Magazine for the professional tire industry
Issue link: https://mtd.epubxp.com/i/394657
35 www.moderntiredealer.com to educate the commitee on the dangers of on-the-wheel plug repairs. Unfortunately, quite a few legislators in the room were driving on tires they had plugged at the local service station. Since they weren't having any problems, they didn't see the need for a law that would make them illegal. Regardless, repairing a tire on the wheel with a plug is still a tremendous liability concern for the company making the repair, so TIA strongly discourages the practice with or without legislation. Truck tire repair Truck tire dealers recently ben- efted from the introduction of the reinforced shoulder repair, or RSR. In the past, puncture (or nail hole) repairs, defned as 3/8-inch or smaller, were restricted to the crown area of the tire, which is the center of the tread approximately 1 to 1.5 inches from each shoulder. All injuries in the shoulder or side- wall were previously referred to a retread plant for a section repair. W hile injuries in the sidewall are still in need of a section repair, small "injuries" that are 5/16-inch (8 mm) or less in the shoulder can be repaired in the feld using the RSR guidelines established by the Tread Rubber and Tire Repair Materials Manufacturers' Group, or TRMG. Basically, the RSR uses the same procedures as a standard puncture repair in the crown. Te biggest diference is that a larger repair unit is required so the reinforcing plies of the patch do not end in the fex zone of the tire. Depending on the tire, technicians must use a No. 22, 24 or 26 repair unit RSR 2: By offsetting the repair unit, the end of the reinforcing plies are located outside the fex area of the sidewall. One of the keys to success for the RSR is to ensure the repair unit is properly posi- tioned on the liner so the end of the plies is not subjected to excessive fexing. RSR 1: In this example of the RSR and the template, the yellow lines on the innerliner represent the fex area of the sidewall. As you can see, by centering the repair unit over the injury, the end of the reinforcing plies (represented by the solid white line on the template) are posi- tioned in the fex area, so the patch will probably fail as the result of the fexing. Photos courtesy of the Tire Industry Association Quik-Link: 800-687-1557 ext. 21119