Tips For Gravel Road Driving And Tire Repair
Living out in the country can be a wonderful way of life – you get lots of peace and quiet, but you also often have to deal with driving on dirt and gravel roads. Gravel roads will not only essentially chew up the treat on your tires, but you will frequently pick up nails, bits of metal and other oddball objects that will give you a lot of flat tires – usually when it is most inconvenient. For those who have to deal with constant tire repair because you drive on gravel roads, here are some tips to keep in mind.
Buy Heavy Duty Tires
The ply of a tire determines how thick and tough it is. Medium ply tires might be fine for highway driving, but for gravel or dirt, you need heavy duty ply. The higher the number of ply, the tougher the tire is and the more resistant it will be to gravel and objects. By buying heavy ply tires, you can avoid a lot of flats.
Get Tires With Flat Protection
In some cases, you can buy tires and then purchase an additional repair protection plan. This means that you can not only get your flat tire repaired for free, in some cases, the company will also replace the tire if it cannot be repaired. This can save a lot of money of you frequently end up with nails or other metal objects embedded in your tires from driving on gravel roads.
Get A Tire Plug Kit
A tire plug kit can be a very inexpensive way to repair your own tires. A tire plug kit from a place like Terpstra's Sales Service & Rentals consists of a reamer, an insert tool and strips of rubber. Locate the spot on the tire where the leak is by pouring soapy water on the tire and watch for bubbles. If you find a nail or piece of metal, remove it, then ream the hole to a slightly larger size. Next, use the insert tool to push in the strip of rubber plug into the hole and very carefully remove the insert tool. This will leave the rubber strip inside the hole. Cut off the end of the rubber strip that sticks out, and simply re-inflate your tire.
These plug kits are very inexpensive and usually come with several pieces of rubber and they are a fantastic thing to have in an emergency.
Keep these tips in mind and you can easily deal with the inconvenience that goes along with frequent flat tires from driving on gravel roads.
