# Tyre 'Inflation' Kits - What's the Point ?? USELESS



## sussexbythesea (Apr 12, 2012)

Was in my temporary company oil burner today on the way to the office. Happened across a large boulder in the road about 20 miles from home (still 80 to go) which I saw too late whilst over-taking :roll: As soon as I hit it I could feel the tyre on the nearside front start to deflate. Managed to drive a short distance and pulled over to a side road. Checked the spare wheel status only to find that the spare wheel well was filled with a foam insert shaped to hold a canister of 'glue' and a tyre inflator :x

I was unhappy about the use of the kit, several things occurred to me....how do I know the tyre can be fixed with this :?: without a thorough inspection of both walls and the tread with the car now sitting only a few inches off the road IMPOSSIBLE :!: (would be trial and error anyway), if I do use it can I be sure it's safe to drive ? speed is limited to 50mph so no advantage over a space saver :x

Waited nearly 2 hours for the recovery, the guy was not even interested in trying the kit for himself, car had to be carried on a flat-bed to the nearest tyre depot which stocked the possible replacement tyre. He told me that he was doing a lot of 'this' (having to pick-up cars for punctures) and carry them miles just for this :!:

I noticed recently that many new cars are offering 'inflation' kits as standard with a space saver spare as an option. I wonder how may people get caught out and don't notice this. I was OK as it's a company car so I'm covered, but I did not get back home until over 4 hours later and all for the sake of someone trying to save money at some point 

When I got my TT last year it was missing the space saver.....I was offered an inflation kit but insisted on the space saver :roll: (As it turns out the tyre had a split on the inner wall so trying the kit would have been useless anyway)


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## BrianR (Oct 12, 2011)

I am wonderring what the cost saving is between kit and wheel, surely it cannot be that much. At new year I was in the middle of nowhere on roads not so good and was worried sick at the thought of a puncture; so whatever the difference it isnt worth the peace of mind thats for sure.


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## Guest (Feb 26, 2013)

i work for a well known motoring organisation and the lack of spare wheels is a pain in the rear.the tyre inflation kits are only possibly useful if you spot a nail in the tyre whilst the car is on the drive.if you do get a puncture whilst driivng, by the time you can stop ( epsecially on the motorway) the tyre is trashed.the manufacturers are not fitting spare wheels to save weight and therefore lower the emissions to fit into EEC bands.
as a point to note both the company i work for plus the RAC plus watchdog are at the moment lobbying manufacturers to start to refit spares.
i would suggest buying a spacesaver it could and would save you a wait to be recovered to a tyre garage.


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## Canis (Sep 5, 2012)

Strangely enough I have just thought about this as got the car serviced last month and the Audi dealers pointed out that my inflation kit was out of date and possibly wouldn't work. They instantly said it is not worth replacing it (at the normal astronomical cost charged by Audi for spare parts)as using it would only cost me more money.

Their stance was that if a tyre was in a state that the inflation kit would work on it then the chances were it could be repaired, but if I used the inflation kit then the tyre would be trashed by any fitter that looked at it and I would need a new one. So would have spent £90 odd for the use of the inflation kit plus an extra £250ish for the cost of a new tyre, when I may have just needed a £10 repair on the tyre.

Why would anyone ever try and use a tyre inflater? Get breakdown cover for under £100 a year and get yourself towed as the cost of that is way cheaper than the cost of using the manufacturer provided solution. If you have one puncture in 3 years then you have saved yourself money, plus having the added benefit of breakdown cover for anything else that may go wrong...


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## Gizmo68 (Feb 26, 2012)

tter said:


> the manufacturers are not fitting spare wheels to save weight and therefore lower the emissions to fit into EEC bands.


^^^ This

When I ordered my car I specced a spare wheel, when I bought the MK2 TT the 1st job I did was fit a space saver in the boot.


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## John-H (Jul 13, 2005)

Gone are the days it seems when you used to have a full sized spare that matched your wheels. A space saver should be a bare minimum. As said, the inflater kits are only useful in limited circumstances and could give you confidence to drive on a dangerously damaged tyre.

Often a punctured rear tyre will go unnoticed until it shreds or has its sidewalks rippled so would be dangerous to use again. There is some argument here for the type of sealant that is added before hand to stop pictures. There used to be a product called "Slime" which was sold for bicycles and cars but now only bicycles and "agricultural vehicles". I think they may have dropped the "cars" use to stay clear of trouble but I used it to good effect to seal a slow rim leak when it was sold for cars. It contained a rubberised solution with bits of chopped up fibreglass to form a clot at the puncture. It worked very well - when used on my push bike an almost guaranteed puncture with every excursion over rough roads near me, due to thorns and what not, was turned into zero punctures over many years on the same tyres and inner tubes. There is another similar product for rally car use with bits of chopped up rubber in solution which I've not tried.

For most people a space saver is an obvious bare minimum.


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2013)

John-H said:


> Gone are the days it seems when you used to have a full sized spare that matched your wheels. A space saver should be a bare minimum. As said, the inflater kits are only useful in limited circumstances and could give you confidence to drive on a dangerously damaged tyre.
> 
> Often a punctured rear tyre will go unnoticed until it shreds or has its sidewalks rippled so would be dangerous to use again. There is some argument here for the type of sealant that is added before hand to stop pictures. There used to be a product called "Slime" which was sold for bicycles and cars but now only bicycles and "agricultural vehicles". I think they may have dropped the "cars" use to stay clear of trouble but I used it to good effect to seal a slow rim leak when it was sold for cars. It contained a rubberised solution with bits of chopped up fibreglass to form a clot at the puncture. It worked very well - when used on my push bike an almost guaranteed puncture with every excursion over rough roads near me, due to thorns and what not, was turned into zero punctures over many years on the same tyres and inner tubes. There is another similar product for rally car use with bits of chopped up rubber in solution which I've not tried.
> 
> For most people a space saver is an obvious bare minimum.


slime is still available and is infact still carried by our patrols for use in emergency. there is a couple of problems in using this product one of which is it throws the wheel out of balance but as stated in an emergency is better than the provided gunk but nowhere near as good as a spacesaver.


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## John-H (Jul 13, 2005)

tter said:


> John-H said:
> 
> 
> > Gone are the days it seems when you used to have a full sized spare that matched your wheels. A space saver should be a bare minimum. As said, the inflater kits are only useful in limited circumstances and could give you confidence to drive on a dangerously damaged tyre.
> ...


I think it can do after standing for a good while as it pools at the bottom but it evenly spreads around the inside when moving. Theoretically if the tyre was perfectly symetrical and balanced it should remain in balance but if the tyre was eccentric and heavily compensated by lots of weights to correct it, the liquid would tend to pool where the tyre sticks out the most so could upset the compensation possibly. I didn't have a problem when I used it but perhaps my tyres were not too far out. It's just that it no longer seems to specify car use now. It's absolutely brilliant for pushbikes though - it won't go through a Presta valve valve though as it plugs, so you need to deliberately puncture the inner tube with a small slit big enough for the nozzle, inject it, then repair the puncture :roll:

Inner tubes on cars are never used now but they can prevent blow outs if you hit a rock and the tyre gets pushed off the rim momentarily. That was always the theory in rally circles but it was said they tended to pick up more small punctures.


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## Stevo Fife (Jan 6, 2013)

Has anyone had the misfortune of using the Audi inflation kit?


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