 Garden Gate Video
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Step one — Find the puncture. If the nail, thorn or other object that punctured the tire is still lodged, remove the object and mark the hole with chalk or a grease pencil. With tubeless tires, there's no need to remove the tire from the wheel rim or the wheel from the wheelbarrow.
If you're not sure where the puncture is, find it by reinflating the flat tire with about 10 pounds of air pressure.
Mix a 50/50 liquid dishwashing soap and water solution in a small container.
Apply the soap solution around the tire with your fingers, as in the photo at left. When it flows over the hole, escaping air will make soap bubbles.
Mark the area at the bubbles with chalk or a grease pencil.
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Step two — Clean
the opening. Press a reaming tool into the marked puncture. This
may take some muscle. Then twist it in and out to enlarge the hole and roughen
the edges of the rubber. Treating the rubber like this makes the patch stick
better.
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Step three — Insert the repair cord. Thread a 4-inch-long rubber repair cord into the hole at the end of the insertion tool as though you were threading a giant sewing needle.
Notice the far end of the hole at the end of the insertion tool is split. After it's inserted into the puncture, the repair cord slips through this split and remains in the tread when you pull the tool from the tire.
Place the repair cord in the eye of the insertion tool so half of the cord extends out each side.
Apply rubber cement along the length of the cord. Don't worry if you get rubber cement on the insertion tool. It will help lubricate it and make it easier to push the repair cord into the tire.
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Press the insertion tool deep into the tire through the puncture. The repair cord has to lodge in the tread and fill the puncture hole.
When about 1/4 inch of the repair cord is still exposed outside the tire, sharply pull the insertion tool out.
The repair cord should slip out of the split end of the eye, leaving two ends pointing outside the tire. If the repair cord pulls completely out, discard it and start step 3 again with a fresh cord.
Trim the ends of the insertion cord flush to the surface of the tire with side cutters or a sharp knife.
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Step four — Reinflate the tire. The repair cord should plug the puncture. To test it, apply more soap solution around the repair. If there's still bubbling, use the reaming tool to push the repair cord into the tire and open the puncture back up. Then, ream the hole again and repeat step 3.
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