Welcome to the most systematic test of sidewall repair, ever. 

If you’re new to sidewall repair, you might think it doesn’t work -- and you’d be in good company.

Overlanding legend David Soza, approached us about conducting a very systematic test on the limits of sidewall repair. So of course, we said yes.

David's been working in the off road and overlanding space for 48 years. David was first recognized as one of the contestants in the very first 4 Wheeler Magazine, Top Truck Challenge, where he won their “Best Engineered Vehicle” award. More recently, David was a cofounder and CEO of Tern Overland, now retired, and the creative mind behind the shell engineering and design of the Aterra Camper.

You can find more information about David on his website, Sage Overland.

The Ultimate Sidewall Repair Test: Testing Details

Sidewall repair is one of the great liabilities of off road vehicles. So, when David stumbled across GlueTread, he had to put it to the test. 

Co-founder, Andy, joined David in Arizona to test position, angle, size and location of the damage while riding in a range of conditions. They tested both radial and axial cuts, meaning some cuts went with the grain of the sidewall cords and some cuts were across the cords. 

They also started with smaller cuts, between 1.5 - 2.5 inches and eventually tested up to 4 inch cuts. The test started with 7 slashes, 2 compromised tires, and David's 6,800 lb Tacoma. Throughout the 3-day trial, they tested both high speeds and high pressure and low speed and low pressure.  

We wanted this to be as comprehensive as possible to learn if GlueTread works in the worst case scenarios. 

Sidewall Repair Test Results

The short answer is GlueTread worked, but it has its limitations. The tire with 7 slashes made it the entire 3-day trip successfully. Although it did have a few small leaks which is to be expected with 7 slashes to the tire, and not just one! 

We also learned that axial cuts are much harder to repair than radial cuts because not only are you repairing the tire, but you're attempting to repair the structural integrity of the tire. 

One 4.5 inch slash eventually blew out not far from camp at the end of a testing day showing the upper limits of GlueTread's capabilities. 

In David's words, "I am throughly impressed with performance of this product. I wouldn't say that it's bulletproof, it does have it's limitations. There are damages that you can make to the tire that the product can't repair. But on the other hand, if you were to repair these tires, and be careful driving them, you could probably drive long distances. We tried to do as much damages to these tires as we could. We learned a lot..." 

"It's a product that I can definitely recommend and it's a product that I am going to carry. While it's not perfect, it's far better than not having it."

-David Soza 

Sidewall Repair Questions? 

If you still have questions about durability of GlueTread after watching this video, we'd love to answer them through the contact form on this site or you can leave a comment on our YouTube video.