Bill replied:

Yes Ron, plugs are temporary and of course are only suitable for small punctures. In my experience though I have had far fewer punctures with tubeless than I had with tubed tyres. For remote areas and bad roads I always carry an extra spare. Never even had to use the first one (lucky!) but have known many who have used them. Pros and cons for both but the pros for me come down on the tubeless side.

member-skippyking replied:

Hi Ron, I have used plugs quite a few times and have never had them "re-done" by the pros. They have always stayed sealed. Of course now I have said that one of those will go down tomorrow or someone will sue me :~) It's only my opinion ;~) Tubes these days are getting pretty ordinary quality wise. My local tyre bloke reckons you can just about see thru them :~o IMHO tubeless are the best and go down a lot slower for the same type of puncture, allowing you time to get to a good spot to change or repair the tyre, if need be. With the right gear though fixing a tube is quite easy, so long as you can keep things clean from dirt, sand, etc. I'd practise at home first though. SK

LARRY replied:

Hello Ron to confuse you even further on split rims or solid rims . say if you get a punture from a nail a split rim will go flat in a instant .hopefully you can pull up before damage to your tire is done. A tubeless tire will go down very slowly maybe even over a day or more. you can pump the tire up to get you out of trouble or put in a plug. to get you home. To fix them in the bush the split rim you have to break the beads remove the split rim band remove the tube and patch the tube you only need a couple of big screw drivers or a tyre lever the split rim puncture is very easy and simple to fix in the bush with only a few tools .The solid rim if you want to repair the punture in the bush then you have to break the beads you will need two good tyre levers to remove the tyre from the rim you can then apply a large internal tyre patch you will need a good rubber tyre mallet and a good compressor to reseat the tyre on the rim. the other fix is to fit a tube to get you home. To answer you question the split rim is easyer to fix in the bush but a tubeless tyre has a less chance of getting a punture and will get you home with a plug. Ron I have run on split rims on patrols and cruisers for years with little trouble. Even though I had both my spares flat out west of Ayresrock near the western oz border once. Just meant IT WAS TIME TO SET UP A EARLY CAMP AND FIX MY SPLIT RIMS EASY. I have now changed to tubeless tyre after many years I have not had a puncture yet . What I have noticed is My 80 series now drives like its got a lnew front end the split rims had a huge amount of lead on them and they still would never balance , the solid rims have very little lead and no more stearing wheel wobble. Ron I still have a set of split rims in the shed and I didnt give in easy to change . But I think the tubeless wheels are on to stay. Hope this helps Ron.

cobra replied:

Ron, you are legally correct that plugging is obnly temporary and needs an authorised repair. I have done both split rims and tubeless and am a true believer of tubeless plugging. Much easier and faster, but I always carry a spare tube just in case

Ken R replied:

Ron. I have no experience with split rims, however in preparation for my recent trip I was fortunate for the local tyre place to lend me an alloy rim and tubeless tyre -the same size as I have on my vehicle- to practice on plus some tips on mixing the soap flakes for lubrication and setting the bead. After a dozen changes (and lack of fitness showing) I felt quite confident. Needless to say I had no trouble with punctures over some 3000ks of bad road.As regards tubeless repair kits, I feel the instructions to regard the repair as temporary is a legal protection one.Tyre places use the same equipment (they also gave me some of their puncture repair plugs to take away).The reason to have tyres professionally repaired is I believe due to the fact that they remove the tyre and check for damage which may affect repair plug efficiency.My son drives a semi-uses the plugs on trailer wheels and they stayed there until tyres replaced.
Ken