too small and I needed to make it bigger with a power drill. The tires have a foam layer inside which were proving difficult to drill into it.
At the same time, our local ice cream truck pulled up and handed me a few of these rubber screw plugs.
Said he uses them in his double axle Ice cream truck when he has flats and they hold up well.
It took a few seconds to scew it on with the drill and its held up in my wife's Tesla for the last few weeks!
In for one!
Join The Conversation
Share your experience with the Slickdeals community
Share information with the community. Please follow our Community Guidelines and be kind!
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Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank zebulonj23
Last time I participated in these threads, the know-it-alls went nuts about how much extra the tire shop was going to charge you in what particular scenario for daring to use product X in your flat tire. In our area, if you don't get out of and away from the road, you (and your little scissor jack too) are liable to be on the news tomorrow. If you can keep enough air in the tire to keep going a few more miles, then you have the luxury of doing pretty much anything.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
I tried plugging it with the usual plugs only to find that the hole was too small and I needed to make it bigger with a power drill. The tires have a foam layer inside which were proving difficult to drill into it.
At the same time, our local ice cream truck pulled up and handed me a few of these rubber screw plugs.
Said he uses them in his double axle Ice cream truck when he has flats and they hold up well.
It took a few seconds to scew it on with the drill and its held up in my wife's Tesla for the last few weeks!
In for one!
2nd nail happened last month and it was in the first row of treads, they won't plug it and I'm only 12k miles in and was so damn upset I researched what off roaders use and it's this product called Safety Seal.
Costs like $50 for a set of 30 with the tools included and I guess the most important thing is the plug self-vulcanizes and to my surprise has held up and isn't leaking so far. Reviews are great but I'm not that tall so getting enough leverage to push the plug in was quite the effort, but I think I just saved myself from having to buy a $400 replacement tire for the cost of a $50 kit I can keep in the trunk in case this happens when I'm on the road (I keep a DeWalt pump, breaker bar with proper socket and a heavy duty scissor jack where the spare would be if Tesla would include a damn spare).
Not sure about these plugs, if they don't self-vulcanize then I'd be worried about a blowout since our tires are at a pretty high PSI.
There's other modern day plugs out there, and some might be better, but Project Farm has a video comparing other plugs and I still like the Nealey's. I've been running one in the center of my tread of my current front driver's tire since last Sept when Costco refused to plug my tire bcuz they claimed there was a "needle hole too close to the nail hole, and you'd need a dental pick to find the needle hole, so they couldn't patch it". And then I picked up a screw right in the shoulder in Nov, but it's still in there and I haven't lost a single PSI since plugged it, or picking up the screw in the shoulder.
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Share your experience with the Slickdeals community
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