Reparing Leak in Tire Side Wall

[makolber]

Read all it

Mark

[makolber]

And even more to read here

Mark

[rbowman]

A rim is a rim, a tire is a tire, and a set of tire irons is a set of tire irons. The last time I had a problem breaking a tire down was on a '51 Chevy. Back then you had a bumper jack with a flat foot plate and the standard method was to put the plate on the bead and jack away. I knew I had a problem when the car went up and the bead didn't let go.

[rbowman]

I've played with mine in the snow and it is impressive. Well, I shouldn't say 'play' because you can't play anymore. Try to do a donut and you wind up sitting in the parking lot when the car decides you're not qualified to drive. Even getting the front to push a little on corners isn't going to happen.

[rbowman]

I won't mention politics but SMS's view that he is fully capable of maintaining the pressure in his tires by checking it with a tire gauge but the general populace is not and should be provided with a free benefit to save themselves from themselves has a familiar ring to it.

[Ed Pawlowski]

I can turn the ESC off with the push of a button. I did that in the snow covered parking lot to see the difference with and without it. You do get more control.

[rbowman]

That's not an option with mine. According to the Yaris forums if you put the parking brake on and tap the brake pedal three times while holding your left ear lobe with your right hand it will disable ESC. Turn the engine ogg and it resets.

I've learned to live with it. If I want to play, I've got the bikes. I had a

2007 with a manual and it was more fun. Bad timing, it was totalled by a snowplow driver just when Japan melted down so I took what I could get including the AT. All the rest of the stuff wasn't an option. I'll give the Japanese that; there are dealer installed options but at least for the Yaris the basic car gets the full meal deal.

[Jeff Strickland]

The set the bead without the core inside of the stem. The air comes out in a few seconds, they install the core then fill with nitro. I don't see how this is difficult.

[Ed Pawlowski]

What do they do with the air already in the tire? Unless you draw a vacuum or otherwise purge the air, it will still dilute the nitrogen.

[dpb]

On 11/08/2014 8:58 PM, Jeff Strickland wrote: ...

That's still atmospheric pressure of this nasty, wet air everybody's so concerned about...

[rbowman]

As a matter of fact, yes. The car, pickup, and the bikes all have accurate, well used pressure gauges. Your argument is similar to those who want to pass a national helmet law. "It's not the idiot, it's the social cost after he becomes a vegetable." I've got three fullface helmets on the shelf next to me; sometimes I wear one, sometimes not, but I don't need a nanny to tell me to button my jacket. I even have a bicycle helmet that I wore exactly once; it was a requirement to ride the Trail of the Hiawatha.

Back to the original argument, there are 16 tires out in the driveway, not counting the 4 bicycle tires. None are filled with nitrogen and all are doing just fine.

[rbowman]

No kids. The last time I drove a rental car I drove for any appreciable distance was over 10 years ago. I did a walkaround before I left the National lot. No, I didn't use a tire gauge but my right boot is finely calibrated.

That's not how the helmet crowd tells it. Long term incapacitating injuries are a social cost imposed on us all. I imagine they would like to outlaw bikes altogether in the interests of womb to tomb comfort and safety.

Seatbelts were the same wheeze. I woll admit I used seatbelts before they were mandatory. Driving from the passenger side after you've slid across a vinyl bench seat is tricky.

[nestork]

Here in Manitoba we have a publically owned auto insurance company called "Autopac". I pay about $800 per year for insurance on my 1998 Chevy Cavalier, and I'm told that's pretty good compared to for-profit insurance companies operating in other provinces.

But, motorcycle insurance here is actually a lot higher than auto insurance. The reason for that is that MOST car accidents are fender benders involving less than $5,000 worth of body work to both vehicles and occasionally some injury to the drivers. When a motorcycle gets into an accident, the damage to the bike is a relatively small expense, but the driver of the bike generally is much more seriously injured and often has to spend months in the hospital and years in physiotherapy afterward, and it's those medical expenses that are incurred after the accident that makes motorcycle accidents so much more expensive to insure against.

I had a tenant who worked for Autopac, and he said that the morbid sense of humour is that in a motorcycle accident, you hope the biker gets killed, that way there's no medical expenses to pay.

[Sasquatch Jones]

Correction...... what I thought was a cut on the sidewall turned out to be cosmetic. There was a screw in the tread causing the leak. How did I find out? I got such a run-around at the tire stores that I decided to stop looking for a "bargain" and went to my neighborhood mechanic. If it was going to cost $100 for a tire, I would rather give him the business.

Within 2 minutes he had found a leak - screw in the tread. Sidewall was just a cosmetic scratch from scraping the curb. Total charge $15 plus I gave him some extra $$.

The lessons here for me are to only do business with people you trust, and there is no free lunch.

Now, about the tire store run around....

Every one of them I called on the phone had a different story and price when I showed up.

For example.... one $55 tire over the phone at Big O Tires ended up being $107 after tax, balance, installation and recycle fee. The "4 for

2" special now being advertised by Big O Tires turned out to be four $55 tires plus extras, totaling over $400: two tires at $70 each plus $40 times 4 for balance, installation, tax and recycle fee, plus the "required" super deluxe lifetime front end alignment for $110.

2nd thought -- can I put a tube in it? Seems like I remember tire places say tubeless can't be fixed with a tube, but I can't see why not.

Anyway, thanks in advance for any help.

SJ

[Vic Smith]

What if the tires are 40 bucks cheaper at the store? You're getting ridiculous. Nitrogen isn't needed at all. It's not even a consideration for me. Seems like you're just pimping for Costco.

[Vic Smith]

I rented a 2004 Malibu for a long trip and did a walkaround. Had 5000 miles on it. Tires looked okay. I was about 60 miles from home before I got it to 70 mph. It was all over the road, and I really thought the alignment was screwed up, and I was going to have to take it back. No way I could drive it for 1200 miles. As a last resort I bought a tire gage. The right front had 14 psi. Low profile tires. TPMS would have alerted to that.

I started wearing them when they became available because of that. Once I wore them, I never went back.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Been dealing with the same tire guy for 30 years now. Fair price, no BS. Stick with your guy if you have a good one.

[rbowman]

Even factoring in the exchange rate, that's pretty steep.

Motorcycle insurance is not mandatory in this state so the coverage is inexpensive for me but then I'm not a 20-something and none of my bikes are crotch rockets or motorhomes on two wheels.

[Vic Smith]

It's not a "what if" for anybody who gets a discount price on tires.

[Jeff Strickland]

But the ratio is so low that it's kinda like the heat in your freezer when you put a candle inside. I'm all but certain the candle makes heat, but the ice cubes are not going to melt, so the freezer is still a freezer.