What percentage of flat tires can be saved?

I believe the pressure inside the pressurized Slime Tire Sealant will stay there forever because the content is "tire sealant" so by nature the gas will never leak from its own container. I have WD-40 in my trunk and never lost pressure.

The sealant is some water-based gooey stuff with lumps of thick resin. I don't think it will degrade over time inside of the can. There are also other versions that are not pressurized, but you have to use valve-core tool inside bottle cap that it comes with to remove the valve-core before you squeeze the content into the valve.

It is very dangerous to fix your car tire beside the highway. Even police vehicles parked on the roadside with full emergency lights blaring can get wiped out by on-coming trucks. For some reason a car parked on the side of the road would attract other cars to ram into it.

The best bet if you have a tire puncture on the road is to pump tire sealant into the flat tire, then pump air into the tire with a battery air pump, and get to safety ASAP.

You still need the air pump after you've injected the green goopy stuff into the tire. The tire sealant is meant to be injected into a flat tire. You need to use air pump to bring the tire pressure up so you can drive away.

I believe the pressure inside the pressurized Slime Tire Sealant will stay there forever because the content is "tire sealant" so by nature the gas will never leak from its own container. I have WD-40 in my trunk and never lost pressure.

The sealant is some water-based gooey stuff with lumps of thick resin. I don't think it will degrade over time inside of the can. There are also other versions that are not pressurized, but you have to use valve-core tool inside bottle cap that it comes with to remove the valve-core before you squeeze the content into the valve.

It is very dangerous to fix your car tire beside the highway. Even police vehicles parked on the roadside with full emergency lights blaring can get wiped out by on-coming trucks. For some reason a car parked on the side of the road would attract other cars to ram into it.

The best bet if you have a tire puncture on the road is to pump tire sealant into the flat tire, then pump air into the tire with a battery air pump, and get to safety ASAP.

I just read the warning on the can. If you don't believe it you can take it up with them.

--scott

I love to fix many different things at home, but I have an aversion to prying open car tires myself, especially when it is a lot of work, and not expensive to pay others to do it.

I am not so sure of that as I've grabbed plenty of spray cans in my life only to find that they're dead. I guess most were probably used though.

The temperature cycles in a trunk are horrific so it would be useful to find what the manufacturer suggests as a reasonable replacement period.

As I already mentioned, there are a lot of things people told me to do that I realized aren't great ideas (like the aforementioned flares, which just turn into a crumbly yellow mess after years in a wet/dry hot/cold trunk).

One of those things was WD-40, which people seem to think is some kind of miracle water cure for just about every ill that a mechanic could imagine.

I long ago gave up on the smelly stuff (it gives me a headache) and I've never even fretted about it. When I need oil, I use oil. When I need to loosen rusty nuts, I use ATF and bang a lot. When I need to "displace water", I spray it with the compressor air gun.

What does WD-40 do that Jesus' own miracle water doesn't do?

I don't use the green goopy stuff but I "thought" it was pressurized.

My beef was that it's going to lose pressure when stuck in a hot/cold trunk for years, such that when you really need it, it will no longer be there.

I've had this happen with halon fire extinguishers when I first started driving as people 'told me' I need to keep one in the car. When I needed it, it wasn't there for me, and that alone taught me a valuable lesson.

If it's going to go in the trunk, then it can't be a can of pressurized anything because the moment you are under pressure, it won't be there.

If the green goopy stuff is not pressurized, then that would be fine.

Whether or not it's "very dangerous" is up to people to determine themselves. I've pulled over to pee for example. Is that very dangerous?

In some situations, like on the Pulaski Skyway, it's already very dangerous just to be driving on the thing, let alone being pulled over to the side.

In other cases, such as in the middle of Montana on I80, you could park an entire herd of cattle in the median while you work on putting the spare on.

What's "very dangerous" are those damn truckers. They drive close to you just for their own fun. If you don't know what I mean, you never drove in NJ along roads like Highway 9, or Route 202, or Route 1. They're assholes.

I'm aware there are many stories where people rammed police cars which had their lights on. Worse, truckers (yes, in NJ) aim to get as close to the police as they can, just for their own glee - and every once in a while (read the news) they actually hit the policemen (by accident) doing that.

