Wound up not getting up to the Beta Site Sunday either. Stepped out my door, all ready to go, and…flat tire. And since I wasnt going anywhere without a spare, I had to dismount the dead tire, put on the spare, and then take the offending tire off to repair.
Well, turns out it was a fatal flat and the tire could not be repaired…had to be replaced. And a buncha money later we were back to where we started.
But, Im slightly superstitious and chalked this up to the universe trying to tell me “Not this weekend, kiddo”.
And, of course, Sunday dumped 4-6″ of snow up there, so next trip, in two weeks, will involve the chained up side-by-side. We’ll see how that goes.
Love Costco for tires. In the upcoming world of Mad Max scenarios, where will people get tires? Must be crazy complicated to make one from scratch.
Very much so. Tires and rubber products will be the long term limitations for vehicles due to being far harder to make than fuel and lubricants.
Don’t “F” with Karma……………..
I have two M416 military trailers that I use and the first mod that I made to them was to replace the axles with ones that would allow me to mount the same tires as on my tow vehicle. This way if I’m out and get a flat I only need one sized spare tire. Also,, worst case scenario, I can take the tires of the trailer, abandon it and keep going.
Right now I have the one spare tire that is on my truck and one spare mounted on each trailer. Right off the bat this gives me two spares for the tow vehicle when I’m pulling.
Good advice, listening to what the Universe is telling you. Your property will be there next week.
There are some kind of fucked up thorn bushes NW of Missoula. Got two flats on the same drive off of Mill Creek Road. One was minor enough that the Milwaukee inflator allowed me to limp back to Frenchtown after putting the spare on the truck.
(This was in a brand-new truck before I put 10-ply tires on it.)
Is that access road on your property? So you could get a guy with a dozer/ grader and make a few upgrades to it or is state/USFS road that you cant touch?
The road I had trouble with? Its part of a road network up there that crosses various peoples properties.
Does that worry you in anyway if they decide to close the road when the SHTF or are you planning on getting to know them well enough that they would let you cross if trouble did hit?
I Google Earth’d the path to walk into there from various points.
Plan for success:
Form an HOA! Claim it’s just for road maintenance….run it, charge dues and ‘management fees’.
Then write the HOA Bylaws – require the other members tithe you….food, ammo, daughters…..
Success!
And yes, /sarc
Could be worse, we just had a young douche, driving on a temporary license, ram our Excursion. It’s probably totaled. And I’m sure that they’ll likely try to screw us on the payout.
Makes you really dislike some people.
Matt
Following. An incident like this upsetting a planned foray may have been a blessing in disguise. The tire could have given out while enroute on a highway at speed or in a location not conducive to field repairs. I acquired a spare matching rim/tire to put in the truck bed in addition to its factory located spare when going into deeper sketchy areas and not just box store shopping forays. Two is one, one is none etc. Check out priority tire for online tire shopping and having them delivered to you direct or to a listed shop in your area. Some imports are way cheaper than paying brand fags twice as much for similar units just to pay for corporate names on them. Yeah there is arguments about quality etc but my goodyear duratracs at $380. Are made in Chile, and a Thailand tire is $165. So ymmv. I change tire sets out way early at about 5 years time wise or 50% tread wear anyways just because, that leapfrogs my usage time period out further another timeframe forward of service use by regularly updating them on a faster schedule pattern. Fresh treads make all the difference out there. Get a spare set of matching rims to your vehicle off craigslist or Facebook marketplace that someone is selling off and get fresh tires mounted up on them and squirrel them away in a garage if you got space and gumption. They will be handy in spicy times. You have spare boots and shoes as well right? Stay properly shod, stay frosty.