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How about:
Carry less stuff :)
Use lightweight composite for draws
Lose the 2nd spare - never carried one, ever.... That's a ridiculous amount of weight and more likely to induce a failure.
Build rear bar from alloy over a reinforced steel mount for spare wheel to reduce weight.
Use lightweight gear in the vehicle, microfiber towels, lightweight accessories etc...
People carry far too much crap now... :D :) :D
Tombie,
I agree entirely, except about the spare. Due to the weight, I would never get another Kaymar rear bar. However, in remote areas with tyres that are relatively rare, I reckon a second spare is essential.
I have never yet needed the second one on my car but sometimes the same obstacle can cause damage on two tyres on the same side. After a limestone rock slashed the sidewall on both front and rear tyres on my son's D1 on a remote sand track about 150km from Perth, I vowed never to go into remote areas with only one spare, especially with tyre and wheel sizes that do not fit Patrols or Cruisers, which one is most likely to come across out on the tracks.
In this case, my Patrol also ran over the same rock hidden in the bush with both tyres. With Kevlar sidewalls and a bit of luck I didn't damage either tyre but if I had, I only had one spare also and we would have both been struck there. As it was, I did a 300km round trip in the Patrol to get the spare off my mates D1 and get my son's car out of the track just on sunset.
Bob
Carcass and changing gear, tubes and patches weigh a lot less :)
I believe too in the second spare though I take Tombie's point. I'm on holiday and changing a tryre carcass is not something I want to spend tme on. I get a flat, I chuck on the spare. At the next town I give it to a tryre shop to fix. I take the 2nd spare because I believe the chances of two flats betwen towns warrants it.
This was in the day of the Defender when actually changing over a carcass was quite doable. What I'm going to do about a 2nd spare for the D4 (19") I don't know. I worry about tyres and touring a lot for my D4. Everything about the car is brilliant except for wheels and tyres in remote travel, I have this big question mark on that issue.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JamesH
The chances of 2 flats [or more accurately 2 carcass failures / stakes) between town/cities is quite small IME.
I carry a 2nd carcass and a set of 3 tyre levers, plus a full set of ARB patches and plugs. I have only needed to use the levers "in the field" once - on a friend's nissan. However have used them several times at home to keep my hand in.
I have used the plugs several times though.
Changing a tyre on/off a rim should only take 30 minutes at most.
I agree the chances are quite low, however from what I'm told changing tyres on a 16" rim is a lot easier than on a 18" or 19" mag. Not many punters I have ever met, even those who are avid long time four wheel drivers, could change tyres on a rim on the side of the road with tyre levers. I actually own a tyre machine and even with that it can be fun. That being the case for many people a second complete rim fitted with a tyre ready to go is the only viable option.Quote:
Originally Posted by isuzurover
30min.......don't reckon too many punters could achieve that. Most punter cannot even change a flat tyre than alone consider a carcussQuote:
Originally Posted by isuzurover
In my younger days I could probably smash one out in 30 but an hour would have been the norm.
It is very difficult to remove a tyre from the D3/D4 17", 18", 19" rims, just breaking the bead it near imposible, most of the current beadbreakers won't work on these rims, I know I bent my R&R Beadbreaker getting a tyre off a RRS 19" rim, not only that, it takes a lot of strength to do it, so if you're, post 55yrs of age and not fit, chances are, you will not be able to do it.Quote:
Originally Posted by isuzurover
Another point is the sidewall height, the lower profile tyre usually don't cope once you get a flat and by the time you realise and stop, the tyre is stuffed.
Baz.
We are only tallking about needing to do this if the tyre is stuffed. If it is repairable then plugs can be used (at least temporarily). If the tyre is stuffed you can cut it off the rim - tools for doing this won't weigh much.Quote:
Originally Posted by Redback
The right approach and some soapy water will get the new carcass on fairly easily.
Plugs are an option for me but not removing a D4 tyre from the rim to patch or replace a carcass. I always carry a plug kit and have used it once on the D4 and several times on other people's cars.
I have had three D4 tyres destroyed and unrepairable on remote travels leaving me with one spare for 1000km of remote rough roads to the next place that may have tyres on some occasions. I don't even like that, let alone only having one spare all the time.
One was between Alice Springs and Kununurra where a stone put a 60mm slot in a sidewall and the most recent was a chain saw adjuster (like a T handled screw driver) at Litchfield, which went through the tyre and punctured the GOE rim before bending. On my most recent trip two weeks ago to Mt Augustus a stone somehow penetrated the tread of a D697 LT tyre and we could plug that as it was only a small hole.
I run D697 285 x 60 R18 tyres on GOE rims for remote travels and I managed to find one Dunlop tyre of that size on the shelf in Darwin after checking at several tyre shops. It is an uncommon Landcruiser size but it is more available than most other sizes for a D4.
Bob