Here are a few lessons learned (some the hard way) from my recent bowhunt. If any of you, or as I suspect many of you, are planning to take some type of RV, trailered boat, or trailer when or if you bug out, then you should pay particular attention.

First off, trailer or RV tires (hereafter refered to as RVT's) do not have the lifespan of your typical automotive tire. This is because a tire mounted on an automobile gets excercised regularly--at least once a month, or--obviously--maybe even every day. By contrast, unless you are lucky, an RVT might get used once every 3-4 months. This is important because modern tires are made with rubber compounds that require that they be driven relatively frequently in order to mix the tire preservatives, thus extending the life of the tire.

What this means in practical terms is this: the reliable life of an infrequently-driven RVT is about 4-5 years. If they are parked uncovered in the sun, think 4 years. If covered, think 5 years.

I had a catastrophic tire failure on my travel trailer on my way back from hunting. This is not unusual except that I had already had a nail hole in another tire that I had repaired with a plug. When the second tire blew out I went to put my spare on I found that it was SEVERELY cracked on the INSIDE (the unexposed side) of the tire. Thus I ended up driving the 110 miles home on TWO suspect tires. Very slowly I might add! <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />I made it but I was lucky. If I was trying to get my family out of a chemically polluted area we may not have made it on the rubber that I had.

The lessons:

1. Make sure all your tires--on ALL towed vehicles, ALL the time--are inflated to proper (think max) pressure.(I like to keep the tires on my bugout vehicles inflated to 10 lbs over the recommended pressure. Think about it--if you have to bug out what's easier: adding air or letting it out?)

2. On non-automotive tires (trailers, RV's, etc) replace tires every 4-5 years. (Yeah, it's expensive, but look at those inside sidewall cracks!)

3. Cover your tires when not in use, This is obviously not practical nor desirable on an everyday driver, but should be no hardship on any RVT.

4. Carry a plug kit. Yes, we all know patches are better, but who has the time or gear to dismount a tire in the middle of a bugout situation? I made it 110 miles with minimal loss of pressure on a plugged tire, and anybody who can thread a needle can do it--it's that simple. <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

My point is to make everybody think about what you are relying on to get you out of Dodge, and what will actually do the job. Comments--and especially corrections--are welcome. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Good reminder! Trailer tires are definately one of the most 'out of site out of mind' items when it comes to general vehicle care.

As for tire plugs, I've had great luck with at least half a dozen times I've had to use a plug. They've gotten me back to civilization, at times at high speed, before getting a proper patch put on.

Has anyone else had experiences, good or bad, with different flat fixes? That squirt in stuff never works right, in the two times I've had no other choice. Carrying several full sized spares is my preference still.
J

I've had pretty good luck with the rope type tire plugs. I do buy an extra tube of rubber cement and saturate everything with it.

I was told to be sure to rough up the hole with the rasp type tool very thoroughly. I fully inflate the tire as soon as its plugged.

The only one I had fail did so right away. I have a plugged tire on my commuter car right now and I have complete confidence in it.

P.S. Fixaflat has never worked for me on any type of puncture, but it did stop a slow leak between the bead and the rim once.

Anything but a full size spare is a joke. When my wife hit a rock in the middle or the road and destroyed the tire and the rim, I was able to find a pair of good tires already on the rims at one local junk yard for less than the the other one was asking for one rim. I put the matched set on the car and used the oddball for the new spare.

Thats interesting. Fix a Flat always worked for me in the past.
It is probably a good idea to get your tire fixed after you use it anyway. Also, tell your repairman that you filled your tire with fix a flat, so they don't get it in their face when they try to patch it.

Redflare brings up a good point on fixaflat products. Some manufacture's use flammable gas for the propellant, read the label to see if it will make your tires go boom.

I have used plugs for years and have never had a problem. Finally broke down and purchased a safety seal plug kit which i highly recommend.

http://www.safetyseal.com/store/autokits.htm

These are more expensive than the discount store plug kits but it is very well made.

Fixaflat has come in handy for me as a quick way to get some air into a tire, plus as others have said, it works pretty well on the beads. Other than that I don't trust it much. I do put Green Slime sealant in my ATV tires and it works well as a preventative.

Could someone reivew how to use these kits? I've never used one before but they sound like a good idea.

What you say about tires aging and being unreliable after years of storage is very true.
I had a 1994 S-10 Blazer that I had bought new, the original tires lasted about 85,000 miles. The spare had been used once for a few days when one tire blew out. At that point I replaced the 4 tires and put the original spare back inside. The tire was inside the rear of the vehicle with a cover on it.
When the car was about 7 years old, I had another tire go down on the road and put the spare on again. I continued my trip and replaced the spare when I reached my destination. I still had to return about 1000 miles to get home.
On the way home, late at night after driving 12 hours, I heard a horrible explosive noise and I thought the vehicle had finally expired, the sound was really loud and bad. Then all was quiet again and since I was about 20 miles from home at that point, I continued along, hoping I would make it. When I got off the freeway I noticed a sound like a low or flat tire, still I continued, slowly now, to reach the last few miles home. When I pulled into the garage I fully expected to find a flat or nearly flat tire. I was amazed to see the tire still was fully inflated. I looked closer to find that the entire tread had come off, that was what all the noise had been as the tire flapped around in the wheel well and finally came off.
The tire was worn almost through the metal belts after that last 20 or so miles. In the morning I changed the tire and had it replaced. I kept that tire in my garage as a reminder of how lucky I was and to remind me to check pressures and that tires rot when left unused.

If you are referring to a plug kit they are pretty simple. They are designed to be used on holes in the tread only, so if you have a sidewall rip you are OOL. You first locate and remove the cause of the hole (nail, etc.) On my kit you thread the plug through the applicator like threading a needle. You then coat the plug with adhesive and push it into the hole. The applicator is designed to put the plug in but not pull it out; the tip will come out leaving the goop-soaked plug in the hole. It's kind of hard to describe but very simple to use.