Thread: Dual rear wheel carriers!

Originally posted by DEFENDERZOOK
i would like to know who has experienced punctures or flats while away.

how bad were they...like were they blow outs or simple punctures you could just put a plug in?

also what brand of tyres?


i havent had the chance to do any real driving yet so any info is valueable to me.

Had tyres off the rim and a few punctures. My method is:

- carry one spare on a rim
- carry another carcass
- two innertubes
- repair kit

Get the repair kit, then go down to your local tyre shop and blag yourself a spare, used tyre and a rim. Fit the tyre to the rim, inflate. Then, get your cordless drill out and make a hole. Fix the hole with a plug. Then make a cut with the angle grinder. Fix that too, with a patch. Then bung a tube in it. Then remove the tyre from the rim entirely.

You'll be hot, exhausted and angry by the end and the air will be blue with swearing, but better to do it at home in the yard than out in the bush. The repair that is, not the swearing.

Don't forget a hammer to bang your steel rim back to round again should you bend it. b

And make sure your jack works. I like to ask students if they can put their hand on their heart and tell me that if we walked out to their car NOW they'd be able to locate the jack without difficulty and it would all be there. Always a couple of nervous faces :-)

The correct pressures, gentle pace, careful driving and early repalcement of tyres go a long way to preventing punctures. If you're going on a bush trip consider replacing them anyway, then swapping back to the half-used ones when you return.

And take local advice, as you've just had from Mick-Kelly.

Be prepared for the worst. It puts your mind at rest, and should you end up in strife anyway people will be more inclined to help gladly if they see you're well prepared and just unlucky as opposed to underprepared and foolish.

Originally posted by JamesH
Speaking of getting angry and peed off fixing a flat in the bush I remember a piece of advice an experienced driver told me. When you get a flat in the middle of a stinking hot day 100 miles from nowhere and you are filling the air with furious expletives, the first thing you do is make a cup of tea (or open a cold beer) then in a better state of mind set to and fix the flat.

Having a bit of a kip is a good one too. Let's everything cool down a little before the mechanical attack. :wink:

Haven't had a tyre rupture at high speed however I have driven around for about a week wondering why the air pressure would become low in two diagonally opposite wheels over a 36hr period. Finally had them checked......2" nail in one and a hex drive roofing screw in the other. :roll: So now I carry two spares instead of one! 8O