Dad - the car is making a funny noise

[Bogweevil]

those rope plugs will do as a permanent repair, as long as it’s in the tread & the carcass isn’t damaged.
Have used them in bike & ute tyres & they have lasted the life of the tyre

I admire your skill and pluck, sir. I drive very slowly to the nearest depot asap - my mechanical skills are limited - I have learnt not to trust them. I wouldn't have risked it had I not seen an rac man do it. The sod sent me on my way with a cheery wave. To my surprise I survived.

Funnily I never had a kit in my motorcycling days that ended when I realised I was not immortal ca. 1974

 

[FonterraFarmer]

We had a Fiat Uglybug and I was out visiting students one day and picked up a nail. No probs, I popped teh spacesave on and drove off. I almost crashed on the first bend I came to ..... Deadly bloody thing, 25mph was too fast!

Bad on sealed roads, even worse on gravel roads. The Evo -6.5 I have here the space saver was binned once the first set of tyre needed replacing, found a correct offset steel rim and used the best worn tyre for the spare.

 

[Stewie]

Be grateful, it could be worse. She could be YOUR girlfriend.....

Am I the only one thinking that, maybe, she'd like to be?

 

[Exfarmer]

Am I the only one thinking that, maybe, she'd like to be?

My thinking

 

[Dave.p]

We bought a Merc B class, no spare, but a large tyre sized recess under boot mat.
Good, we'll order a space saver wheel, 16" instead of 17, but it'll get us home.
Wheel comes, half hour unbolting bracket for aerosol inflator and compressor.
Bloody tyre is 1" too big for recess, best German design ?

 

[Sals dad]

We bought a Merc B class, no spare, but a large tyre sized recess under boot mat.
Good, we'll order a space saver wheel, 16" instead of 17, but it'll get us home.
Wheel comes, half hour unbolting bracket for aerosol inflator and compressor.
Bloody tyre is 1" too big for recess, best German design ?

Don’t some cars fit the spare flat or low pressure and use compressor to inflate when you need to use it ?

 

[Steevo]

Don’t some cars fit the spare flat or low pressure and use compressor to inflate when you need to use it ?

Is it that in their continual quest for weight saving they’ve decided it’s lighter without the air inside....?!

 

[ridger]

Don’t some cars fit the spare flat or low pressure and use compressor to inflate when you need to use it ?

In my simple mind, having the spare wheel flat kind of defeats the purpose of having a spare

 

[Farmer Roy]

I admire your skill and pluck, sir. I drive very slowly to the nearest depot asap - my mechanical skills are limited - I have learnt not to trust them. I wouldn't have risked it had I not seen an rac man do it. The sod sent me on my way with a cheery wave. To my surprise I survived.

Funnily I never had a kit in my motorcycling days that ended when I realised I was not immortal ca. 1974

thank you

where I grew up, live, work & choose to travel - being self reliant comes with the territory.
In my very early teens I learnt a lot about fixing tyres in an old Series 1 Land Rover
Most of my adult life I have always done my own tyre repairs ( not uncommon to get multiple flats in a day in some of our roads ) on utes, bikes, trucks, tractors & anything that is round, rubber & holds air , but have to admit to getting a bit lazy the last few years & just dropping them off at the local tyre service now. Except bike tyres - I always do them myself.

I’m into long distance desert riding on dirt bikes, so always carry spare tubes, patches, tools & a bicycle pump ( even if you sit there for an hour pumping it up by hand, at least you never run out of canisters ) with me when riding.

Only plugged a few bike tyres ( spoked dirt bike rims, so run tubes, but I did have road bikes in the past ) but yeah, carry a kit & 12 volt compressor in car / Ute. The plugs ( if installed correctly & tyre carcass not damaged or bruised ) will last many many thousands of km of high speed driving in our hot conditions. The only time I’ve had one that wasn’t overly successful was trying to plug a stone damage ( in an old P38 Range Rover ) - ended up putting 3 rope plugs in to fill the hole & it got me home ( at 100 km / hr ), but I replaced the tyre because the actual carcass was too badly damaged I thought

tbh - with car / Ute tyres, I probably blow / destroy about as many as I get slow leaks. Stone damage, ute full of tools & shît, high temps & high speed generally results in dramatic outcomes


1974 - that’s about the time I started riding motorbikes

 

[Farmer Roy]

We bought a Merc B class, no spare, but a large tyre sized recess under boot mat.
Good, we'll order a space saver wheel, 16" instead of 17, but it'll get us home.
Wheel comes, half hour unbolting bracket for aerosol inflator and compressor.
Bloody tyre is 1" too big for recess, best German design ?

that’s THE reason we struck Merc & BMW ( ML & X5 ) off our shopping list.
It is either Subaru or Toyota our here

 

[Farmer Roy]

Is it that in their continual quest for weight saving they’ve decided it’s lighter without the air inside....?!

Is the air heavier than the compressor required required to inflate it ?

