You call them flats..... I've had 5 this year.
Tires are newish, mileage wise.... about 1000 miles each but 3-4 years old.... I rotate once a year using all 5.
Many secondary roads are dirt.... crushed coral (read concrete with razor blades) and of course the wall to wall cactus and acacia spikes doesn't help.
I would like to fix my own flats but have been stymied by both front tires with slow leaks.... Monday the pressure is 35 lbs... Friday it is down to 25 and by the following Friday when I need the truck it is 15 lbs.
How do find slow leaks in situ??....
It costs 12 guilders, about $7 to fix a flat..... seems reasonable but I like being independent and not having to go look for someone to maybe fix it manana.

 

take the wheel off, and if you can get a large enough canister to hold the tire, then fill it with water, and put the tire in it, then rotate until you find the bubbles.....i use to work in a tire shop, and this is the way we found all the leaks.

 

we use soap and water

 

Or just use a spray bottle with water and some soap and spray it down.


You would need a big bucket to put a wheel in

 

The bathtub is in the middle of the back yard.... should do nicely.
Now if I can only keep the dogs out of it..... whenever you put water in it, all 6 pile in.
Why the soap?

 

that will work... only the wheel is big a weights 50 pound


i/we use soap because were not putting the hole wheel under water..... soap and air make great bubbles that are easying to see

 

I'm big into mt. biking and using tubeless tires helps hugely on the rolling weight and allows lower pressure for increased traction. I'm saying this because I also use an additive called Stans NoTubes in the tires.. I NEVER get flats on the trail now unless I totally burp the tire on landing or slice it profoundly..

while repairing a tire on the jeep once (plugging it), it occurred to me that the type of punctures I was seeing would be stopped by the same stuff and the same principle.. and guess what? It does...

I'm not talking slime here.. I'm talking 'NoTubes', which is a silicone based product with tiny beads of silicone that rush to minor punctures when escaping air pushes them that way.. I said "what the hell", and I went with it..

First off it is expensive.. you can buy a quart (which is what it takes for a decent sized tire) for $15.. It works absolutely great, again, for smallish punctures (I've seen it seal up to a half inch bolt before with my own eyes).. the best part is while your moving, it kinda spreads out and smears all over the tires innards, so you don't get that crazy wobble or any silly sounds from it when driving..

Apples and oranges I know, but I swapped tires on my mt bike as I was entering a new terrain, and pulled 31 thorns from the casing.. it sealed 31 thorns..

On the jeep, it did VERY well with things such as nails and screws.. the only reason I knew they were there was because of the tickticktick while driving.. I would pull the nail/screw and dodge the stream of NoTubes as it squirted out, which would last a few seconds, and then it would stop.. I'd fill the tire w/ air and go on about my business...

the drawbacks are this- it dries up in about six months if you don't do any prolonged highway driving.. it leaves behind what looks like a rubber spider web in your casing.. if you drive on the highway and your tires get warm (inevitable) it won't last but a couple months tops.. SOME FOLKS say that there is a chemical reaction to some tire rubbers that weaken the casing (blistering), but I've never seen it personally.. If you are using your rig for farm work or trail mostly, it is a GREAT little piece of mind.. but do yourself a favor if you choose to use it- - make sure and walk around your rig after being in suspect places and look for the drying stuff in your treads so you know you have a puncture.. AND, it will get you home without a problem, but for larger holes or a slight tear, it will still need to be hot patched ultimately..

I fully expect to take crap for this suggestion, but to that I'll just say "don't knock it till you've tried it"... and by the way, if you're interested, and google Stans NoTubes, it won't be long until you find 'home brewed notubes', which has been my experience works just as well and MUCH cheaper..

 

right or wrong, here's how i was taught to fix simple nail hole flats.
get the tool set with the rasp and the hooked plug installer that has either no opening, or the opening on the side (not the open spade with the opening in the end). see pics.

rasp out the hole.
hook the plug into the tool.
squirt rubber cement into the hole.
insert the tool and plug straight into the hole.
push it straight in - almost to the end of the plug.
twist the tool 90* exactly.
pull the tool just barely out of the hole.
cut the plug off.

this puts 4 lengths of the plug in the hole, at 90* to each other, with rubber cement. pump up the tire and check it with water and/or soap.


tool with opening on the side (good).
http://www.harborfreight.com/9-piece...kit-45183.html




tool with opening on the end (not good).
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...&ci_sku=134783

 

dhvaughan why do you suggest the tool with the side cut instead of it being open at the bottom? just want to know why?

All the little kits I have used have the open bottom never had a problem, I also dont use the cement just the plug until I can get a patch in.

 

the opening on the side allows you to pull a portion of the plug back out the hole, putting 4 sections in the hole instead of 2.

the plug and the cement are a permanent fix, not a temp fix.