Fun with flat tires.. NOT!!!

[Lady Beretta]

We arrived home from VT last night at 11pm. Started our trip at 9am. What normally takes 8 hours took much longer.
We were towing our boat with the 2500 series Suburban. It's our primary tow vehicle for horses and boat.
We'd had one flat while up in VT with a leaky valve stem. Turns out all FOUR tires had bad stems. One flat tire just north of Albany took us one hour to do ourselves as the wheel did not want to come off.
The second tire went just south of Harriman. Had to call AAA to tow us and our boat to Nanuet to the Sears tire center. My daughter and I rode in the "burban" for the tow trip. Adventure is my middle name.
Turns out Sears didn't have the tires we called for. Dickering over which other tire type would be safe enough and a few HOURS later we finally had them. Arrived at the tire center at 5:30... left there at 8:15. Got lost in NJ finding our way back to 287... gurrr.
Fun with flats:

[Boomer]

Faulty tire valve stems could cause blowouts
DANGEROUS Tire valve stems show cracks.


Tech International of Johnstown, Ohio, has issued two recalls of Chinese-made rubber tire valve stems, linked to a fatal rollover of an SUV in Orlando, Fla., last year. The valve stem is a rubber tube with a metal valve used to inflate the tire with air. The stems are usually placed in the tires by installers when you get replacement tires. The recall involves as many as 6 million valve stems distributed in North America.

They include models TR-413, TR-413CH, TR-414, TR-415, TR-418, and TR-423, made between July 2006 and November 2006. Cracks in valve stems can cause tires to lose air quickly, which at highway speeds can lead to tire failure and a crash. It’s hard to find a defective valve stem because once it’s installed, the only way to check it is to dismount the tire from the wheel and inspect it from the inside, where the model number would be printed.

If you’ve replaced your tires since summer 2006, have a mechanic check for cracked valve stems or inspect them yourself by taking off the wheel covers and moving the top of the stems around, checking for cracks where the base of the stem meets the wheel.

To report valve stem failures, go to www.recalls.gov or call the Department of Transportation and Vehicle Safety Hotline at 888-327-4236.

[Exbiker]

Well all`s well that ends well. What part of Vermont? I see where you`re from and the horse sticker. My DIL`s family is from just up the street in Wrightstown and she was into horses too.
Did you do the Grange Fair?

[Derek]

I didn't know they would let you ride in the vehicle on a rollback...looks like fun!

Tires are a pain in the ass. When I tried to get new ones for my truck, I shopped around briefly before I realized why I have loyalty to my local shop. The kid at Sears assured me that 265/75R16s would not fit on my OEM Chevy K1500 wheels. He said "There's just no way" even after I explained that a lot of 1500s came with them from the factory! I probably could have dragged him into the parking lot and found a truck with them.

Nice OBS 'Burban btw, gas or diesel?

~ Derek

[Lady Beretta]

The 'burban is gas. It has a 454 engine so we suck down fuel at a rate of 10 miles to the gallon! Gurrr.

Yes I have done the Grange fair, have not done much riding this summer but plan to start again as the fall is here. We were in Burlington/Mallets Bay area, DH has family there.

Figures, recalls on tire stems.

[Noah_Zark]

May I suggest metal valve stems?

Buy them only once for the life of the vehicle.

Noah

[Derek]

The 'burban is gas. It has a 454 engine so we suck down fuel at a rate of 10 miles to the gallon! Gurrr.

Good old big block Chevys! That's a very kind estimate too, isn't it?

~ Derek

[Exbiker]

Yes I have done the Grange fair, have not done much riding this summer but plan to start again as the fall is here. We were in Burlington/Mallets Bay area, DH has family there.

I love VT for years I was up that way a couple times a week. I had customers all over. Wyeth Nutricianal in Geargia center, Cabot Cheese, The paper mill near St Albans and loads of others too.. Do you run the Northway to 149 then 4 then 22A?

[chesire17201]

feel for ya, had to deal with a flat this weekend too, luckily mine was just a finish nail and I had enough air to get to the shop and had 'em patch it up......

[Lady Beretta]

Yes we have metal stems now on all four tires.

We take 87 up to the northway and then exit 28 off that to go by Shroon Lake and into Ft. Ticonderoga, route 74? or 75... and then up rt 9 north to route 7 into Burlington.

Video: Our view from the top of the tow truck:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ndsdriving.flv