A rudimentary refresher on tire care.

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.

I have a 12v air compressor that I keep in the truck. It works better than expected for inflating tires. I only use it occasionally, it cost $10 & I doubt it would last if used regularly. However, it works OK for emergencies.

I agree with you on the small compressor. I used one to inflate the tire I plugged and it worked great, it just took awhile!

I'm thinking, -that one can just push such a vehicle around in the (roomy enuff) garage regularly, -in order to move the tires around to a new position, -the same part not always sitting on the ground or floor. As at least a partial remedy to this matter In lieu of regularly enuff driving it around the neighborhood, -which would probably be better as to this matter. Better than just nothing!, -if perhaps not good enuff. [color:"black"] [/color] [color:"black"] [/color] [email]norad45[/email]

As I understand it the problem is not that the same part of the tire remains in contact with the floor; rather, it is that the entire tire needs to get "exercised" by being run at speed , thereby mixing up the chemicals in the rubber which act as preservatives. I doubt that shuttling it around the garage will do anything to help the tire, but at least that might motivate us to keep them inflated! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I'm not familiar with the chemistry involved, but I'll concur with norad45. I have also read that tires need to actually be driven around regularly to re-distribute the chemical preservatives within the rubber. I'm assuming that the preservatives on the surfaces that are exposed to air and sunlight become exhausted and more preservatives need to be "squeezed" to the tire surface through driving.

That brings up another question in my mind. Are spare tires made any differently? Those tires often just sit in the trunk for years and years without ever being used. I personally have never seen anything in any of my vehicle manuals about replacing the spare tire after a certain number of years. Well, the manuals always suggest that you drive fairly slowly for a limited distance on the spare, probably mostly to save wear and tear on the drivetrain due to the smaller size of mini-spare, but I suppose that advice also minimizes the chances you'll have a problem with the rubber in an old spare tire, too.

There are two different problems with the tires of a vehicle that is standing for a long time. When the tire has contact to the ground it develops a flat spot. The tire is no longer round and will not run properly. This can be remedied by regular shuttling or even better setting the vehicle on blocks to lift the tires from the ground. This problem may be lesser one as it´s easier to detect (thumping that gets faster at higher speeds). It may still be able to destabilize the vehicle.
When the tire is not exercised some chemicals that preserve it and keep it soft evaporate from the outer layers. This makes the tire harder and more brittle. This is really dangerous as the tire looses a significant amount of grip. Most drivers fail to detect this properly (the majority of drivers isn´t even aware of it). The towed vehicle may fail to negotiate an easy turn especially on wet roads. The tire should be used regularly at speed and with some load for some time at operating temperature to prevent this.

Max, I've never seen a flat spot on a tire but then again my vehicles never sit for more than 2-3 months in one place without being used, so I'll defer to you on that one.

Arney, I'm not sure why spares last longer but I suspect that car/truck tires, including spares, have a different composition than trailer/RV tires. Add to that the fact that car spares are usually kept in the trunk out of the elements, especially direct sunlight.

That flat spot is usually the result of the hardening tire material. The tire just keeps the shape it had during storage. For some time the effect can be reversed. The tire makes a slight thumping sound that goes away after some driving. If it sits too long the shape stays and the tire must be replaced.
I´ve seen the flat spot once. The vehicle stood for about a year and the tires were not properly inflated. The flat spot was about 3" long and the tires kept it while we pushed the car around. I didn´t really believe it before.