Everybody knows by now that you are not allowed to insert a hose. Where should he/she get one? The reason may be much less known: The legislator rightly demands that such a tyre should be sealed from the inside and outside. This means that all attempts to patch the tire without taking it off the rim are practically illegal.

So we got such mini mushrooms for the tire of a VW Golf 6 with the designation 195/65 R 15. It was a usual screw that let air out. We even managed to take the tire only partly off the rim. We would not do this alone any more, because a machine handles with a light alloy rim substantially more carefully than our tyre lever.

After all, we got to the repair area from the inside. But then came what should have been seen as the end of the whole action. We could not drill from the inside to the required diameter of the miniature mushroom. So from the outside. And exactly thereby already metal threads of the carcass came to us easily.

How do you expect to do that, seal them up from outside? It is important because no water should penetrate the layer of steel threads. Because they are by no means protected against rust. They are also not delivered separately for final assembly, but are always embedded in a rubber layer and as such are also rolled up and then vulcanized together with the complete tire.

Failure to provide an adequate seal, whether from the inside or outside, is punished by rust formation somewhere on the steel carcass. It is not uncommon for a dent to form much later, opposite the repair site, which, if ignored, can lead to a bursting of the tyre.

We continued nevertheless, were still convinced of the legitimacy of our actions. We even used a rotating brush made of copper wires to prepare the tyre for gluing from the inside and of course we let the applied cement air off well afterwards. The repair tool went through well, when we had hit the hole from the inside once, and could be pulled well.

But somehow a little of the wire of the carcass remained tangible from outside. And if it had been covered, when would it have come out again due to tyre wear? Maybe the tire should have been removed completely and drilled from the inside. But we wanted to spare ourselves the balancing or the marking of tire to rim.

How the story ended? Very simple: We drove with the rear tyre for a little while until the tyre dealer even had our original tyre in stock and then we had it replaced. The repair kit cost a good 20 euros. We would have paid a lot more if we'd gone to a professional. The new tire cost, perhaps due to the current situation, 64 Euros including installation. Of course we ordered two.

Tell me yourself, wasn't the (self-) patching a mistake, maybe even a dangerous one?