[desmobob]

I felt something strange while riding yesterday and then heard a strange clicking sound when driving on the pavement.  It turns out I had an old bolt or something similar in my right rear tire.  I immediately went home.  (Photo of the culprit with my vehicle keys added for scale.)

I plugged the tire and then added 16 oz. of Tire Slime.  The tire lost no air overnight.  Do you think this is an acceptable repair?  Does the tire need to be removed and patched from the inside?  I almost always ride alone and don't want to have trouble. (I do carry a tire repair kit with plugs and patches with a CO2 inflator and extra CO2 cylinders.)

[NMKawierider]

I would have used the rope plug with patch cement for lube only. I would not have put any slime in the tire as it will prevent you from using a plug or patch in the future without a major cleaning. I just plugged one of my 10-ply trailer tires with a rope plug only and.. it was fine...even with 70psi. Being a 10-ply made the reamer very tough to insert and the plug itself but it was fine and afterwards just used a razor blade to cut off the excess. Its always best to patch them on the inside but...a good plug works just fine.

[desmobob]

I've also had great luck with plugs in higher pressure tires but wasn't sure if they were appropriate for low pressure ATV tires.

I knew putting the Slime in would make future patching troublesome, but I've had great luck in the past with it sealing small punctures as they happen and preventing problems on the trail.  I had a mysterious intermittent slow leak in a tire on my lawn tractor and a dose of Tire Slime sealed it up for good.  I put Slime in all four tires on my Yamaha Kodiak four-wheeler when I had it and I never had a flat as long as I owned it (maybe that was just very good luck!).

I put about 20 miles on the machine today and the plug is working perfectly so far.

[Mogleybear]

I've used plugs in all of my tires for many years. I have only ever had one issue with a plug leaking, and it started leaking about a year later. I've even plugged a sidewall of an ATV tire and it lasted until the tires needed to be replaced. Fortunately, I haven't had to plug many on the trail, but I do carry the plugs and a compressor with me.

[desmobob]

Thanks for the reassurance.  I guess I can stop worrying.