Hi. I have 600/16 front & 700/16 rear & at age 79 I have no desire to have to pry another tire off the rim and patch the tube so what I carry is a folding lawn chair, spare of each size tire, scissor jack, jack stand, small air compressor, wheel chocks, and a tin of tube repair patches for after I get the tire to tire shop as not all shops have them. All that really fills up the trunk on my little 46 Coupe but that is ok as I can carry my clothes bag & such on the back seat while travelling. Or if pulling my teardrop camper & can put clothes & such in it. Jimmie
I'm probably going to be sorry for saying this, but ever since I could afford to buy new tires, I haven't had many tire problems, the exception being car trailer tires, and tires on my wife's PT. I no longer have the car trailer, so that problem went away. The 1st time the PT got a flat, we got out of the car and heard the hissing. We found a tire store, got a good price and replaced all 4 (they were about due). The last time we picked up a nail on the road. A Walmart tire center got that fixed for us. I don't ever remember getting a flat tire on a hot rod, but mine get new tires every 4-5 years, good tires, taken care of, helps a lot. AAA and a cell phone, just in case Gene
Wait, did you say a car had an on board compressor? Or compressor on board? If it was the first one, what kind of car was it?
I would expect centrifugal; however, every time I pull a tire from a wheel that had it in it, it seems to be everywhere. Not sure how it spreads exactly. During the fires, we bought out Wally World's supply of gallon jugs of Slime. I pumped it, by the quart, into all manner of horse, animal, and house trailer tires, in every state of deflation, and decomposition, so we could evacuate as many and as quickly as possible. It took 4-weeks for the last trailer to leave the ranch in Sebastopol , where they took refuge. Not a single one went flat, or even appeared to lose air. I'm sold on it.
So, Gimpy......Do you advocate using it in 'everyday' tires as a preventative measure, most espeically for vehicles who do not have spares?' Would you suppose it has any negative effect on tire balance. Is it stable inside the tire after distributing itself inside the tire? Ray
It is in all 5 (spare included) of my wife's Mk5 VW Jetta. I have had that up to 100, with no balance issues. I have run it in offroad tires, and it even distributed evenly in those giant things.
The issue with Slime is they don't recommend it in aluminum wheels, at least not long-term. Back in the late 60s I bought a set of ET five spokes and the wheels leaked... porous castings. I used a tire sealant recommended by the speed shop that sold me the wheels, and it wasn't Slime. This was a gray liquid (and I'll be damned if I can remember the name) that worked great and I had no issues with wheel corrosion once the tires wore out. Stopped the slow leaks cold, and never got a flat for the life of the tires, even with pulling screws/nails out several times. You didn't need a huge amount either; two 32 oz bottles did all four tires IIRC. If I could find that brand again, I'd use it....
Trailering a car complicates the equation. You need to worry about keeping three machines operational (tow vehicle, trailer, car). If you just drive the car, you only have to worry about keeping one machine operational.
Hello, On my first 40 Ford Sedan Delivery, I tried a bumper jack, but it was very shaky and then discarded. There was the fear of bending the bumper. Then a scissors jack from the local parts store, lug wrench and a spare was all that was needed for the teenage cruiser. The scissor jack fit behind the passenger seat (no movement…the gallon of reclaimed oil was behind the driver) and for longer trips, stuffed under the floor in the back wrapped in towels for silent running. Since all of the tires were the same size, I also kept a spare tube for emergencies, but never used it. It, too, lived in the under the rear floor area. This same set up was used when we had the second 40 Ford Sedan Delivery. This time no reclaimed oil was necessary, so another scissors jack lived under/behind the drivers seat. The long crank rod lived in the rear compartment. The tires were tubeless, but we still carried a spare tire (5th) and tube that we never had to use. (still all 5 wheels and tires were the same size.) In our first house and hot rod build, we were fortunate to have a rolling hydraulic floor jack given to us from a mechanic in Los Angeles. That was handy at home on the concrete, but too heavy to have in the cars. My 40 sedan delivery did make many trips with that hydraulic jack in the back when we worked on friends' cars, elsewhere. If there were a small lightweight version, that would be the one. Jnaki As the years rolled by, we were lucky to have ONE flat tire incident that used the jack to repair a flat. That was a doozy, median divider going south, on the busy, 405 freeway in front of the South Coast Plaza Center at the Bristol overpass. The 405 cars whizzing by, the 65 El Camino sitting on a jack, the spare tire ready to install on the passenger side...next to the fast lane. My red tail lights were on for being noticed...but, here is the topper. When I was finished, a CHP patrol car came up behind me with his lights on and got out to see if i needed any help. His advice was "NOT" to turn on the red rear lights to change tires or just stop. Keep everything dark, but stay out of the fast lane. WHY? The red lights draw attention and will somehow pull the other driver's sight line over for a second, to see what is the matter. That little amount of motion drifting over could cause you to get hit and more damage or injuries. I asked him about HIS flashing red lights... his answer was those can be seen for miles, so people get ready as they get closer to the flashing CHP car and lights. Ever notice how one brake light on has an effect on the rear following string of cars for miles? Currently, we have what others have, Slime, auto air pumps, plugs, and of course, a spare. Again, we have been lucky to never change a flat tire for the last 49 years.
