Survival Tyre Repairs

**Blknight.aus** · 26th October 2006, 09:58 PM

While Ive never been there to the extent where my life has depended on getting the vehicle that little bit further even tho the rubber is shot, Ive staked tyres a plenty and had the time and boredom around a campfire to play the "well what if" game and then do the experimentation

Most of this stuff wont work if you dont already have the prerequisite tyre changing gear so I wont mention that in the repairs... Im also assuming that even if your running tubeless you have tubes on hand that will fit. I carry 2 spares but not for just spares they come in handy for plenty of other things. None of these repairs will restore the air tight integrity of a tyre without the tube, these repairs are intended to keep the rubber round enough, just long enough and are fatal to the tyre even if it might have been repairable.

Im also not going to cover, tyre lube, cleaning the debry, out inflation pressures or other CDF stuff. What I will Stress is [U]DONT[U] try to make it on the dead rubber if you want to have any hope of repairing it the sooner you can stop and repair the tyre the more chance of sucess you will have.

Im not going to list em all at once but a few at a time as I get to it I'll add another one. Today I choose to do some of the ones that will get you moving with air in the rubber.

The first repair is simple, for a tubeless with a staked sidewall or tread face, clean up the inside of the case, insert tube and inflate. For tubed rubber slit the tube from the center that rides in the rim and put the new tube inside the old tube, re-insert and inflate...

assuming the staking is a lot bigger and the physical integrity of the sidewall /tread face is shot from a single failure point you need to repair the rip, a drill or patients with the the tubeless reamer is required along with some fencing wire/tie wire. Mark out a strip either side of the rip about an inch back from the damage and make holes about 3mm wide and say 10mm center to center. Very Thin Rope will also work as will 4mm Steel wire rope.

Now "Sew" the damaged section back together with the wire using a figure 8 pattern from the inside of one hole throughthe split and into the ouside of the hole on the other side of the split try to use a 3:1 pattern so that every hole on one side is connected to at least 3 holes on the other. put a rag over the repair and tack in place with an adehsive so it will stay in place untill you get the rubber on the rim and inflated.

the last realistic option (for keeping air in) is "sleeving" if you have 2 shot rubbers put one inside the other with the damage opposite then the tube inside the inner rubber and mount the lot onto a rim with the outside bead seats... It takes a smegload of work to do, but in most situations will be good enough, without air pressure in the tube, to get mobile.

Ruslan · 27th October 2006, 11:59 AM

Back in old time... my grand told me stories and one of them how to get home if no spare wheel or tube or air pumping tools. Takes time to fill tyre with dirt (or sand), but you are mobile.

Great post, Dave. I like this "handy man" stuff

Cheers,
Ruslan

**byron** · 27th October 2006, 12:12 PM

Originally Posted by Ruslan

Back in old time... my grand told me stories and one of them how to get home if no spare wheel or tube or air pumping tools. Takes time to fill tyre with dirt (or sand), but you are mobile.

Great post, Dave. I like this "handy man" stuff

Cheers,
Ruslan

Yeah, I'm always up for hearing innovative survival type solutions!

In your grand's story/advice/solution........ I suppose water could work out to be easier to insert and remove later on when back to civilisation.

Ruslan · 27th October 2006, 12:34 PM

Originally Posted by byron

Yeah, I'm always up for hearing innovative survival type solutions!

In your grand's story/advice/solution........ I suppose water could work out to be easier to insert and remove later on when back to civilisation.

Water... yes, but it also easier goes out if tyre has a hole. And you have to have water with you or lake/river/boggy hole with water around

**byron** · 27th October 2006, 12:38 PM

Originally Posted by Ruslan

Water... yes, but it also easier goes out if tyre has a hole.

ummmm.......well now, that's a good point!

**Michael2** · 27th October 2006, 03:31 PM

So many docos featuring series Landies in the wild years ago used to show tyres bieng stuffed with grass. I suppose clothes could be used insteadof grass. I've also heard of a block of wood used as an engine mount somewhere in Africa. You could try making a resinous glue out of sap, maybe using fuel as a solvent.

**Blknight.aus** · 27th October 2006, 08:57 PM

The tyre Saga continues...

again its all ficitcious but im enjoying taunting Murphy.

