Prevent-A-Puncture €65 for 4 tyres - Good idea?

BenEadir

Hi all,

I've a Touareg and do a reasonable amount of family touring in it during the summer fully loaded i.e. 2 adults and 3 kids, with roof box, bikes on the back, boot fully loaded etc and I often thought that a blowout would be a disaster particularly on a French motorway. Assuming a blow out didn't cause an accident it would be a major pain to unload the car to get to the space saving spare to change the wheel, limp to a garage etc etc.

Would spending €65 on www.preventapuncture.ie which states "Install Pervent-A-Puncture today and never worry about getting a puncture ever again!" be a good investment or just a gimmicky way to throw away €65?

Does anyone have any experience or a technical opinion on the product?

Ben

TURRICAN

hi
it probably would work for a nail or somthing small and pin like.
however it wont fix a puncture if you pinch the tyre off a kerb or a bit pothole
hit at speed.
as for the part making your tyres last longer and fuel efficiency,proper tyre inflation and good 4 wheel alignment will take care of that.
4 wheel alignment shouldnt cost any more than 60 quid and proper pressure in your tyres is done by yourself free.

so if you spend 60 on the PAP and sixty on 4 wheel alignment the only advantage i see is you wont have to pump the tyres,only if PAP does what it says on the tin.but then again how long does PAP last before it looses its
characteristics and ends up giving you problems with wheel balencing issues.

personally i wouldnt bother.:)

Nissan doctor

It could also, in theory, be more dangerous as if you have damage to the tyre(sidewall, shoulder etc) this stuff could seal it meaning you aren't aware of the damage. The problem there is that while these puncture prevention things may stop the air from escaping, they don't do anything to maintain the strength of the tyre so blowout could be every bit as possible.

We have all the litterature on this product in my place and its the usual vague description that all these type things give.

BenEadir

Hi Nissan Doctor,

You've actually hit my main concern on the head. I had a side wall nail puncture a few months ago which couldn't be repaired so I had to get a new tyre. With prevent-a-tyre installed the side wall would have 'repaired' but it would surely be weaker (why couldn't it be repaired normally?) and therefore more prone to a blow-out which is actually the main thing I want to avoid.

Having said that I assume (but always hate assuming) that this product has been developed with that issue in mind and wouldn't be for sale in tyre specialists like Atlas if weakening the sidewalls was a potential outcome.

Still confused.com

Ben

Wossack

I'd say the usual trigger for the irish motoring public to check tyres, is when theres something wrong with them - soft etc. This stuff will seal the screw poking out of the sidewall, so the tyre wont even go down

So the tyres will need to be more thoroughly, and regularly checked once the stuff is in

Only guessing, but I'd say sidewall damage isnt repaired, as it undertakes more shear stress from acceleration/decceleration, turning etc. Its also less thick then the thread side, and doesnt have banding internally to reinforce it

Avns1s

My view is that it has a certain value for those driving and not able for whatever reason to change a wheel. I know, I know, you shouldn't be on the road if you can't but that's for another thread!!

Beyond that, I would share the sidewall concern. In addition, with any set of four new tyres, I would consider myself unlucky to have more than 3 punctures over their lifetime. That's €36 to repair. So at €65 I think this product is overpriced but possibly has a certain small market.

Finally, I cant recall the product name, but this has been tried before. I can remember a friend of mine having this stuff pumped into his tyres well over 10 years ago. I presume it worked but I haven't heard him getting it done to the sets of tyres he has had since.

In summary, reasonable idea, overpriced for what it is, so has a small market and probably the suppliers will be out of business in a year.

(Now that I have said that they will probably be retired in Barbados by Christmas having made €10bn!!)

Nissan doctor

As above, people need to ask themselves how often they get punctures, I mean think about it properly.

In 14 years on the road I could count on one hand how many punctures I've had in total, never mind in one set of tyres.

Also, as said, this is far from a new idea and another issue I see with products like this is that it will promote complacency, i.e, the type of people who will have this fitted would be the same people who will think they don't have to think about their tyres at all once its fitted. Meaning it will be less likely they will check their pressures, therefore, less likely that they will check for or notice tyre wear or damage so its very debatable that safety would be in any way improved.

dingding

Could you get a can of tyre weld which will inflate and fix a leak.

http://www.holtsauto.com/products/group/repair-and-maintenance/tyre-repair