Seal it with a hiss

A revolutionary tyre product, made to a secret formula, prevents wobble, mends punctures and promotes safety, says ALASTAIR SLOANE


On Tuesday, engineer Mike Gall will ask the Land Transport Safety Authority to establish an industry standard for tyre sealants, compounds which seal tyre tread punctures from the inside.

Basically, he wants the authority to grade each product, to put in writing that A is better than B for farm bikes, but B is better than A for cars.

There are many sealants on the market but Gall believes the product his company, Tyreseal (NZ) Ltd, is selling is the best.

So do a lot of other people - tourist operators, roading and forestry contractors, the Army, port authorities, classic car drivers - even some in the tyre industry, which stands to lose most if Tyreseal is officially accepted as the industry standard.

Gall, an engineer and tyre repair adviser to the safety authority, says Tyreseal prolongs the life of a tyre by up to 52 per cent; it helps to prevent "harmonic imbalance" - tyre wobble, the difference in balance from one sidewall to the other - and it helps to make it safer.

"Of the 16 fatalities from punctures or blowouts in New Zealand in 1997, 11 happened in trucks and five in cars," said Gall.

"Four of those five were killed while they were changing tyres on the side of the road. Had the tyres on those vehicles been treated with Tyreseal, punctures could have been prevented and lives saved."

Tyreseal is a liquid comprising billions of synthetic fibres. It was invented in Melbourne by Trydel Research Pty Ltd, an industrial company responsible for the two-in-one hair shampoo.

"It's a secret formula," said Gall. "Competitors have tried to copy it but they haven't been able to."

Tyreseal is pumped into a tyre through the air valve. Once the vehicle is underway, most of the fibre and its carrier fluid sticks to the inside of the tread area and a tiny amount stays suspended.

Gall likens its role in a puncture to that of a bucket of water with a hole in the bottom.

"Hold the bucket still and the water will trickle out. Swing it in a circle, creating centrifugal force, and the water will be forced out faster," he said.

"If a tyre is punctured, centrifugal force and the escaping air forces Tyreseal into the hole made by the puncture. This happens in about a quarter of a second, or the blink of an eye."

The tyre industry has lobbied against Tyreseal.

"They have been aggressive, to say the least," said Gall. "In the past they have been justified in their actions because of lack of quality control and misuse of off-road sealants into on-road use.

"But they shouldn't have the blinkers on and restrict the introduction of technology for better safety and cost-effective running of tyres.

"What some of the people in the industry have been saying about Tyreseal is nothing but bald-faced lies. I sit on committees with most of these people - they know all about our product."

Two examples of Tyreseal's effectiveness happened last month in two different corners of the world.

In Germany, the regulatory body TUV, the country's licensing agency acknowledged as the toughest in western Europe, approved the use of all Tyreseal products.

In Auckland, a top car industry executive, who doesn't want to be named, had the tyres on his heavyweight four-wheel-drive treated with Tyreseal.

"It drove like a dog for the first few minutes while the liquid and fibre settled down in the tyre. But then the thing tracked like never before. I even took my hands off the wheel and it stayed on line.

"To top it off I got a puncture a couple of days later. I pulled out a six-inch nail and drove off. The punctured tyre is still on the vehicle and the tyre pressure hasn't changed."