Hi All,
I have looked at the previous thread about tyre sealants. i.e. goo you put into your tyre before punctures NOT the "pump up your flat tyre and get you home" type of aerosol.
Most opinion seemed to be it is either useless or dangerous however I put some in when I changed my last lot of tyres and have had no punctures in about three years.
So what,I hear folk say. Well I live down a country lane where the debris from tractors cutting the thorn hedges were giving me at least one puncture a year.
Cannot remember the make of the last lot ( OKO ? ) of gunge but it does seem to work.
Whilst debating whether to treat my new tyres I found a new (to me ) product called Ultraseal which claims to have various US Federal approvals.
Does anyone have any new information about this or other products ?
Thanks for any imput
Martin
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This is THE one. Beats all the others by a country mile:
slime.com/
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I've used slime in scooter tyres but the scooter didn't go much faster than 70mph. My biggest worry would be the risk of the tyre blowing at speed due to the sealer. I think most are speed limited aren't they?
Steve.
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>>I think most are speed limited aren't they?Steve.
IIRC, they are.
There was a hideous accident here a few years back involving this stuff.
The Porsche Owners' Club had a 'day out', where they borrowed a traffic cop and his gatso for the day, and set up on a quiet piece of motorway, under a bridge, miles from anywhere. The Porsche owners were zapping up and down trying to record fast times, when one of them trashed a tyre at ~150mph, veered off, and drove straight into a vehicle parked nearby [watching the fun], killing woman and a few kids, as wel as the Porsche driver.
Turns out he had had a puncture the week before, and used the gunk as a fixative. Didn't bother to read the instructions - temporary get-you-home and a max of 50mph...
The traffic cop was charged, as were the organisers. I recall they all got wrist-slap punishments.
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My question is why are you so worried about a flat occurring that you want to put this gloop in your tires?
The Slime site says probably not suitable for over 70 mph. But then why would you use it in the kind of conditions where flats are less probable, i.e. good road surfaces. I'm not sure if the dsealer per se would be the cause of a tire blowing, the site seems to suggest any problem at higher speed would be a balance isue.
My applications are: trail-bike, used on off-road situations, not installed but carried as inflator for 4wd same thing. You can actually buy Slime-filled bike tubes and I have used these on m/c's in the past. It works great and beats the other brands I'v tried.
I wouldn't look at it as a permanent fix on our cars however. But what we have here is unpleasant members of society on certain roads who at night sprinkle nails and other sharp objects on the street in the hope of welcoming you to their vulcanizing shops! I would not normally let Growlette out on her own in those areas but just in case she does have a problem, there's a can in the car along with her Mace canister.
In summary, flats during normal driving on normal highways are I would suggest a relatively uncommon occurrence and not worth using a permanent sealant "just in case". For more demanding and lower speed applications, makes sense as a temporary fix, so by all means carry a can in the trunk. Who wants to stuff around with jacks and wrenches on a dark winter's night?
My Honda trailie picked up a screw (I mean it had a flat..) before Xmas and I was busy to change the tube so I Slime'd it and reinflated. It actually held pressure better than the stock Chinese inner tube for four months but better safe than sorry so I replaced it last week.
What is surprising about Slime is the size of the cut it will actually seal effectively. That Honda tube had a gash a good 1/4" long in it.
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Hi again,
My original inquiry was as to any new developments in this market as I notice that Slime and the gunge sold at Farm shops (Linseal ? ) are only sold for slow moving vehicles whilst the Ultra Seal I saw claimed to have Federal Approval that allowed use in normal cars.
Since my original post I remembered that I had filled my lawn tractor tyres with the surplus from the gunge I had put into my car tyres 3 years ago.
Amazed to remove over 20+ thorns from one tractor tyre alone. As I pulled out the thorns the gunge ( 3 years old mind ) sealed the hole when I rotated the wheel by hand a couple of times.
Proves it does the job but one is still worried about a safety issue with cars. However I have not had a puncture in the car whereas before I gor at least one thorn puncture every year.
Martin
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