Stringing 'em along: on-wheel tire repairs are easy, but....

As one reads about the horrendous multi-million-dollar lawsuits won by plaintiffs because a "string repair" caused the alleged tire failure, one is tempted to conclude that ALL string repairs must be bad.

Various tire manufacturers, trade associations and tire dealers have declared that "on the wheel" tire repairs are not to be condoned.

"The tire must be removed from the wheel, examined and THEN repaired," they insist.

I, too, prefer to have tire punctures repaired off the wheel.

Recently while gassing up my car, I noticed a driver pointing to his left front tire and talking to the manager about a tire with obviously low inflation.

As luck would have it, I had my camera and, with his permission, observed and photographed the sequence.

"Give us 10 minutes and we'll take care of it for you," said the station attendant.

Curious, I walked into the service bay to see how he would "take care of it."

Out came the jack, up went the front wheel, off came the wheel, and then the fun began.

The service person located a nail and pulled it out with a pair of pliers. It was a simple, sharp nail about one-and-a-half inches long.

He went to the bench, brought back a rasp and awl and a five-inch piece of sticky material.

The rasp went in and out of the puncture several times. Then the attendant placed the material in a slot in the awl, …