You have two flats. Now what?

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:40 pm

Can you repair a tire on a lonely road and no cellphone service..

To repair a puncture.. There is a kit sold at most car parts stores.. Also at Harbor Freight.. The kit will have a T handled tool with a hole in the shaft.. Along with this will be some round rubber strips and some glue.. Find the puncture and remove any nail or other.. (Mark that spot well..Put one of the round rubber strips half through the hole of the tool shaft.. Apply a small amount of glue.. force the tool with the rubber into the puncture.. Leave the a tail of Round rubber outside the tire.. Withdraw the tool.. The eye of the tool has a cutting edge.. Do not trim any rubber.. Remount the tire.. Leave the wheel off the ground.. Rotate the tire until the valve stem is at the bottom on the wheel.. Take your handy bike pump and inflate the tire.. Lower the jack and put all the tools away..

If you have never changed a tire.. There are few chinks in this game.. First, the guy that installed your tires.. put them on with a air gun.. Your going to pay hell getting those nuts off.. But it can be done.. This includes the spare in some cases.. Or like myself.. I go stand over the clown with the air gun.. Make him let you tighten the wheel nut with the tool provided with the car..

I personal carry a big tool kit with four foot helps and blocks of wood.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 1:12 pm

I am so lucky that I was helped by a local on 447 on my way in last year. You know those soft shoulders that they tell you about on that road? I'm completely unqualified to get out of the van there...

It was a single flat...

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 2:39 pm

theCryptofishist wrote:I am so lucky that I was helped by a local on 447 on my way in last year. You know those soft shoulders that they tell you about on that road? I'm completely unqualified to get out of the van there...

It was a single flat...

Yeah, you with the winning smile...

I have two screw jack that are designed to lift a truck.. That with a few block of wood.. I am able the help any time I'm called on..

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 2:53 pm

My mutant vehicle got a flat on the playa once... I had too many people on board.
All of the useless fuckers simply got off and walked away... "Well we broke this one, let's go find another"...
Being Captain Goddammit, I had brought a spare and tools, and was able to get a ride with them back to the scene of the shipwreck, that was nice, but yeah, it's good to show up as self-sufficient as possible.

I peeled a trailer tire off the rim while making a tight U-turn on the way to the playa. But I brought an air compressor - I wrapped a ratchet strap around the tire to get the bead to seat and reinflated it, in the middle of nowhere at night. Kept going.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 4:12 pm

Captain Goddammit wrote:My mutant vehicle got a flat on the playa once... I had too many people on board.
All of the useless fuckers simply got off and walked away... "Well we broke this one, let's go find another"...

That is what I consider to be the typical reaction of people on mvs. I wonder where I picked that up. Not much first hand experience...

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 4:34 pm

The Captain brought up another problem..One that people that don't change tires on the norm..

If the tire is run flat even a short distance.. The tire will not fit the wheel rim well.. SO, After repairing the tire and the applied air just blows past the rim.. It is because the tire is not round.. The side walls most fit up the rim.. This is where the captain used a ratchet strap.. Most burner will have them to tie down there load.. Take one of the straps and apply it to the tread of the tire.. Ratchet down until the tire bead is against the rim. Them blow the tire up.. AND forget about those cheap plug in the lighter sock compressors.. They are cheap crap and that is all your going to get from it..

FIGJAM · Post by **FIGJAM** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 5:06 pm

Carry a can of starting fluid. (either)

Spray it into the tire for a timed 2 seconds, stand back, and throw a lighted match at it.

Instantly rebeads the tire, and with enough practice, aired up enough to get back to civilization.

Jackass · Post by **Jackass** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 5:17 pm

FIGJAM wrote:Carry a can of starting fluid. (either)

Spray it into the tire for a timed 2 seconds, stand back, and throw a lighted match at it.

Instantly rebeads the tire, and with enough practice, aired up enough to get back to civilization.

Watch your brows and fingers with that one, it's effective but not for the faint of heart.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 5:27 pm

Jackass wrote:
FIGJAM wrote:Carry a can of starting fluid. (either)

Spray it into the tire for a timed 2 seconds, stand back, and throw a lighted match at it.

Instantly rebeads the tire, and with enough practice, aired up enough to get back to civilization.

Watch your brows and fingers with that one, it's effective but not for the faint of heart.

Hey, I'm trying to teach little here.. Sides most wont know from starter fluid.. I hope.

Drawingablank · Post by **Drawingablank** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 8:28 pm

Captain Goddammit wrote:I peeled a trailer tire off the rim while making a tight U-turn on the way to the playa. But I brought an air compressor - I wrapped a ratchet strap around the tire to get the bead to seat and reinflated it, in the middle of nowhere at night. Kept going.