This Factory equipment on new cars like my CTSV that have tires bigger than they do trunks. I used it once on the Caddy, it has sealant or you can select air only, a nice long cigarette plug in cord, and a flashlight. They are tiny and they work.
My wife pulled into the parking lot at our church several years ago and told me that she had a flat tire. I went out to her Honda and jacked it up and removed the flat. Upon examining the tire I found that it had a car key stuck in it. I asked her if she had run someone over or driven through someone's house on her way to church and she took great offense. Even the guy at PepBoys was flabbergasted. I used to work at a friend's full service gas station many years ago and have changed many a tire, but I'd never seen one with a key stuck in it. I gave her hell over it and she was less than pleased. I of course was occupying the moral high ground and continued to insist that she had to have done something stupid. In fact, I still say she did to this day. Long story short, about three weeks later I had a flat at work. Pulled the tire off and what was in it? A GM trunk key. I knew at that moment that it was God telling me to shut up. And yes, I told her about it. A lesser man wouldn't have done so. I still have the key, it's in my tool box.
Driving a sled, that needs a floor jack to change a tire like mine,requires AAA. Maybe if my car was bagged I would carry a spare. Only big problem with that, wife would have to leave one her bags at home.
Quit a few years ago, I returned late at night to my house at the beach. Past the end of my driveway in the sand was an old piece of shit land yacht that I though someone had abandoned in my yard. I got my pistol and flashlight and went up to the drivers side window and tapped on it and shinned the light inside. There was a young guy and girl inside who had misplaced their clothes. I told them to get off my property and went into the house. I was sure he was going to get buried in the soft sand but to my surprise, he idles back out of the sand and to the road. The next morning, I was late for work and made it to the end of the driveway before the tire went flat with a drill bit in the side.
I had this told to me and it sort of makes sense I guess...... "A pointy object laying flat on the pavement can get lifted into the air when the front tire rolls over it and impale or wedge at an angle into the rear tire." Don't ax me what causes flat, prone, pointy objects to take out a front tire 'cause I don't know.
Mini spare [never used] plug kit [never used] only buy Michelin tires and replace when needed. I have not had a flat on a hot rod for at least 100,000 miles and not on any vehicle for maybe 30 years.
I use a donut from a Lincoln Town car. Found two at the salvage yard that still had the nubbies on them that had the 5 on 4.5, but being Towncar had the bigger diameter than a normal size Ford donut. Actually bought two of them as at the time I was looking for something to put on the car after I converted the front to disc brakes early in the build stage (and the old rims no longer fit)
Most of you need to reread my original post. I am asking about big and little tires, not a car with the same size radials all the way around. The air compressor is a no brainer. I have a big heavy duty one from my jeep days that I carry in the truck every day. Slime in the tubes is interesting, I will have to try that.
I have big and littles on my car, 4.25/4.50-16 and 7.50-16’s. I take a nice 6.00-16 spare, bottle jack and wrench and a couple of 12” long 2x4’s to roll the front tire up on so I can get a jack under the axle. Road box for tools, cell phone. I have fix a flat that I carry in the car from my cross country motorcycle days, got a flat in the middle of nowhere and would have been trapped without it. No flat tires on the road so far. Cliff Ramsdell
104 k miles, daily driver only vehicle, on my third set of radials, no flats. I think my spare has good air in it, haven't checked it in a couple years. 1949 Chevy truck Here's a quiz question... Early auto's from 1900 into the thirties used to carry 2 and sometimes three spares, any one know the chief reason why other than style and rubber quality?
I carry exactly the same in my 36 as well as my OT daily driver ( that has no spare) Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Also, if your spare is different diameter than other tire avoid tight U turns. Sent from my LG-TP450 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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