The trail ride that White Jeep was on last ended with a cut sidewall that we repaired with plugs, something that I have had to do several times in the past, and it will get off the trail. some times plugs work well sometimes they don’t. rocks can pull them back out, they can start to leak and work loose just because it’s now part of the sidewall that is constantly flexing and moving.
I decided to give Gluetread a try because the plugs were leaking anyways and this Jeep is only used offroad. I would not rely on sidewall repairs for asphalt driving.
Here is the plug repair that failed. I will start by just ripping the old plugs out.
The left image is just after I removed the plugs the right image is after some sanding the lug down to smooth and blend so there are no sharp transitions. I also marked the location of where the patch will go. It was also a good point to separate the cut and clean it out as best as possible. Now it’s time to open the glue and apply a few drops to the cut itself. You want to separate it so you can cover the area well.
Apply small drops to the patch like seen here, then using the sharpie mark the tire as a guide to applying the patch so the cut is centered in the patch. Push onto the tire and hold in place for 30 seconds. Then you just need to wait out the cure time of 60 min.
Here you can see the completed repair. The process was easy to follow and very effective. Sanding down the lug was a little of a pain but if you don’t I doubt the patch would adhere to the tire.
Now that the tire is repaired I will run it for a few weeks and report back how it holds up. Gluetread is available in a few different packages. Mostly the big difference is the size and number of rubber patches included. The larger kits come with the activator that speeds up the glue cure time and the complete kit includes everything you need to repair a tire on the trail. It has all the Gluetread goodies, a complete tire plug kit, and a Colby valve for replacing damaged valve stems without removing the tire! Nv-Offroad now offers Gluetread products. You can get them shipped or pick up locally if you’re in a hurry. As a 775ORR volunteer, I also keep these with me. Get your Gluetread products at the NV-Offroad shop.