In my teens I worked at a service station that was primitive at best. We broke beads using a welded up gizmo that you pretty much had to jump on, dismounted and remounted tires with 2 tire irons, a rubber mallet and muscle, and we had a strap which we snugged up and inflated to help seat beads.

The ratchet strap works great for this as I rediscover every year when the tires on my snowblower are flat and unseated every time I break it out for the winter.

daft · Post by **daft** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 9:17 pm

I guess I would rather carry a 50 pack of tecate over my air compressor, Who wants to party?

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 9:17 pm

An other way to test your resolve to get to Burning Man.. Get a flat and replace it with that phony little doughnut in the bottom of your trunk. Then put it in gear and make up for lost time..

Those little >>>>> are designed to get you down the block to the first tire shop.. Not doing Smokey and the Bandit across a hot desert..

How about pulling that great deal of a trailer you got.. Nothing like taking a chance.. Do not pull the wheels and check the bearing.. They may not even be in there race anymore.. Those tires that have been in the weeds for years.. What the heck, a little weather checked but they still hold air.. OR, start thinking about all those trailers you have seen broke down along the road.. Tires flat, wheels missing.. Or my favorite. The wheel broke off at the spindle and folded under like in Back to the Future.. Go ahead and run overloaded and 15 over the speed limit..

I swear, the next broken down overloaded old hay wagon i see.. I'm not stopping to help.. fuck 'em and feed 'em fish heads.. It just may be you I pass if you feel my suggestions are just old guy talk..

mudpuppy000 · Post by **mudpuppy000** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 9:19 pm

[media]

FIGJAM · Post by **FIGJAM** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 9:26 pm

Yup.

I've done it on lots of cars that have sat for years.

Tires went flat and off the bead.

Just jacked the car up, sprayed the tire, and threw a match.

Did'nt bother taking them off the car.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 9:32 pm

FIGJAM wrote:Yup.

I've done it on lots of cars that have sat for years.

Tires went flat and off the bead.

Just jacked the car up, sprayed the tire, and threw a match.

Did'nt bother taking them off the car.

We are going to see a lot of burned out burners..

Post by **trilobyte** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 9:43 pm

Giving this a nudge over to Transportation, since that's a better fit. Better to prepare for insane things and not have to deal with such extremes than to not be prepared at all and stuck in a tight spot.

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Mon Jun 24, 2013 10:12 pm

Oh yeah, I've done the starting fluid trick, it definitely works.
I'm just getting tamer as I get older. In some ways...

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Tue Jun 25, 2013 9:07 am

Now that we have shown you how to blow yourself up and burn your car to charcoal.. Your hands will be a mess.. Pick up a container of goop laundry additive from the dollar store..(yes GOOP) not the glue Goop.. It will break down grease, pitch, paint and must any other stain.. To a point you can wipe up the mess with an old rag.. Oh! that's right, no one has ever told you to not throw old T shirts, pants or other old cloth away.. NO! bad dog! Cut them into sizes of a face towel.. Wash them in real hot water.. Put them in YOUR ROAD KIT.. Why wash?? They can be used to stop blood from running out when needed. And the laundry Goop works in the washing machine.. It will take out grease and any protein stain. It gets all nasty watery (still usable) left in a hot trunk.. Comes in a nice white plastic container. So put it in your cooler.. You will know where it is on the playa after bike repair..

Jackass · Post by **Jackass** » Tue Jun 25, 2013 10:15 am

If you forget to pick up some Goop and you went ahead and made a real mess of yourself with oil, grease, or any other hard to remove crap. Grab some liquid soap (dish soap preferably), without getting your hands wet pour a silver dollar size puddle in the palm of your hand. Next pour a mound of sugar (best), salt (works but burns like hell if you have cuts), or if nothing else use dirt/sand into the palm with soap in it. Work it into a paste and add just a little bit of water to make it a workable, rub vigorously everywhere you're dirty and rinse with water.

You may be surprised by the crap you can get off yourself by using this concoction. Powder laundry soap works good too, but will dry the hell out of your skin leaving you all itchy.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Tue Jun 25, 2013 10:25 am

I'd come in from working on the combine..Gram. would put a wad of lard in my hands.. Worked great. back in the day before hand cleaner..

The soap trick works real good.. If you wash it off onto the ground it may end up on your dinner plate someday..

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Tue Jun 25, 2013 2:04 pm

Grandfather called and needed his pickup.. It's store on the back parking pad.. I go out to check and start it.. Flat tire.. Call AAA.. Dose it have a spare? No.. we can load it up take it to a tire repair shop.. Just come and bust it lose.. No can do..

So get a good jack and lift it.. Star wrench and a block of 4X4 with random hole to support the star wrench.. Jump on the wrench and bust the nuts lose.. Pull the tire and take it down for repair..

fucko's..... I'm to old for this shit..I pay good money for them to say "can do" no matter what...

