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That Costco guy was just voicing his opinion. I have used Fix a Flat more than a few times over the years, in an emergency, and while it does create a mess inside the tire when you need to remove it, I have never had a problem having them balanced.
You have to realize you were dealing with a man who works on tires, not an engineer.
It's still not a bad idea to carry a big can for emergency use only. I know a guy who had a flat in the wrong side of town, and got robbed while he was changing his tire. If he'd have had some Fix-A-Flat, this might not have happened.
It's still not a bad idea to carry a big can for emergency use only. I know a guy who had a flat in the wrong side of town, and got robbed while he was changing his tire. If he'd have had some Fix-A-Flat, this might not have happened.
While I stay away from the bad parts of town, I have something much more effective than Fix-a-Flat to deal with any problems. Even with Fix-a-Flat you still have to air up the tire and that can take quite a while with those puny air compressors that are provided.
Costco Ripoff Alert. All they have to do is break the bead on the tire and clean the fix a flat out of the tire, wipe it out with a rag and patch the tire from the inside. No big deal and I have done it many times. Fix a flat and or green slime do not damage the tire and both are water soluble. Put the tire back on the rim and balance it. Whenever you use a tire sealant, you still need to patch or plug the tire in my opinion, although I use it in riding lawn mower tires and it sometimes holds the tire pressure for years.
Re: 12v compressors. Buy a high volume 12v compressor for your trunk and it will air up tire very quickly. They are no longer the slow air flow, 20 minute compressors like they used to be. Just make sure you get the right one.
There are some dealer that will not work on a tire when stuff like Fix-a-Flat was used. Often you have to take it to the corner Tire - Lottery Ticket & Checks Cashed Here store to have them just wash it all out for a couple dollars. It's just a business decision that may or may not be based on legitimate issues. I have seen it several times. One service station near work won't service an inflated tire when a sealant was used and makes you deflate the tire before they will touch it. Just know Costco isn't the only one that does this.
Many tire dealers and shops won't work on a tire either to repair the hole, clean it out, or balance it if it's had Fix-A-Flat used in it. It can also damage TPMS sensors that reside in the tire. It's a lot more work for them to dismount the tire, clean the tire out, clean the TPMS sensor, do the repair, and remount the tire, than to just plug the hole. That gunk should be used only as a last resort in an emergency.
Costco Ripoff Alert. All they have to do is break the bead on the tire and clean the fix a flat out of the tire, wipe it out with a rag and patch the tire from the inside. No big deal and I have done it many times. Fix a flat and or green slime do not damage the tire and both are water soluble. Put the tire back on the rim and balance it. Whenever you use a tire sealant, you still need to patch or plug the tire in my opinion, although I use it in riding lawn mower tires and it sometimes holds the tire pressure for years.
Re: 12v compressors. Buy a high volume 12v compressor for your trunk and it will air up tire very quickly. They are no longer the slow air flow, 20 minute compressors like they used to be. Just make sure you get the right one.
Ripoff alert because Costco doesn't want their workers spending the time and effort as well as the mess of cleaning the inside of a tire for a "free" tire repair and balance?
From a Reddit discussion on the subject of "Fix A Flat":
Quote:
"The first and most predominate reason for peeling and flaking of the chrome in the tire "air" area (where the wheel is suppose to hold back the air pressure from the tire) is due to the use of fix-a-flat type products. Fix-a-flat type products are the chemicals that you put into a flat tire that inflates the tire while sealing the damaged area of the tire. The chemicals from the use of these types of products interact with the chrome compounds and cause the chrome to flake or peel. It is fine to use the product as a temporary fix - which is its intended use."
"In many wheels, including aluminum aftermarket wheels, the chemicals in fix-a-flat eat away at the aluminum and can deteriorate the rim. Simply remember to take your tire to a tire shop as soon as possible after using fix-a-flat or any similar product and make sure to inform the tire technician that you have used this product."
I suppose you know better than wheel manufacturers.
R-134a (the propellant) and water (the primary ingredient) will eat your rims just the same way that it eats your AC or refrigeration system. This is why we vac and put inline dryers on refrigeration circuits....R-134a turns corrosive in the presence of water.
Yeah, I am pretty sure you can get a tired balanced to a satisfactory condition with FAF or similar in it. The momentum of a heavy tire/rim combo is going to be much more involved in throwing the
dynamic motion off, when compared to a small amount of leak-sealant in your tire. Could the FAF throw it off a little, sure....but probably not that much.
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