Somedays I think I'll never get my truck on the road, today is one of them. I'm starting to think its because I hate dealing with my local parts chimps and businesses. Maybe I'm just being cheap but $18 to fix a tire with a slow leak seems high. Especially since the tire was free and won't actually be used on the road. Oh well, I guess I'll do some of my own patchwork. Sorry, just had to vent. The evil tire is the one with the white letters, maybe I jinxed myself by mounting it that way
i hear ya... can you use fixAflat? maybe just slap epoxy all over the offending area... or bondo the fuckin thing
We have a chain of tires stores in this region called Discount Tire that fix flat tires for free. You don't have to have purchased the tire from them. Maybe there is one in your area?
I'm going to look kind of silly rolling a tire around my yard after putting fix a flat in it, but thats OK. No Discount Tire stores here or I'd definately go there.
Make a game out of it! Back when I was about 18, I put a can of Fix-A-Flat into a tire with a slow leak for a car that wasn't running yet. My Dad told me that you had to put that stuff in and drive the car to get the wheels turning so the sealant got distrubuted around the tire. No problem, the kid next door and I went out front and stood on our front lawns...we rolled the tire and wheel back and forth to each other for about 15 minutes! It never leaked afterwards, either!
The guys are right about the fix-a-flat stuff. Another way out - for roller tires - is to get one of the plug & glue kits from a parts house and use that. I've had very good luck with those. As far as a hot rod project being never ending, here's a little quote from Pat Ganahl - fairly sure it was him. "Building a hot rod is just an exercise in solving one problem at at time until all problems are solved." Paraphrased a touch, but don't drive yourself crazy, take a break now and then, do something with Sweetie and focus on other things. Then when you go back, you're fresh and you're ready. Set small goals as well. And if they drive you crazy, work on something else a bit. It's surprising at how your subconscious mind will figure out a difficult problem if you learn to just let it go. A difficult problem is always simple the next day.
[ QUOTE ] I'm going to look kind of silly rolling a tire around my yard after putting fix a flat in it, but thats OK. No Discount Tire stores here or I'd definately go there. [/ QUOTE ] its a good thing.. just remember to swear alot and swat at invisable shit in the air
[ QUOTE ] As far as a hot rod project being never ending, here's a little quote from Pat Ganahl - fairly sure it was him. "Building a hot rod is just an exercise in solving one problem at at time until all problems are solved." [/ QUOTE ] Spot on C9
Next time it happens, get a plug kit. They usually work ok. I think everyone gets p***ed off every once in a while on a project. Just have to step back for a few days.
[ QUOTE ] its a good thing.. just remember to swear alot and swat at invisable shit in the air [/ QUOTE ] I had to laugh out loud at that one. Maybe I'll invite a friend over and we'll both run around the yard swatting and cussing Thanks all, this is great place for encouragement and a little arm chair psychology. Link, my wheels aren't even close to being traditinal but I haven't be able to find any muscle car guys running steel wheels and wide whites to trade with I've got a set of 48 chevy car hub caps and a set of 52 chevy car hub caps, either will look good. I just don't have the wheels yet.
If you're as lazy as I am, ya just bolt the offending wheel and tire on the front of the car and, after inflating it with the fix-a-flat, ya simply spin the damn tire for 15 minutes in the privacy of your own garage/driveway etc etc.
My wife managed to get 2 punctures in one of her tyres on her pos escort daily. I asked how much to get the punctures repaired, and it was about £14 (about $20). I went and bought a second hand tyre from my local breaker for £5. I can heave tyres off and on, no sweat. Not being balanced isn't a problem for her low speed commute. Some people will not buy second hand tyres, but I see it like this, when you buy a second hand car, there's normally 4 or 5 on there, you don't go out and buy 5 new ones, do ya? (well, ok if they're obviously f*cked you do!) Mart.
The last three slow leakers I had were loose or dirt under the seat Schrader valves. Tighten the valve in the valve stem, also check to see if it's leaking around the stem. Those big tires probabalt won't do it. but I want'ed to patch a hole in a Michelin once and I couldn't get anyone to even pop it loose from the bead because it was "too close to the sidewall" and "Insurance won't allow us" So I took it to th local college where I new a shop had a HUGE vice and used the vice to pop the tire bead, and tire irons after that. I think that tire's still on the ground on my MGB GT....
I've used bumper jacks with the base on the tire and a heavy car to pop beads. On that fix-a-flat...roll the wheel around th yard? Why not mount it on the rear of the car, jack up the rear end and run it (slowly) on the axle?
[ QUOTE ] Why not mount it on the rear of the car, jack up the rear end and run it (slowly) on the axle? [/ QUOTE ] No motor or trans in the truck and the wheels don't fit anything else I own. I'll probably jack it up and spin it on the axle though.
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