Two wheels on my wagon...

I started to replace my tyres today...

which meant putting the least worn one on the front with an inner tube and replace the two back ones with the new ones bought off ebay.

The front one was first and was sorted quickly...

The new tyres are 6 ply, highway rated trailer tyres and took a bit more work to get over the rims. But after sitting them in the sun and some washing up liquid they both went over the rims pretty easily - well much easier than I anticipated!

old and new (on the rims)

The first one I tried inflating and popped over the beading with my 12v air-compressor, to easy! The second just wouldn't grip and inflate. Despite trying the air-compressor at the servo, using a ratchet strap to hold the tyre tightly onto the rim and liberal amounts of washing up liquid.

inflated and seated on the rim

So at present I only have two wheels on my buggy and the third is in the boot of the car so I can sweet talk a tyre place to inflate it and get it on the rim properly.

So unfortunately no buggying for me Sunday!

Barrow's Vs Midi's

After completely trashing my tires on the salt lake, I think it is time I bought some new ones.

slicks

I have standard barrows on at the moment but am considering getting some midi's - my dilemma is will they make any noticeable difference, improved traction which may result in increased drag and slow me down?

I fancy a set of midi's as they look nice, but the barrows will be cheaper and I don't want to affect my performance!

After some posts on three forums - the Pom's and the Yanks say go for barrows, racekites.com, power kite forum and the Aussies say go for midi's, extreme kites.

The Aussies argue that the midi's are going to more hard-wearing than barrows (they also look good!), I think at the end of the day it will come down to funds available!

I think I will go with the majority and go for another set of barrows, cheaper to start with and replace, and as I am constantly trying to edge more speed out of the comp I need every advantage I can get! Ultimately I need a wide axle or a better buggy so that I can push that bit harder.

I am still dreaming of a Sysmic S2 - on barrows!

Tire trouble - part II

I have just spent two hours trying to put a tube into my tire! This time thanks to the advice from racekites and Extreme Kites it was a success.

I managed to get the tire off the rim by standing on it!

I got the tube in without any problems, but had a fight to get the tire back on the rim - but a video posted on extreme kites was very helpful...

I managed to get the tire back on using a hair dryer, washing-up liquid, some spoons and brute force...

But was then left with a big gap where I needed to get the tire centralized and back on the beading properly, I struggled with this for ages, posted on extreme kites, then had a flash of inspiration...

Using my 12v tire compressor hooked up to the car battery I kept inflating until pop! It was back on an looking good, ready for tomorrow morning!

I am leaving the other rear tire alone for now as it is still holding air!

What I used to put an inner tube in my tire!

Tire trouble!

I have been running with slow punctures in my rear tires for a couple of weeks and just topping them up with air as required. Today I finally managed to get round to buying a couple of inner-tubes from our local Masters store.

But do you think I can get the tires off the rims to put the new tubes in? No chance! I have broken the tip off one of my plastic tire leavers. Looks like I maybe just adding some air so that i can got to the salt lakes tomorrow morning!

I guess once I get them off it would be a good idea to know how to get them back on again! Sounds like a good excuse for a Sysmic! But don't think the wife will buy it!

Busted tire leaver!