Repair ATV Tire With a Bolt?

[roadhunter]

Great time to buy a spare wheel and a tube to make that a spare tire setup in case you ever have a problem.

 

[ovrszd]

And with a tube, next leak requires a breakdown of the tire.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

And with a tube, next leak requires a breakdown of the tire.

Good point, it's hard to put a plug in a tube, being atv tires like to play hide and seek with thorns, screws, glass ext anything sharp in mud or in the woods and they normally find them, a bolt would be a more attractive solution.

 

[2ndhalf]

I too think the bolt would work. I would probably do a heavy duty tube first though.

Moose Heavy Duty ATV/UTV Radial Inner Tube 145/7-6 W99-6154 | eBay

 

[s219]

I am not really sure what the bolt will accomplish. It's going to be a lousy plug if that's what you're thinking. I'd get the tire patched and run a tube for backup. Problem solved.

 

[Argonne]

I would probably try a plug type tire patch first
Black Jack Tire Repair Patch Plug Comb. 1/4" stem 1 7/8" patch (pkg/4) BJCU26-4 | eBay

Inner tubes don't always work well on low pressure ATV tires.
The tires are so low pressure they can slip on the rim and pull the valve stem. Only 4-5 PSI in my ATV tires. (may work if you keep the pressure up a bit higher)

My tire shop has the plug/patch thingies, and said they don't stand up well to the normal flex of low pressure ATV tires, although they would have done it if I insisted (and gave them $36). Like you said, they stated that tubes are not a great option on ATVs because of the issues that low pressure operation introduces.

As recently as a year ago, I would have just bought a new tire and been done with it, but those free spending days are over and it's either "farmer engineering" or an expensive ornament sitting in the shed, useless.

I do think I'll take a shot at getting some lightweight hardware before doing this fix. I still haven't done the math, but I think it's possible that an excursion to 30+ mph could become dangerous if that bolt suddenly weighs a couple of pounds due to centrifugal force. It's a 25 inch tire by the way .

 

[alchemysa]

If you have to drill the hole out to 1/4" (as you say) then I'm assuming its actually pretty small. Have you tried the sticky plugs that look like licorice? I've used them often with success. They are easy to use. Most auto shops have cheap kits. Tire shops often wont even talk about them because they are usually illegal for for road tyres. The only time they failed me was in a front tractor tire that had a hole that was more of a 'gash'.

 

[4570Man]

I had a bigger hole than that patched on my Mule tire. It was punctured by a stop about 1-1/4" in diameter. I went to the tire store to buy another tire and they told me they could patch it. I had little faith in their ability to patch a hole that size, but it's held for years. I think the bolt idea would work as long as you sealed where the bolt goes through the washers. I don't think the balance issues would be a big deal, but you could always have the wheel balanced. My tractor will run 20 mph with 1000 pounds of fluid in the wheels. At that speed the fluid is rolling with the tire and not remaining at the bottom. It shakes but not bad. It makes a bolt weighing an ounce seem pretty minuscule. Or you could drill it and put in a matching bolt 180 degrees from the first!

 

[flyerdan]

Most of the hole will close up when the spike is pulled, if it was me, I'd clean the puncture and put in a plug. Cut the plug off flush with the inside and put a round patch over that. That will give a separate air seal from the plug, which is primarily to keep water away from the inner tire structure. Get a can of Rema cement and some patches and you should be good to go, and prepared for the next time.

 

[aczlan]

Most of the hole will close up when the spike is pulled, if it was me, I'd clean the puncture and put in a plug. Cut the plug off flush with the inside and put a round patch over that. That will give a separate air seal from the plug, which is primarily to keep water away from the inner tire structure. Get a can of Rema cement and some patches and you should be good to go, and prepared for the next time.

That is what I would do first.

Aaron Z