Well wouldnt you know it, after fixing all those tyres I shot earlier on in the week Ive gone and done it again, killed the tyres even better and now to add insult to injury the aircompressor is shot... does my luck never end?... Crud, no it doesnt, theres only 4 beers left in the fridge.

All hands to panic staions... I gotta get the vehicle moving, cause I cant carry the battery and the fridge to the pub in the next town over before the battery gets too flat to keep the remaining beer cold....

Fortunately being over prepared, excusing the beer but then how was I to know that ID get soo many flats, I happen to have, a can of areostart, a caulking gun full of sealastic, a nice thick recovery rope and some 6mm tie lines, buckets and buckets of water..

First the easy one, all thats happend is my last good wheel has de seated because i dropped it down too low to climb that last dune... no problem, a quick couple of circuts around the bead spraying into the tyre between the rim and bead with the areostart and apply a loooong match. Whompfh, tyre inflated and seated. now about those other three......

lets say for the second one Ive toasted the sidewall, its shredded krueger style on one side, more slashes in em than all the nightmare on elm street movies combined. Pop the beads off and pull one side of the tyre off the rim, lay some lengths of the 6mm rope into the carcas so that if you tied them up they would make loops that sit inside the rubber...

Take your nice thick recovery ropes and start to wind em into the tyre, neatness counts on this one, when youve got as much rope in as you can get in tie them off with the 6mm tie lines, same way as youd tie up a tirfor wire rope then reseat the beads.

Now the third ones a bit tricky, the things flat, and popped off I can see inside it and the wire has collapsed into the guts of the tyre. This was the tyre that was on the downhill side on that long sideslope I was doing. Tried the areostart thing and theres lots of little holes that need filling...most of em around the sides of the tread and the tread itself...

Grab that can of petrol, metho or the areostart in a pinch and mix down the sealastic so its about as runny as clag waterbased glue. You should wind up with at least 1.5 liters worth (now its time to be real quick) Dump a couple of shovels full of sand into the carcas, add the gloop, reinstall the tyre but dont seat the bead and install it onto the vehicle.

DONT put the weight on it yet, (now its time to be real patient, the last of the beer helps here) if you can start the engine and let it idle the wheel round or for about 5 minutes turn it slowly then give it a 1/4 turn every 30 seconds or so, once the gloop starts to set and is spread evenly, turn it every couple of minutes or so then when it looks ready redo the areostart trick to sit the tyre or (providing the aircompressor hadnt given up) give it a tube.

Here is when water filling will also work, lay the tyre down (once the bead is seated) remove the valve stem and fill it with water when its almost completely full re-insert the valve stem and reinstall the wheel. This will also work with normal tubes if you have some way to reseat the bead without adding pressure.

The fourth one was the one that Id double carcased, For some reason it wont stay up and the sidewalls keep collapsing into the dish of the rim... Heres the one that works well with the spinifex, fill the inside carcass with as much as you can get in, compress it over the rim and into the middle with the weight of your vehicle and the jack. Pop the inside side bead of the outer carcass off to the inside, stuff more spinifex on this side then reseat with the jack trick again. repeat for the outside side of the carcass. Install the tyre..

There ya go, 4 more tyre repairs that dont really need a compressor. Wonder if this time I'll make the town before I run out of beer...

roadkill · 27th October 2006, 09:13 PM

DUDE!!!!!

never underestimate a old man with a rusty gun eh?????????

i just carry two spares all the time

**Blknight.aus** · 27th October 2006, 09:24 PM

My record for tyres destroyed on a single trip was 18, 7 on the rover and 11 on the borrowed trailer I was towing, Sydney to Charleville Fortunately It was all black top and I got from town to town replacing them as I went, The Only trip Ive done where the fuel wasnt the biggest cost.

Turns out the spring mount on the trailers front tandem axle was bent and had the front axle out of alignment, this was making the trailer steer and try to push the back end of the rover out causing srubbing and over heating of the rubber on the rear of the rover and both axles on the trailer. Naturally the run was during summer...

**camel_landy** · 28th October 2006, 02:51 AM

Have you seen how they do tyre repairs in some parts of India???

Nut, bolt & a pair of washers!

Shove em through the hole & do them up tight!!!!

M

PS.. Interesting tips BTW.

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