Did I mention yet that the most dangerous situation when you're pulled over to repair your car are the truckers love to mess with you as they drive by?

Nowadays, with cellphones, which none of us had when we drove half our lives or more, you can just call AAA for the ladies and for the men, you can call the government 511 who usually tows you off the road for free.

Once off the road, the government free towers leave you in a safe spot where you can then safely work on the care to your hearts content.

I think even the basic AAA will tow you five miles to a gas station for those women who feel the need for the safety. From there they can call you.

I've never needed a tow in my long life, but I've seen lots of cars parked on the side with big stickers on the rear window so others must have not figured out what was wrong with the car and had to abandon it on the side.

I never bought a new car but I know how to repair them which is useful because unless you lose an axle, you can usually limp home on chewing gum.

I have a small fire extinguisher in the driver's door pocket that is as close to me as possible in my car. The small fire extinguisher has a built-in pressure gauge. It has never lost pressure. I think I have had that same fire extinguisher in all the cars I had gone through in the last 20 years.

Not exactly the one I have, but like this:

I've bought used tires. When I was a kid. The problem is you don't know how long they sat flat. The belts might be ruined. Then again, maybe not.

Certainly if you sold recent tires and the guy behind you bought them, he got a good deal.

But what I do now is mailorder the tires to get the best price. Simple Tire. Tire Rack. Amazon. Whatever.

They'll ship them directly to the tire installer. Often there will be free shipping - which is important sometimes.

Sometimes (less so now than years ago) their might not even be a sales tax.

And they'll give you an out-the-door price for the installation & disposal that the tire seller has already negotiated with the tire installers.

So you know what it will cost when you factor it all in. Plus you get the choice of the entire world's warehouses.

Not just what one tire shop happens to have in stock.

In the old days I replaced the spark plug wires myself. It seems like the water always got splashed into the spark-plug wire boot and the spark would jump everywhere inside the boot. A spray of WD-40 at the rubber boots on the distributor would displace the water and fix the problem immediately. It was a common knowledge in the old days. If you see an old car which stalled at the traffic light when the road is wet or it was raining the day before, then wet distributor spark plug wire boot is most likely the problem.

I always save an empty windshield washer fluid jug in my car for that purpose. One time it save my embarrassment when I had to pee badly after I finally found a parking spot in a hospital parking lot after driving around in the parking lot for half an hour. I wouldn't be able to walk to the hospital's washroom without pissing my pants. Good thing I had that empty jug.

Yes. Just search for "CO2 inflator" on Amazon. They use "16g threaded cartridge".

The kind of CO2 cartridge for air gun is 12g, non-threaded.

CO2 inflators are practical for bicycle tires because of the compact light weight to carry in your pocket. A hand pump is too tedious. It is not practical for cars and trucks because you can use electric air pump. One 16g CO2 cartridge may not be enough to fill a flat car or truck tire. Topping up, maybe.

Very few of the videos show when the project turns to shit. You know, when your entire vocabulary has been pruned down to 'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!' as you beat on the tire with a 5lb hammer trying to get the f****ng bead to seat.

I've noticed the people who have never done something tend to be over optimistic.

On Apr 30, 2023, Bob F wrote (in article<news:u2majv$3ldsk$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me):

Probably can put female lugs in concrete or asphalt and then bolt it down when you need it, remove it and pack it up when you're not using it.

Probably need a bead breaker as the arm that comes with it seems weak.

Maybe even a couple extra long tire irons. And a spray bottle of soapy water.

There's almost no end to tools you can add to make any one repair easier.

Ron, the humblest guy in town.

I realize Les Schwab is not nationwide. However the free mounting when you buy the tires, plus free rotation, and repairs should be factored in.

How much did you save buying those Cooper CS5's from Amazon?

I've repaired my own vehicles for the last 60 years, including rebuilding engines and transmissions. When it comes to tubeless tires, I let someone else do it. I'll do tube types.

Of course to to it right you also need to be able to balance them too. What does that cost?

I find it easier to pay and read a magazine while the work is being done. I get a few years out of a set of tires.

People promoting it often make it sound a little bit easier than it is. People deprecating it always make it sound a lot harder than it really is.

Usually they're just justifying why _they_ would never do home repairs. You have to wonder why they are on a home repair newsgroup after all.