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Tue Jun 25, 2013 3:20 pm

Well unjon... a while back (it was the 1980s) I was a AAA guy.
Wanna know what training or qualifications there were? NONE!
In fact, they used to say the less we knew about cars, the better off we were. The less time we'd waste screwing around with people's cars.
We got a flat fee from AAA to respond to one of their calls. The less time we spent on one, the better.
We carried nails - if you had a hole in your tire we shoved a nail in it, aired you up, and sent you to the nearest tire shop.
A "Flat, no spare" was a "T-2" call. An automatic tow-to-shop, unless we could pull the nail & air-up trick.

Canoe · Post by **Canoe** » Tue Jun 25, 2013 6:47 pm

My sister says you're supposed to get it towed to the dealer to trade in on a new one. Once things start going wrong... and two flats? Sounds like a lot to her.

She's a great driver, but mechanically, my god.
Borrowed one of her cars years ago, ran poorly. Air filter was so full I had to use a chisel and a garden trowel to get all the dirt out. Never seen anything like it. She said I was lying, as her mechanic changes all those every time she got it tuned.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Tue Jun 25, 2013 7:35 pm

I worked the hot truck (mechanic) on the potato harvest one year.. Field repair 8 diggers, weld, and fix.. After all the truck were in for the night I had to get then ready for the next day.. They were all new but running in (dirt Like a ten hour white out on the playa) they needed a lot.. When they came from the dealer.. The first thing was to throw the paper air cleaner away.. Replace them with the old style oil bath.. Each night I would use a stick to scoop the mud thick oil out of the cleaners.. Putting twenty trucks on the road/in field each morning and keep the diggers running all day.. Crawling under a truck to keep the morning drew off you for a nap..

BBadger · Post by **BBadger** » Tue Jun 25, 2013 8:56 pm

This is one of those threads so entirely out of my expertise, and yet full of good information I want to know.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Tue Jun 25, 2013 9:29 pm

Jackass wrote:If you forget to pick up some Goop and you went ahead and made a real mess of yourself with oil, grease, or any other hard to remove crap. Grab some liquid soap (dish soap preferably), without getting your hands wet pour a silver dollar size puddle in the palm of your hand. Next pour a mound of sugar (best), salt (works but burns like hell if you have cuts), or if nothing else use dirt/sand into the palm with soap in it. Work it into a paste and add just a little bit of water to make it a workable, rub vigorously everywhere you're dirty and rinse with water.

You may be surprised by the crap you can get off yourself by using this concoction. Powder laundry soap works good too, but will dry the hell out of your skin leaving you all itchy.

Ah. Now I can feel soft for using Borax...

Still, I'm making jobs for Mules...

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 9:06 am

I am surprised no one has jumped in with that spray tire repair...

It will work in some cases and save your ass.. You should have a can in your trunk just in case..

When you stops to take a leak or change driver what ever.. You notice a tire is getting low.. See if you can find an object in the tire that's letting air out.. DO NOT pull it out.. Jack the wheel off the ground.. Turn the wheel until the valve stem is at the bottom.. Apply the the can as directed.. Then lower the wheel to the ground, put all your tools away and drive about five miles @35mph,, Get out and check if the tire is up to pressure.. If not, jack it up and "bike tire pump" it up.. Drive short distance and check again.. Get to the first tire repair and change the tire out..

WHY! all this screwing around.. If your lucky and the tire holds air, good..
That crap you put in the tire will not last forever...
If you don't drive that first five and check.. The slim you put in the tire will stay in one spot and you wheel will be out of round.. (( a out of round tire can put you in the ditch.. In NV the ditch will roll you over and KILL you.)) Stopping and checking the tire pressure works the same way..

When you have the tire repaired I suggest you take a long walk... The repair man is going to call you names you do not want to hear..

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 9:18 am

I change my own tires, and balance. I use starting fluid to seat beads. I leave the valve stem out, though, to help prevent
tire over stress upon explosion. and then hurry back in with the valve. As FJ says, with practice, it's almost inflated.

also, for cleaning hands of bad grease:
clean motor oil, maybe some abrasive, and rinse

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Fri Jun 28, 2013 9:30 am

ygmir wrote:I change my own tires, and balance. I use starting fluid to seat beads. I leave the valve stem out, though, to help prevent
tire over stress upon explosion. and then hurry back in with the valve. As FJ says, with practice, it's almost inflated.

also, for cleaning hands of bad grease:
clean motor oil, maybe some abrasive, and rinse

That all well and good.. I am trying to reach out to people that may have never seen a flat tire.. My first job after running away from the farm.. Was changing those split rim truck tires.. They were milk (can) haulers that drove into farmers barnyards to pickup milk.. Had a 1 1/2 inch solid line shaft for a safety.. Those split rim would blow if they were just right.. .90 cents an hour..

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