Survey of Repair Centers Just because a tire company-recommended repair procedure exists does not itself justify a fl at to be fi xed and the tire put back into normal police service. We contacted 26 tire re- pair facilities, in equal numbers of tire retailers, service center / gas stations and police garages. T e puncture was shown or described to the tire repair centers as a nail in the tread por- tion of the tire. Not a bolt, or some other large object, but a nail. Some tire companies classify repair proce- dures by the size of the damage. In this case, an ordinary nail was the problem. T e punc- ture was also described as being in the center of the tread, i.e., where a repair would properly engage the belts. Most tire repair centers, but not all of them, know that tread shoulder and sidewall repairs should never be performed. If asked by the repair center, the tire was described as a Goodyear Eagle RS-A, size P225/60R-16. We didn’t volunteer this in- formation because the staff at most tire repair places considers that a tire is a tire. Of all the repair facilities, virtually none asked about the tire. If really pushed for details, the tire was de- scribed as from a Ford Police Interceptor used for patrol work. Again, this was not initially volunteered because we didn’t want special “police” treatment. You simply cannot reliably depend on “special police use” attention when your fl at is mixed in with three dozen other fl ats in the stack. Of the two-dozen repair centers, virtually none asked for details about the end use of the vehicle. Why would they? T ey are going to fi x a fl at on a Crown Victoria exactly the same way they will fi x a fl at on a Buick Regal, a Dodge Neon or a Toyota Camry. At least two of the repair outfi ts (one garage, one general tire retailer) knew this was a police tire since the fl at was pulled out of the trunk of a fully marked patrol car by a uniformed po- lice offi cer. It is also fair that the police garages assumed it was a repair to some kind of police tire for some kind of police car.
Survey Results
Of the kinds of repair centers you and your offi cers are likely to use, 40 percent said they would repair the tire with a plug. Another 12 percent said they would repair the tire with a patch. Another 4 percent said they would repair the fl at with a plug followed by a patch. Finally, 44 percent said they would use a one-piece plug-patch combina- tion. T at means when it comes to properly fi xing the pursuit-rated tires found on vir- tually all police sedans, 52 percent of these
Half the time, the fl at police pursuit tire is fi xed the wrong way, even in a police garage. Insist that the tire be fi xed the way to maintain the speed rating or adopt a no-repair policy.
answers are wrong.
According to both Goodyear and Fires- tone, the tire should be fi xed in one of two ways: 1) with a plug followed by a patch or 2) with a one-piece plug-patch combo-unit. Either way is equally valid. T e repair must seal the inner liner. A patch does this. A plug alone does not do this. T e repair must also fi ll the puncture. A plug does this. A patch alone does not do this.
Half of Police Garages Wrong T e police garages were split 50-50 on the use of a plug-patch combo and a plug-only repair. T at means half of the police depart- ments’ own garages fi x a fl at the wrong way. Specifi cally, they fi x a fl at tire in a way that limits the tire to a top speed of 85 mph. T e
unifi ed word from a panel of tire special- ists from Goodyear, Continental (General), Bridgestone (Firestone) and Michelin (BF- Goodrich) at a recent Police Fleet Expo: “A plug is not a proper repair!” T e tire retailers (not counting the factory franchise stores) are also split at 67-33. One third of the new tire retailers fi x a fl at the wrong way by using a patch only. And the overwhelming majority of gas stations and service stations, a whopping 87 percent, fi x a tire the wrong way with a plug only. T e only good news from the entire sur- vey was that every single factory franchise store, every one of the Goodyear and Fires- tone stores, repaired the speed-rated tire the right way. “Of the tires we repair after some- one else has tried, 90 percent were repaired the fi rst time with a plug,” said DeAnna
The correct method involves a combination patch-plug (shown) or both a plug and a patch. The patch holds the air pressure. The plug keeps moisture out of the steel belts.
www.pfmmag.com 59
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