Bike Tire Patch Okay For Automotive Tire?

Wow, you make this far more complicated and effort-laden than need be. What I'd do if it were me is bring the tire to a competent tire repair facility. If they can't fix the tire (I believe they plug it with a conical shaped plug and then vulcanize and/or glue the plug), then have them dispose of the tire.

Bike patch kits are good for small areas of rubber like a bike tire - not large diameters and weight like car tires.

If worse came to worse, if you didn't want to fork over the approx. $90 USD for a new tire, you can pick up a used tire with a fair amount of tread on it...for half that price at a junk yard.

the difference between a bike patch and a radial tire patch is the toughness of the material itself.

a bike patch might work for a while, but not long term...

go buy a patch kit for a car tire if you really want to do it yourself. (you have to have a tool to scuff the tire sufficiently to make the patch work)

a plug is not a good idea if you value the tire.

it will eventually cause a separation in the tire...

I agree with the ultimate advice, but for a different reason. If they don't have to dismount and mount the tire, it should be really cheap. Most bicycle patches are for tubes, though there are some used to repair punctures in tires. I think it would work if the tire is properly prepped, but the money saved just doesn't justify the effort.

Here's some useful flat repair info from Tire Rack. I should've done this link in the first place.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=77

Furthermore, from that same site:
"How do you know which procedures a tire dealer uses? Ask them! But be aware that if they say they can repair a tire in 10 minutes for under $10 dollars without removing it from the wheel, they aren't following the Rubber Manufacturer's Association procedures. A correctly done flat repair that follows the multi-step repair procedures will take approximately 30 minutes and probably cost around $30. Driving on an improperly repaired tire is dangerous because it can further damage the tire and/or allow its strength to deteriorate over time. An improperly repaired tire driven at high speeds may suddenly fail, causing loss of vehicle control. Additionally, the use of an inner tube as a substitute for a proper repair generates additional heat and should not be considered."

Okay, some good guidance offered here. I see a pretty balanced split of recommendations which advocate taking a course of "don't bother" and "self-repair" is maybe okay.

I think my predisposition toward [trying to] repair things that break originates from childhood, since my dad was an engineer, and he always encouraged us (his sons), that if something is broken, be willing to take it apart (and fix it yourself), since most modern devices are not hugely complicated (if they were . . . a refrigerator would cost $10K). On top of that, his first "gig" out of college was working as an engineer for U.S. Rubber Company (forerunner to Uniroyal and then Michelin) - so he has (or had) "rubber in his veins" at some point, and based on his knowledge of tire construction, he always encouraged most (but not all) tire repair, for simple punctures - since the evolution of tire construction has taken us well beyond the days of catastrophic tire failures (and no comments about "the nut doesn't fall far from the tree", if you please ).

So, I've been driving for more than 40 years, and have been repairing (repairable) tires for more than 30 years, and yes - it takes me about 10 minutes and costs me about a $1 to repair it myself (that actually sounds reasonable now that I say it . . .), and this is the first time a repair attempt has not worked (or has ever failed after being repaired). So, for Ragman, I'm not sure I've made this more complicated, since it was something I was willing (and maybe able to do) - and so, I've maybe only saved $600 - $1200 over that 30 year period, but it has worked for me.

Bottom line, while I could spend $90 and buy a new tire, and toss out a (not-perfectly) good tire - I think I'll take the repair-inclined advice and default to buying and using the more tire-appropriate automotive tire repair patch - which I did know existed (but I already had the bike tire kit). A good, balanced discussion. Thanks!

I understand now. thank for taking the time to explain. This was more a of a scientific engineering project than it was a case of trying to avoid buying a tire. from you other posts, I sense you like intellectual curiosity or stimulation from you posting and/or projects.

Judging from muy own experience Cd I'd say it's okay

No guarantee of course

Enjoy the experience, but don't forget my comment on most bicycle repair kits being intended to patch a tube and NOT the tire. They do make tire patches (called boots) but I doubt you just happen to have one in a conventional repair kit for bikes.