Tire Flat? What do I do now?

Meat talk....Wheel talk.

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Tire Flat? What do I do now?

Postby Ken » Tue Jul 27, 2004 12:26 pm

I thought I'd post this about tire repair.

Aside from carrying a spare tire, what are some options for tire repair on the road?

Plug Kit - Plug kits are the most common form of ATV tire repair. It's small...easy to carry under the seat. Some of the kits even include a small can of compressed air to refill the tire. Those are convenient, but you should never be out there without a tire pump. Sometimes even after a plug, the tire still leaks.

Image

One thing to note about tire plugs, all plugs are not created equal. Some are skinny, others are fat. In a perfect world, I recommend both. However, I definitely recommend taking the FAT variety, as your odds of the hole sealing are improved.


Tire Slime - Personally, I have never used slime because usually our types of repairs (more on that later), Slime is pretty ineffective. If you typically get flats from thorns and such, where the holes are small, then Slime is a good option. I don't know the long term effect the Slime has on the tire.

Spare Tube - A lot of people don't think about this option, because most stores push the Slime and plug kits. If you are on rocks, then the most common type of repair is the tire pinch/slash. The hole is usually not a hole, but gash/slash type repair. I've put 3 plugs into one, all to no success. The easiest way to repair this type of hole with the least amount of "stuff" is a Spare Tube. What you need to do is take the tire off the ATV. Then you need to break the bead...if you can't do it Stomping, then you can use another ATV to drive over the tire. Once the bead is broken, you'll need Tire irons or 2 flat head screw drive and some lubricant (WD-40 or Tire Grease). These are all generally small items. You can get very small spray bottles. Work the tire off one side of the rim, then put the tube inside and take off the old valve stem, and push the tube through. With lube, tire irons and some muscle....put the tire back on the rim. Make sure all the air is out of the tube. Once back on the rim, pump up the tube and presto...you have a completely repaired tire to complete your trip.


Spare Tire - This is extreme, and requires some work, but it is possible to mount a spare on the back of your quad. It requires some custom work, but you could do it. I'd still recommend carrying a tube. It's more work, but it's less to carry and just as effective.
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Postby ash2042 » Wed Jul 28, 2004 4:58 pm

Ken have you ever used the tire repair kit that uses the co2 cartridge. I was just wondering how they worked and if they worked well.
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Postby Ken » Thu Jul 29, 2004 1:28 am

yes I have. I does fill up the tire fast. We used it fixing Dan's tire....The new pictures are up. It worked great, but we screwed up and had to do take it off...can't remember why, and the can had lost it's UMPH.
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Postby ash2042 » Thu Jul 29, 2004 3:13 am

Cool maybe I 'll pick up a co2 tire repair kit it will be a bit smaller and easier to carry than a pump.
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Postby Thrasher » Fri Jul 30, 2004 4:30 am

thats actually something i've never thought about and really should....thanx Ken.

I can totally envision a great spot for a spare too, just a mount would have to be made....maybe even a few pieces of 2x4 would work in a pinch, unless u happen to know some cat who works with metal and a welder.

by the brake light there on back, somehow mount something to use a mount..(haha) across those back bars, and hookup the tire too that , maybe some long bolts or something thru the wood into the boltholes on the wheels.
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Postby Mr. Miyagi » Fri Jul 30, 2004 9:09 am

You guys.... crack me up.
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Postby Pepe » Sun Sep 26, 2004 9:27 pm

I thought I might add something to this post, tell me what you think. I carry a 20 oz. Co2 bottle for my air, and have LOTS and LOTS of air for trailside repairs.

You can get the Co2 bottles at any K-Mart, Wallmart, Big 5, or any paintball gun store. Then you also need to get a valve, stainless steel braided high pressure hose, and a tire chuck ( I recomend the type that clips on to the valve stem ). The valve and the SS hose are both 1/4" NPT and the chuck will probably be 3/8" NPT, so you will need an addapter. The bottle will be filled to 1000psi to 2000psi. (By the way you will need to get the bottle filled. You can do this at the Paintball store, but not at the other stores listed above.) Once you get all of the parts screw all of them together useing tefelon tape (not pipe dope) and your ready. Just clip the chuck onto the tire and open the valve very slightly, it will only take 1-5 seconds to top off a ATV tire. To give you an idea of how much power you are dealing with I gave my Jeep tire a 3 second shot of air and it went up 2 psi. Thats a 37" tall tire!

I got all of my stuff at a Paintball store and paid ~$45.00 minus the tire chuck. There are all different sizes of bottles to choose from. If I had it to do again I would probably get a 12oz bottle. Good luck

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Postby Ken » Mon Sep 27, 2004 9:00 pm

I hadn't even thought of a Paint Ball store for air. Thanks.
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Postby Thrasher » Tue Sep 28, 2004 9:38 am

hell, wal-mart sells the bottles, u can probably get one there even cheaper than at a paitball shop.
i just sold all my paintball stuff a few months ago, I was using a nitro bottle, but I also had some small co2 tanks as well....with remote coils too....damn..
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Postby Pepe » Tue Sep 28, 2004 3:50 pm

Yeah I should of mentioned that the SS hose will be for a remote tank setup on a paintball gun, so they have different lengths for sale. I got one approx 10" long for around $10. There are a few options when you get a tank like what size and steel or alumnin. Walmart also sells a steel bottle that comes pre filled, but it has a different thread. They sell the the addapter seperately. It just gives you another option if you dont want to hassel with getting your tank filled.

:lol:

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Postby BradM » Tue Nov 23, 2004 9:44 am

Because of the kind of riding I do, I carry the Safetyseals plug kit, a CO2 inflator and extra cartridges, and a 12v compressor. I also use Slime. :wink:
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Postby Ken » Tue Nov 23, 2004 5:53 pm

I would imagine you'd tend to have smaller holes...like Cactus needles.

Most of ours, are inch long gashes....sucks.
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Postby BradM » Tue Nov 23, 2004 6:00 pm

Ken wrote:I would imagine you'd tend to have smaller holes...like Cactus needles.

Most of ours, are inch long gashes....sucks.

Actually, the biggest culprit is old nails while in Nevada! They seem to find their way into tires suspiciously easy, like they have a mind of their own. :wink:
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Postby Ken » Wed Nov 24, 2004 3:08 am

Why is that...it's like magic.


If you look at the May 15th trip....the photo above, is me pumping from a gash...but...while driving to a flat spot to fix that gash...I got a nail in the back tire. The plug's still there....doesn't leak any air....so why mess with it.
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Postby Rider11x » Sun Jun 04, 2006 1:32 am

I carry an air transfer tube that will transfer air from another tire to balance the pressure.....Can you say unsuspecting riding buddy? :lol: Just kidding. But that works well. If the tire breaks the bead, only lots of air and a tightening device can seat it again, unless you carry a tube as mentioned....OR, I carry ether that will POP a tire back on the bead.....READ: USE CAUTION>>>>>DANGEROUS<<<<<<<EXPERIENCED USERS ONLY

Works well and usually inflates the tire fairly well at the same time. 8)
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