 

[Farmer Roy]

The trouble with a lot of cars / passenger vehicles with space savers or no spares is, if you do get a proper spare tyre, where do you put it ?
A few years ago now, I know Mercedes Australia were supplying an external bracket to carry a spare on the ML series, for those that wanted it, that you had to swing out of the way to open the boot, so at least the local distributor realised there was a need for it with at least some of their customers.
Someone I knew with a sports model / convertible Euro ( no idea of model, what it was. Not that interested . . . ) that had a space saver, had a flat tyre. They put the space saver on, then realised the “full size” tyre didn’t fit in the recess
So they had to put it in the back seat . . .

Space savers / no spares / run flats - THE stupidest automotive idea ever . . .
A run flat might be ok for a slow leak, but not much use if you tear the sidewall out or throw the tread off . . .

 

[Farmer Roy]

if you use those CO2 bottles to inflate a tyre, do use, at the very least, gloves if they do not come with a holder. it is not pleasant finding your hand frozen to one, as I found out one day! My mate was about to whip out his de icing kit, thankfully a near by puddle did the trick but it b**** well stung for a few days. one of the other riders was a bit disappointed, she could see what he was about use, but cycling gear prevents, too prompt a response

most kits I’ve seen with the CO2 bottles have a little plastic case or mesh container to put the canister in, to prevent that. Yes - it IS surprising how cold they can get

 

[Farmer Roy]

Is that one of them there new fangled rum flat tyres

ive had a tyre like that & yes, there was a fair bit of rum involved

 

[Tarw Coch]

Space savers / no spares / run flats - THE stupidest automotive idea ever . . .
A run flat might be ok for a slow leak, but not much use if you tear the sidewall out or throw the tread off . . .

A couple of years back a local MP who I know from my youth put a post on Facebook of how he’d been late home one night, after a late sitting in Parliament he had a puncture on his way home on the motorway beyond repair and with no spare had to wait for a new tyre in the early hours.

I couldn’t help but comment that it ought to be illegal for manufacturers to supply new cars without a spare wheel.

 

[davidroberts30]

A couple of years back a local MP who I know from my youth put a post on Facebook of how he’d been late home one night, after a late sitting in Parliament he had a puncture on his way home on the motorway beyond repair and with no spare had to wait for a new tyre in the early hours.

I couldn’t help but comment that it ought to be illegal for manufacturers to supply new cars without a spare wheel.

It should also be part of the driving test to change a wheel

 

[Tarw Coch]

It should also be part of the driving test to change a wheel

The trouble with being brought up on a farm is you take it for granted it’s a simple thing to do.

 

[davidroberts30]

The trouble with being brought up on a farm is you take it for granted it’s a simple thing to do.

Hence should be taught and part of the test for youngsters

 

[Farmer Roy]

A few years ago, I destroyed a tyre on my old P38 RR on a gravel road ( have to say - I was very impressed with Rupert the Rover. I had no sensation that I had effectively lost a tyre, just the noise & extra dust . . . ). Put spare on.
Anyway, get back on to the highway about half way between Armidale & Tamworth ( 50 km each way, about 150 km from home. For perspective, about 500 km N W of Sydney ) only to find another tyre going down. This was late afternoon. f**k . . . It was a stone damage & a reasonable size hole - I tried plugging it but I ran out of rope & glue. f**k. Rang NRMA ( our equivalent of your AA ) as I am a member ( mainly for the wife’s benefit ). Anyway, the nearest service van was in either Armidale or Tamworth, they didn’t repair tyres, they did have emergency spare wheels but being an old Range Rover, they didn’t have any with that stud pattern. What they could do, was trailer me back to Tamworth ( it was after dark now ), put me up in a motel, so I could go to a tyre service in the morning & because it was over the limit distance wise for a “free” tow / trailer, it was still going to cost me too much money. f**k . . . So I rang a mate who lives in Armidale, he had to pick up his daughter from something, but once he did that he would come down. He found a servo that had a tyre plug kit in the shop, so he bought it & turned up about an hour later. Took 3 or more ropes till it sealed & held air, got home about 11.00 pm, when we were originally aiming for 6.00!

You mention to BMW about the lack of a spare & they say, nah, all good, we are affiliated with the auto / service clubs & you just call the dealer / our service number & we will send someone out. That may be fine if you live in the major metropolitan areas of that narrow 100 km strip along the east coast - not much f**king good if you don’t. As per my previous post - no good at all if you are a 1000 km from the nearest dealer & they are the only place you can buy there fancy, odd sized run flat tyres
What a f**king useless idea . . .
I spent 3 years in the UK - I know you have a lot of remote areas as well that aren’t a 5 minute wait for the AA either . . .

When I was 20 I spent 18 months travelling & working my way literally around the whole country, in a 20 year old Holden ute I bought for $1500. I travelled through some VERY remote country. I had 2 spare wheels, all the tyre changing & repair gear, as well as generally 1 or 2 spare tyres to replace any that I blew. Whenever I came across a wrecked / rolled car, I would always scavenge any tyres I could. I would pull up to camp at the end of the day & I would throw the swag out, get a fire organised, then set about fixing tyres . . . It’s just what you did. I just can’t contemplate not having a spare . . .
My life & experiences are just soooo far removed from that soft côck idea of not being self reliant & just assuming / expecting someone else will get you out of trouble

 

[Farmer Roy]

PS - in regards to the above post, I also always carried spare engine mounts, as I tore a few out & had to replace them by the side of the road at times.