Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Listening Point - General Discussion :: OT Check your spare tire
|
Author | Message Text | ||
LindenTree3 |
12V air pump. Fix a flat. Tire pulg repair kit. Four way lug wrench. All my crowing and beating my chest on how prepared I was with tire repair while living in Alaska just taught me a new lesson. I had a flat tire last weekend (picked up a nail for a slow leak.) Sure my tire pump inflated it for about 6 hours and I'm sure my can of fix a flat would have fixed it, and not left me stranded but I didn't want to use the can, keeping it for an emergency. So I tried changing the tire for my Full Sized Spare. Only one problem. Last year I had 2 new rear tires put on my car at a local Alaska tire shop. They hammered down the lugs so tight that I could not turn three of the four off even with a cheater bar on my four way wrench. (I bent the bar) I took it into Midas today using my tire pump to keep the tire up a lot over the weekend. The lugs on my Ford Focus were on so tight that Midas rounded off most of them before getting them off. I had to buy 8 new lugs 4 on each side. I asked them to loosen both sides and retork them properly so I could get my wheels off for a future emergency. It cost me 95 dollars in all. But at least this was a repair that did not happen in the sticks with a totally f--d up tire. Lesson, check your lugs after taking your rig to a tire shop to make sure you can remove them in an emergency. I checked the lugs today before leaving the shop, and also checked the lugs on my front tires. |
||
DrBobDg |
Another time I hadn't gone 15 miles after having a tire changed and something didn't feel right....the tire had come loose. along with ruining the rim by making the holes egg shaped... thanks for sharing that dr bob |
||
Brp1 |
Now, I apply a spray of lubricant to the back of the wheel. |
||
Great Melinko |
|
||
NotLight |
quote scat: "I lost about twenty pounds, the spare tire, the love handles and most of the fat on my behind. Can barely pinch an inch anymore. And the bony butt gets awful sore in a hurry on a Prism's tractor seat. " If I get any fatter, I'll be able to get a full time job converting cane seats to ergonomic tractor seats, just by putting my fat ass in them for a while on a hot day. Gotta get to the gym :( |
||
overthehill |
A few days later on a hot day, it blew the speakers out of the rear deck . Scared him dad. |
||
ozarkpaddler |
quote Podunk: "2 cans of fix a flat, breaker bar, 12v air comp, plug kit and a scissor jack. Fits under the back seat of the F150. Fix a flat is the best, it has got me out of the boonies and at least to gas station twice. Much easier to mess with a flat tire on the pavement with some light." Wow, that's a great kit to have. I keep a couple cans of the truck tire sized "Fix-a-flat" too just in case it's too bad of a spot to change a tire. I'd rather pay the tire store a few extra bucks for having used it than risk my life in some spots. Been in trouble too many times over the years. I agree the Chevy/GMC is a real PIA. Bad enough that a couple years ago I took a flat in and the SERVICE DEPARTMENT had trouble getting the chain back down to put the spare back on (LOL). A ton of gravel road driving apparently makes it even harder? |
||
riverrunner |
quote LindenTree3: "Besides a full spare tire, not a doughnut here is what I carry in Alaska. Had those in my truck this weekend when we went to sawbill. |
||
Podunk |
|
||
Podunk |
|
||
Podunk |
|
||
Canoearoo |
|
||
egknuti |
|
||
nofish |
A can of the fix a flat and a portable air pump are good options in case you get a flat away from home. |
||
Grizzlyman |
quote nofish: "I've had more than one tire refuse to come off, pretty common for them to seize due to rust. A big hammer and block of wood is really the only solution to that problem. " My go at this even involved using the full size spare tire as a "battering ram" over and over from all angles. When it won't come off... B F H |
||
Basspro69 |
|
||
Grizzlyman |
|
||
alpinebrule |
|
||
gkimball |
|
||
scat |
|
||
Canoearoo |
quote LindenTree3: "Besides a full spare tire, not a doughnut here is what I carry in Alaska. Yes we always have this! It really works |
||
nofish |
quote Grizzlyman: "quote nofish: "I've had more than one tire refuse to come off, pretty common for them to seize due to rust. A big hammer and block of wood is really the only solution to that problem. " I've laid flat on my back and kicked at the tire with both feet only to have the rusted tire laugh at me. Its BFH time! |
||
shock |
|
||
DrBobDg |
quote mastertangler: "Go deep and go long and a dead battery is right up there as a top concern. After 55KM of gravel one lane rd and 24 days in the bush the sound of that starter is music to the ears. " That's why I keep a battery pack along..... just got back from Alaska using an old RV. Alaska and Yukon rquires lites on when driving... well the 1989 Ford 300 doesn't have that buzzer to remind you that you have your lights on....finally I kept the high beams on to help remind me...but it was still hard to see that blue light on a bright day. just another thing to keep the stress level up.... dr bob |
||
Oisinirish |
Ford's lock over the crank hole on the bumper, supposed to match the truck key, ruined one of my keys. Hade get in from behind with channel locks and force it out. Half tempted to go old school and bolt it into the bed. |
||
awbrown |
|
||
arctic |
The Canadian bush is a BAD place to have mechanical problems--way worse than the vast majority of the USA, outside of Alaska. |
||
LindenTree3 |
12V air pump. Fix a flat. Tire pulg repair kit. Four way lug wrench. |
||
DrBobDg |
quote LindenTree3: "Besides a full spare tire, not a doughnut here is what I carry in Alaska. A bar to go over that 4 way wrench so you have more leverage....or you break the wrench if it is a cheap one, round the lug nut if it is a cheap one, or just break the stud itself...but you have 3, 4, 5, nuts left depending on what beast you are driving.. dr bob dr bob |
||
LindenTree3 |
quote DrBobDg: "quote LindenTree3: "Besides a full spare tire, not a doughnut here is what I carry in Alaska. True Dr bob, FYI all, I have a 1998 F-150. One time I had a flat, I could not get the tire released from the rim even though it was jacked up. It was seized on due to rust. I had to use a sledge hammer to knock it off. It took over an hour and could not have done it without the sledge hammer. Since then I put a ring of grease on the rim/hub of my old rig, the tires/wheels have come off easily ever since. |
||
FOG51 |
|
||
DrBobDg |
dr bob |
||
ellahallely |
The reason for the tire locking in the up position is that cables were breaking and the tire falling off. Often resulting in death or injury. The road salt and gravel are a problem. A stainless steel cable from the factory would have been a real good idea. |
||
Savage Voyageur |
I had a flat tire at the end of the Gunflint trail on a new to me used car. I looked and had no spare tire. I had to use my friends car and drive to GM and buy a new tire, then drive back. A lot of time and money lost because I had to pay premium price for the tire. Never again. |
||
mastertangler |
|
||
DrBobDg |
dr bob |