Tire Repair on the road

[cruiserpilot]

I'm on my way to Yukon in Sept. I've got good tires, but I'm going solo and want to have proper tools. I've looked at the Australian TyrePliers. They are well known and adjustable. But for the sake of research, has anyone here ever actually used a set? I've plugged truck and ATV tires, got home and even drove on them for a long time. But I want to be able to maybe get inside of the tire in case I really get something in there.
So here are my options, If I only knew the Amazon ones had any history, I'd try to save the $50 diff.
Here they are.

allstar-10106-bead-breaker-with-wide-jaw-amazon-110.00 CAN

tyrepliers__150-00-USD

 

[pbgbottle]

I use my highlift jack to break the bead, Just put it close to the rim and start to jack up the vehicle until the bead breaks free , u may need to carry a jack stand along with you to do this

 

[cruiserpilot]

Not a bad idea, hadn't thought of that. I carry a jack-all sometimes,

 

[Fantom]

I've thought about buying one of those a while ago. It would come in handy if you were carrying just rubber and not a complete wheel. Breaking a bead with a jack-all is not too hard if for some reason you have to remove the tire off the rim (to patch a really nasty cut from the inside out) then those would come in handy. For a trip like yours I would also look at inner tubes, that way even if you split a sidewall you can still patch it up and run on the tire.
Personally I'd spend the additional $50 and get the proven ones from Australia. If the other ones don't work well $50 isn't going to help you on a trail with no one around

 

[cruiserpilot]

I agree I think. The inner tube is a good idea as well. Using the jack all might work on some tires, but these Toyo MT's
were a real bastard to mount on the pro comp wheels. and a jack isn't exactly a purpose built tool for this.
I've got a plug tool, etc. Any ideas on a proper kit I can get would be appreciated. I'd like to think I can get
one for less than $100 which seems to be the price for enough plugs to stop titanic from sinking.

 

[Glenn-BJ74]

How about throwing another tire (no wheel) on top.
In Australia we raided the tire shops' dumpster in Alice Springs and piled about 7 "good ones' in the roof rack and changed them out as they blew along the road. All sharp gravel roads - just ate up tires when we drove 'up the middle'.

 

[Fantom]

only thing with throwing another tire or two up on the roof is that it acts like a wonderfully lousy spoiler. The Taseko trip we did a while back I had 2 33s on the roof, they significantly affected speed and fuel economy. Having a hollow doughnut up there without the rim wouldn't help much. A single spare, a few inner tubes, some various sized patches for the inside of the tire and a good adhesive should get you through most things.

 

[cruiserpilot]

I've got a Maggiolina Extreme going up there. Plus a canoe. My tires are in really good shape now, so with a new spare, spare tube,
and plug kit I'll take my chances on one spare. I do have a 2nd tire at home, but I think taking it would be overkill. Should I ruin a tire,
and then I can see about replacement on the road.

Can you guys impart opinion on plug kits? What do you carry? I read about using a cordless drill with a bit to hone out a puncture
for a plug. I will be taking a cordless drill, cause it has a LED light and really long lasting battery.

 

[Fantom]

The ARB kits are very nice, I've had one from KMS (don't think they sell them anymore) which has always worked well. Never needed a drill. As long as you have a nice file on the punch tool that's fine. What I would look for is a good tire adhesive, there is one that is activated by heat (can't remember the name of it). In case of side wall punctures you can use plugs to stitch it closed (I've used up to 6 plugs once) and then pour the adhesive over it to seal it up. Rob M. had some when we were on Churn creek ages ago when we patched up his tire.

 

[cruiserpilot]

Ok, thanks. I've got a tire shop really close to my place, I'll talk to him when I get home.
I'll look here for a kit, there is a 4Wheel Parts store here.
I can get TyrePliers for
$159 USD. I'm going to have them shipped to the border. I've got some USD so it's not a conversion problem
for me. Ironcially, they list for $189 AUS dollars in Australia. Cheaper in the states?? Its messed up.

 

[Enigma]

Practice up on the ether trick to seat a bead, it works simply awesome when done correctly. When not done correctly......

 

[wrongway around]

Get the longer fiber plugs I bought a little box of a 100 , years ago .I find you need the all metal tools for plugging x two. A small can of bead sealer helps seal and aids in sliding the bead on. Hope your rims aren't super wide. If your packing a tube might want to grab two and a patch kit for that too. And don't forget some extra valve stem inserts.

 

[Tmax]

Practice up on the ether trick to seat a bead, it works simply awesome when done correctly. When not done correctly......

fyi, you can also use normal gass. just have to wait about 10-15 seconds for it to evapurate.


often you heap people suggest tubes. does the stem fit and line up correctly with any wheel?

has anyone actualy done this to a regular modern wheel?

 

[cruiserpilot]

Get the longer fiber plugs I bought a little box of a 100 , years ago .I find you need the all metal tools for plugging x two. A small can of bead sealer helps seal and aids in sliding the bead on. Hope your rims aren't super wide. If your packing a tube might want to grab two and a patch kit for that too. And don't forget some extra valve stem inserts.

This is good advice, thanks. Not wide, my rims are 9" with a 285/75R17 Toyo MT. They are a very stiff bead tire. I do know of using a ratchet strap
around the tread to pull the bead to the inside of rim to seal.

I have no experience with ether, so I'll just leave that alone for now. Maybe one night around a fire with some time, and
a tire that is not mine I might experiment. I've seen it done, but only on you tube

 

[WrenchMonkey]

These are the plugs I use http://www.rema-tiptop.nl/portal/RADIAL_ANCHOR_SEAL_(RAS)*,5069,116334.rtt work like a hot damn buy 2 of the install tools though as I justbroke mine. I always carry a 2" wide ratchet strap with no hooks on it for seating a bead. I always carry ar least one sparew

 

[cruiserpilot]

That REMA site is huge. Where did you get the kit? Local source?

 

[WrenchMonkey]

I used to get my stuff from http://www.faesales.com/kendallco/index_kendallco.html but I'd ask any local tire shop supplier probably have it or can get it. A little tricky to use but works very well I once put like 8 into a bad gash in sidewall just kept on pumping them in stopped and got the truck back out into the highway.

 

[Fantom]

I popped by my usual tire guy and he wasn't able to find tubes for 33R15 in stock easily. SO it would end up being more of a specialty order from many places I'd imagine. He mentioned that you have to be very careful when installing and airing up as the tubeless tires try to cut into the tube from the inside. It'll be fine for getting out of the bush and slower driving but he said not to expect great highway performance out of it and it won't be longer term solution, only a patch to get you somewhere hopefully better.
Another interesting thing he told me is that the BFG A/T was never designed to be aired down a lot (below 20PSI - for extended periods) just because of the sidewall design and layers. The M/T and Crawler are a different story. A bit of a side track but kind of relevant.

 

[cruiserpilot]

"Another interesting thing he told me is that the BFG A/T was never designed to be aired down a lot (below 20PSI - for extended periods)"

I learned that the hard way, I previously used BFG AT's, but on my old F-150 and my FJ40( which had BFG's when I bought it ), and
at least one tire of 4 had fatal sidewall separation. I'll not own another set for any off road.

I would guess that if an inner tube was inserted, it could be filled with some air just leave the valve inside the tire until you got it
to a tire shop for removal and proper repair. I wonder if the valve would last long pushed over like that? Strictly a back to
civilization repair.

 

[Fantom]

Yes, very much so. I would still like to get my hands on one (if you can find it, it should be around $30) to do a test fit in a controlled situation.