Re: plugging trailer tires??
I've worked in auto repair for 35 years, I've seen many types of repairs come and go, the tried and true method is the rope plug with sealer. Whether it be Safety Seal, Camel, or other professional method, it's the best bet going.
Just a patch lets dirt and water enter the tread layers and belts, the rope plug vulcanizes itself into the tire and circumference of the injury. Solid rubber plugs or mushroom style rubber plugs are too unreliable and have been known to be cut by the steel belts in some radials. The rope plugs don't suffer from this.
Working in and around automotive shops and dealers for years my own cars have had their share of punctures, and I've never had a blow out of failure from plugging a hole this way. Just the same, there's a limit to what you can plug. If the hole can't be filled with one plug, it's junk in my eyes. I have seen tires come in with as many a 15 of those plugs stuffed in a hole. An injury that large will always have done more serious damage than just a puncture through the tread area.
Never plug or patch a sidewall injury, the amount of damage there and the fact that there is just too much flex there, a patch or plug is just not reliable.
As to the Ride On tire sealant, it does work, but requires a bit more work when changing the tires. I've dealt with several fleets that used it in their trucks. I once had one of their vans come in with a vibration, it turned out to be a box cutter knife stuck in the tire, the driver had run it over, and the sealant sealed up the leak and he kept on driving. He said the vibration began when he first left early in the day, and he continued his 300 mile route before dropping it off after work that day. The tire was damaged beyond use but he didn't require a tow, it didn't blow out, and his deliveries were made.
As to adding such an additive to a tire ruining its warranty coverage.
What sort of warranty would cover the type of punctures that stuff is meant to seal? If you run over a 2x4 full of nails and put a dozen 10 penny nails through the tread, the tire warranty wouldn't cover that either way. All not having the sealant does is make the tire shop, road service man, or tow truck driver richer. I can't count how many times I've seen tires running such a sealant survive and drive home rather than sit on the side of the road with a flat or fly apart leaving the tire carcass on the road side after the driver decides he's going to run on with a flat.
Any additive that allows the driver to continue on with business is OK in my book.
Slime is a different story, from what I was told a long while back, Slime has a limited lifespan, apparently is loses effectiveness over time, something like 2 years? I'm not sure if that's fact though or just another companies sales pitch.
