Tire woes. Two flats in 4500 miles.

Last road trip, I packed our hand-operated Schwinn bicycle pump. No electrical worries, and goes pretty quick.

 

push, push, push, push

 

When you've got a flat, you're motivated. A couple of times now I've brought a flat back up to pressure after plug repair. It IS a bit of a workout, but not that hard. And for minor top up it's pretty easy.

 

Thanks for that, instead of just saying it's bigger than a breadbox

 

Just to throw in my .02 ...

Ordered a Viair 88P and a Grit tire repair kit from Amazon last week.

The Viair 88P runs off of the battery terminals so no worries about blowing any internal fuses. The Grit repair kit comes with some very heavy duty tire repair tools (solid steel handles).

 

With my 12V air pump, I actually get more time to .

I.e. my hand operated bicycle pump is faster than that particular electric pump. But speeds will vary with different models.

 

That's why I bought a spare tire from a totaled 2010 Prius from junkyard. It looks in pretty good shape, barely used. for $40.

But barely used tells that it was used. I don't like the idea of repair tire and fill the gas on roadside. I would leave it in garage when I drive around the town, but would definitely carry it when I drive out of town.

 

One beef: a 2010 spare is nearing 10 years old. I've never replaced and aging spare myself, they do tend to live a sheltered life, but just saying.

Between deleted spares, and mandatory TPMS discouraging snow tire use, it seems like we're moving backwards sometimes.

 

I checked the tire, it is still in pretty good shape, no signs of cracks at all. For $40, it is just peace in mind.

 

hard to define, after 40,000 miles on my wife hycam with no flats, we put n michelin premiers and got two nails within a few weeks. nothing since then.

3 flats is hard to argue with.

 

I'd think it would come down more the the amount of potential objects that could pierce the tire on your route, than the tires themselves.

 

I've been "blessed" by 3 flats in less than 1 1/2 years on my Prime; this follows decades of no flats. 2 flats arrived on my new Michelins. Shocking! Yet hearing a bit about newer tires, I wonder if a reduction in the use of steel belts, particularly in the sidewalls, might be the problem. Steel might be heavier and/or more difficult to use?? What I do know from personal experience with all my '69 Alfa Romeos, in particular my 69 Spider Veloce, you could drive that car at over 100 mph with only 11Lbs in the right rear tire (leaking valve stem), and only feel a little tail wagginess!! Normal tire pressures were 35 LBS. The tires were Michelin XWX 195/70VR14. Heavy tires, but I feel, the best tires I've ever owned. They averaged 60-80,000 miles, on my 2200 LB Alfas. Michelin tech support said average life should be about 20K miles, and practically called me a liar "it's impossible!", when I told him how long the tires lasted on my 3 '69 Alfas. He said, at that time, the XWX was the only tire with steel in the sidewalls. The tire was used normally by Maseratis and larger heavier high performance cars. During up to17 years of ownership of those cars, I never got a flat. All 3 were forcibly sold (divorce, etc.) with over 260,000 miles. All 3 ran exclusively on the XWX tires. In view of manufacturers abandoning consumers by dropping spare tires, I think it's high time they brought back tires like the XWX; screw the rolling resistance, I've had my fill of flats!


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AChoiredTaste.com

 

my daughter destroyed 3 tires on her car within a period of a week. (pot holes... told her to go around them rather than over or slow the heck down if it's unavoidable). Of course the local guys have buy 3 get one free special, but since they were three different incidents...

sigh...

(she's in college and poor so I still pay for it).

 

I've heard another trick with potholes, IF you can't avoid them: slow down for sure, but release the brake just before you go over them. Rolling freely through the pothole is a little easier on the tire.

 

Gee, ya could have given me the Dunlops. I had Dunlop SP OE tires that ran for 55,000. I would've loved 40 to 50,000 miles of free Dunlop service.

 

use plugs, never had one fail

 

^ I've used them as well.

I've always been amazed at the number of people who think that if you properly (or, more probably IMPROPERLY) plug a tire, and the repair fails, then the tire will explode and you will die in a fiery car crash.
I've even LITERALLY had people tell me that they would never plug a tire while driving a car not equipped with a proper spare.

The human animal really sucks at risk assessment, otherwise cigarettes and credit cards wouldn't be much of a thing....and I won't even get INTO things like COVID or even driving in general - especially since I own two motorcycles.

That's right.
We ALL do risk assessment kinda poorly.

So...
Here's the thing.
Plugs are just fine.
They probably fail a little more often than patches because of poor application technique but (spoiler alert!) if they fail...the tires don't explode. The air just whooshes out the same hole that was there before.
Maybe a little faster if you pulled a roofing nail out before plugging.
I've put patches AND plugs on relatively new tires and I've never had one fail, nor have I heard of a real-world incident where either have failed.
Patches may > plugs in overall reliability, but you can plug a tire on the side of the road....at 0-dark-thirty, in about 10 minutes.
I have 2 plug kits....one for each motorcycle, and I have a patch kit for my bicycle.

I need neither one for my cars because I am not foolish enough to drive without a spare.....HOWEVER (comma!) I might get an automotive plug kit for each since there are in increasing number of cars that come equipped with a virtual spare, and in certain circumstances I will stop to render aid to one of my fellow humans that have broken down on the side of the road.

They teach that in the MSF course.

Goop is like the civilian pepper spray they sell in convenience stores. (I've been pepper sprayed by the real stuff! )
It's theoretically effective, and nobody ever wants to use it, and you REALLY don't want to be your life on it.
BUT....some people believe that it's better than nothing.

ACTUAL mileage WILL vary.

 

Off-Topic, but how about tear gas, I'd expect they gave you a taste of that in basic training. In a closed room, taking off your mask for a gulp of that; you want to die...

 

Twice.
I missed it in basic happily enough, but I had to take additional CS training during my CPO indoc, and again before going to the sandbox (worse, as the then ranking CPO I had to be the last out of the chamber!)
Pepper sprayed for the same reasons.
Thank GOD I was never tasked with carrying a taser.....
I had a Bama State trooper tell me once that he'd rather get shot again than take the darts.

Since I've only been gassed and peppered, I cannot compare them with the latter two.

Squirrel Chase completed.....