Tony Posted May 28, 2008 Report Share Posted May 28, 2008 Some time ago a gel called OKO was made for agricultural vehicles to prevent/delay a puncture while the vehicle was working. Over time this also weened it's way into the commercial vehicle tyres, and now it has been pushed by tyre centres to the domestic car market. Don't be fooled it's pants!! This is it> Exactly how the chemicals work i have no idea but basically it's a liquid fibrous gel that under pressure plugs a hole up to 4mm in diameter. I have one personal concern with this, being a injury that would have been deemed to scrap the tyre will go unnoticed. The real problem with this product is the reason for this post..... "Balance". I have had two cars in as many weeks with real odd symptoms... On acceleration there is very bad vibration that diminishes with speed? Fortunately our balancer detects adverse weight and insists we rotate the tyre 180 degrees on the rim so that it can calculate a balance optimization position. On both these odd examples we broke the tyre bead only to find the gel inside. What i think is happening is while the car is stationary (at the lights maybe) the gel accumulates at the bottom. As the car gathers speed the inner gels weight generates the vibration and as the centrifugal force increases the gel dissipates evenly around the circumference of the tyre and the vibration stops. In both examples we removed the gel, balanced the wheels and the problem was solved. So if the tyre shop offers you preventative gel you know what to say Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorps Posted May 28, 2008 Report Share Posted May 28, 2008 Whats the alternative if you dont have a spare? Obviously you not supposed to run on these for ever, once squirted into the tyre its a temp fix surely. I know tyre fitters dont like this stuff or tyre weld. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted May 28, 2008 Report Share Posted May 28, 2008 If this is the same stuff I've actually thought about buying in the past, then it's not an equivalent of tyre weld. It's something you put in your tyres when they're absolutely fine, and if you get a puncture, it seals the hole up. I didn't buy it at the time because I didn't believe it could actually work, but now I'm glad I didn't buy it for a whole new reason! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted May 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2008 Whats the alternative if you dont have a spare? Obviously you not supposed to run on these for ever, once squirted into the tyre its a temp fix surely. I know tyre fitters dont like this stuff or tyre weld. The re-inflating "get me home" cans you get with cars that have no spare is different. Not forgetting if you do use the can of air and glue the tyres scrap anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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