The moment of impact:
The Result:
That tyre was re-beaded using the methylated spirits trick, you know, have a sip, pour some on the bead, have another sip, light a match and drop it on the tyre, the spirits ignite, expands inside the tyre and pops the trye back on the bead. Easy-peazy.
Since then that tyre was moved to the left rear, from time to time I noticed that it was deflating slowly, especially at lower pressure, while standing still. This meant one thing. I didn't clean the bead properly before I did the spirits thing and there was still some muck stuck between the bead and the rim, which is not a problem when the tyre is inflated to 2bar, but once the tyre gets deflated to 0.7 for sand-work the seal starts leaking and the tyre deflates.
Last Sunday when we went to Atlantis this became especially bad, as I had to inflate the tyre on 2 occasions, and ended up inflating it to 1.5bar in the end, as that is when the seal stopped leaking. I have been meaning to have the tyre removed and the beads cleaned, but never got round to it. This morning I decided to have it done quickly, and popped in at Supaquick in Brackenfell. I was amazed at the amount of muck and sand that got stuck in the tyre and the bead. Obviously over the last year, as we drove off road with deflated tyres, more and more muck got in. Unfortunately I didnt have my camera with me, so I didn't take any pictures, but the attendant who helped me got a bucket of hot soapy water, a brush and washed the entire rim, and the inside of the tyre and rebalanced the lot. All that for a mere R45.
Depending on the amount of off-roading you do it is a good idea to make sure those surfaces get cleaned properly from time to time. We did a lot of sand this year and every time more and more sand seems to work their way in there. :roll:
