Slime it or plug it?

[Tollster]

I have a slow leak in the rear tire on my BX-23, and want to know if anyone has used slime to seal their non loaded rear tires? One or two cans? Or if I should just get my ATV plug kit and fix it that way. Any saftey concerns you can think of. Will slime attack the rims over time?
thanks

 

[Jimbrown]

Out here in the land of mesquite trees my BX would not go half a day with out slime in all wheels. i have a quart in every tire.

 

[HomeBrew2]

As to the rims, I have a '92 MTD lawn tractor that's had Slime, or Berryman's or whatever since new and the rims looked new when I replaced tires a couple years ago.

 

[DieselPower]

Slime it. Pick your favorite brand. If you use your tractor in freezing weather try to use one that has anti-freeze in it so it doesen't freeze up on you.

 

[mjarrels]

I have the same problem (picked up a piece of wire). I put a can of fix a flat in the rear tire about a year ago and it is now starting to slow leak again. Picked up another can of fix a flat... just waiting for the weather to warm up before putting it in.

mark

 

[DieselPower]

Stay away from spray can type "fix-a-flat" products. That stuff dries like concrete in your tire and is next to near impossible to get out. Often times the tire has to be cut off the rim because it get's glued on by the stuff.

Use the semi-fluid tire leak preventing type and not the emergency fix in a can stuff. If you read the label on most cans of fix-a-flat it tells you to remove it and get the hole fix as soon as possible. Alot of the fix-a-flat in a can sealants also will rust your rims as they do not have any anticorrosive additives in them.

 

[shownuff]

just a point of info i have a brand new front tire on rim brand spankin new from kubota if any one needs it , it wont work on my bx 24.... it is the left side front ,the tires are directional......

 

[Berniep]

Over the course of last summer I added a quart of slime to each of my tires. Honey locust trees are murder on them. It has worked perfectly . I have used plugs in the atv tires but they tend to develop slow leaks after a while so I have those slimed as well.

 

[B8FISH]

As an FYI--Gemplers has 2 grades of sealers (I think one will seal up to 1/2" hole) and they come in gallon and 5 gallon sizes. It is water soluble--anyone who needs to work on the tires after you "slime" them always appreciates the water soluble ones more than the "fix a flat" types.

 

[DieselPower]

As an FYI--Gemplers has 2 grades of sealers (I think one will seal up to 1/2" hole) and they come in gallon and 5 gallon sizes. It is water soluble--anyone who needs to work on the tires after you "slime" them always appreciates the water soluble ones more than the "fix a flat" types.

That's a very good point I forgot to mention. Make sure it is water soluble. Some tire shops won't work on tires that have non water soluble sealer in them and I don't blame them.

 

[Dusty]

You need to locate the root cause of the leak before you can fix it with any product. I have found that the Kubota painted rims are done so well, that the tire bead will slip on the smooth surface of the rim. The only way to fix this is to break the bead seal, and sand the paint till it is a rough surface. Once you do this, you will eliminate the tire spinning on the rim, and the tire leaking air at the rim. If the leak is a puncture in the tire, then the "slime" products are a good solution for the average person. Dusty

 

[newcountry]

I don't know if it makes a difference but...

I was told by my dealer to avoid the Slime brand, he said it fails after awhile and he refuses to carry it (although it sounds there's been good success here). He had me get Briggs and Stratton brand. It has little ground-up cotton fibers so that when there is a leak it forms a fibrous plug. It's worked for me and was a little cheaper than Slime brand.

 

[archerynut]

I have used Slime for my little riding lawn mower and ATV. Worked great in the riding lawn mower (ran over a nail). I put the Slime in, refilled the tires and then removed the nail. Worked really slick. No problems since, over 2 years. The ATV was another issue, Slimed it twice with no results. Turned out to be a bad valve stem and slime wasn't going to fix that.