One thing to keep in mind is you will not get the mileage you get on the highway if you are crawling along doing stop and go.
You'll get about 2/3 the mileage.
One thing to keep in mind is you will not get the mileage you get on the highway if you are crawling along doing stop and go.
You'll get about 2/3 the mileage.
Like you guys I always keep a 4-way lug wrench in my vehicle...BTW, I like the idea of wrapping a piece of tape around the end that fits your lugs. (Why didn't I think of that?)
I also keep a tire plug kit, a can of fix a flat (Just for emergencies) and a 12 volt air compressor as well.
My next question is what kind of jack do you prefer? I have a small floor jack as well as the original jack furnished by GMC in my Blazer...it has come in handy many times.
"Get yourself a Glock, Lose that Nickle plated sissy pistol." Sam Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones)
Ignorance is Defensible, Stupidity is Not!
Slime works very well. Your buddy that says he can not fix a tire that has been "slimed" is wrong. You un-mount the tire copmpletely instead of just taking the one bead off and you wash it with a hose inside, dry it with a couple shop rags and let it dry for 5 min... and you apply your patch to the inside like normall. That is how he must be patching tires, but also realize that the better way is a plug gun. It streatches a tire plug (shapped like a mushroom with a head on it) and you insert the "head" of the plug through the hole and the gun releases and allows the plug to expand. Combines with the vulcanizing rubber cement, this is the best and most permanent way to seal a hole.
Slime is the best roadside/emergency fix. I use it on ATV tires, Bobcat tires, farm ttractor tires. It works in amazing ways. Yes, it is a mess to clean out when you replace the tires, you need to clean the rim and everything with water. But when you dont have a tire machine, slime is the GO-TO tool!
I save money using AMSOIL full synthetic lubricants. Do you?
http://www.lubedealer.com/DiscountPowerParts/home.aspx
yeah, that's how he does it. he says you cannot get the patch to seal well if the tire has been slimed. maybe he really just doesn't want to take the extra time and effort to clean the slime out, though.
interesting. i've never had a patched-from-the-inside patch fail, but this sounds intriguing.but also realize that the better way is a plug gun. It streatches a tire plug (shapped like a mushroom with a head on it) and you insert the "head" of the plug through the hole and the gun releases and allows the plug to expand. Combines with the vulcanizing rubber cement, this is the best and most permanent way to seal a hole.
sounds like you might be able to use the plug gun without taking the tire off the rim. is that so? that would be cool.
Excellent point about the tire-changing bit. I know that is a weak spot for me wrt my vehicle plan.
Personally, I try to drive around using the 1/2 mark on my van's fuel gauge as my bingo fuel indicator. In the even of a worst case scenario, I pretty much know that I've always got enough juice to get a fair distance.
Yea, if you are fixing a "slimed" tire and dont clean it well, the patch will not adhere to the ineer casing. It would be like trying to stick tape to something with grease or oil on it. He is most likely not into the idea of needing to break both beads off of the wheel and wash out and dry the tire. Most shops would always prefer to pop a bead and reach inside and apply the patch in just a couple minuts time and be done. It's understandable, he's trying to be as profitable as he can be doing the job, he does not want a 20 minute project that he charges 12 bucks for! I understand his point of view. But to say it can not be done is not true and accurate.
The plug gun is typically not recomended for radial tires, it is for low speed tires such as ATV/Lawn tractor or similar. I think Snap-On may have a plug gun kit for radials, I would need to remember to ask about it the next time the Snap-On dude pulls in.
For an example of the plug gun kit you can google "Tire Plug Gun Kit" and you'll find many places offering them.
Here is a picture of one, It's just the first link I mashed from google...
Here is another from JC whitney:
I save money using AMSOIL full synthetic lubricants. Do you?
http://www.lubedealer.com/DiscountPowerParts/home.aspx
anyone seen these?
http://www.airjack.at/
very interesting.
i would have a couple of questions/concerns, though.
1. they seem to not be using the jack points of those cars. theoretically, that could be a problem on unibody vehicles (pretty much any car and many minivans these days). but, maybe the contact area is large enough that it spreads the force out over a big enough area that it doesn't risk breaking the unibody like jacking it up at a random point might?
2. i'd want to make sure not to get any part of my body under any part of the car in case the thing failed. of course, that rule should also be followed when using a jack without jackstands, so i guess not much difference there.
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