I need opinions on repairing a big bubba tire. I had the misfortune of finding a hare pin in the mid tread portion of a 40 runs old slick. It went in kind of on its side and once pulled out the tire has two puncture holes that leak about an inch apart in the middle portion of the tire. I'm wondering if it's good idea, safe or otherwise to get a patch put on the inside over both punctures or cut my losses?

That really sucks. Especially because now you 'bout need to buy a pair of them.
I do understand the pain - Won a race at Topeka on some newer slicks, (their 4th outing), a week after the National event there. We were pitted right where the Schumacher team had been the previous weekend. Not blaming it on them, but all evening we kept finding single-edge razor blades on the ground. It was dark for the last few rounds and after the final I found one of those blades while driving into our pit. I thought about doing as you said, and patching the inside. The M/T engineer asked how much I valued my life, lol. So yeah, those race winnings did not cover the cost of 2 new slicks. That definitely put a damper on the celebration.
Your 2 punctures may not be as risky as the 1 inch cut through the belting on mine, but as that ol' boy told me, the integrity of the tire has been compromised.
If your budget allows for it, I'd bite the bullet.

Apparently, you are quick/fast enough to need a Big Bubba slick. Enough said, replace the tires!

2BKING

I knew I'd read about people using Super Glue, but nothing turned up in the Search here. I found this old thread with a couple ideas. I wouldn't throw out the tire.

https://www.classracer.com/cla...owthread.php?t=50027

I've plugged many slicks on doorcars and dragsters. I don't see why an internal patch / repair wouldn't work.

I would not hesitate to plug it. I have plugged at least 5 never had an issue.

I’ve had three like this. Plugged them from the outside and never a problem.

I plugged a Hoosier with about 6 runs on it with one of the good brown self-vulcanizing plugs after getting an electrical staple in it just as they were calling us for 1st round. I put about 150 mid-7 second runs on it after that without an issue.

Internal patch will be fine. Ive plugged many tires at events I could not pull the tire off at.

On the bright side
If you internal patch enough times they won’t leak as badly

quote:

Originally posted by Bucky:
On the bright side
If you internal patch enough times they won’t leak as badly

Ok Bucky, that there was funny!
All the folks that have successfully used plugs on punctures tells me that approach may be ok. My situation with a 1 inch wide cut through the belt would definitely not have been sealed by a plug.

quote:

Originally posted by Lenny5160:
I knew I'd read about people using Super Glue, but nothing turned up in the Search here. I found this old thread with a couple ideas. I wouldn't throw out the tire.

https://www.classracer.com/cla...owthread.php?t=50027

I can attest to the Super Glue being a good, permanent repair, on a golf cart tire sidewall slice.

Back on topic, I wouldn't be scared to run it with a proper patch inside.
Yes, I also have plugged a slick minutes before making a run, and wore it on out, no issues on my slow ride.

With all this apparent success in plugging slicks a the track, I gotta say, it is another reason to NOT run inner tubes. I used to run tubes for years. Back when some tracks would run a separate Buy-Back round for Rd 1 losers, I got a puncture on my way to the lanes for First Round. It was losing air pretty quickly. Someone had an air tank on their golf cart and bailed me out. Won that round, yanked the wheel, ran up the highway a few miles to the Goodyear store, they patched the tube and I made it back in time for Rd 3. That could never happen these days. I quit running tubes after that season.

Super glue likes to bond rubber. Ever used an O-ring kit where super glue is used to bond an 0-ring? The o-ring will break but not at the glue joint. Used super glue on a pin hole in a slick and it never failed. But this was on a 6.0 car.

For plugging check out stop and go tire repair it's a plug that goes in from outside but is like a patch plug.

I would try to plug the holes from the outside if they are big enough holes. If they are small holes, then try the Super Glue. I have plugged slicks several times (not the same tire) and after one burn-out, you can't tell where the plug was installed.

I would NOT try to patch the holes from the inside unless you can do it WITHOUT having to buff the inside of the tire. The same goes for a front runner. The inside of these drag tires (slicks & fronts) are very thin on the contact patch and if you try to buff the tire to get a flat smooth area for the patch, you will go into the cords or belts.

Fix it and run it.

Was in tire business for several years. In certain calls i would use these by Steelman worked very well

https://steelmantools.com/prod...re-repair-plug-patch