Scenic Tire Change

[Stewbie]

By any chance are you close to an airport where, if needed, I could call you? You know, pay to have you air lifted and parachute down with tools to help me when I'm stranded. I'd gladly quintuple the price paid to the fellow at the gas station... what am I saying. I'd pay 10 times that at the right moment.
What a great story. The pictures are amazing. You have a lot to be proud of for both knowing what to do and for being prepared with the tools you needed. My hat is off to you, sir.

[Jack K]

Thanks for taking the time to document your thinking process and the steps you took to come up with a fix, a great read, geoffff. Lots of lessons to be gleaned from your experience. Nothing like solo travel with a challenge to get the creative juices flowing!

[Futrmbl]

Originally Posted by geoffff

I know, really! I was a bit embarrassed paying so little.

-- Geoff

As a boy my father did all his own tire removing and remounting, 50 years ago.
A tip, breaking the bead, he would set the bad tire and wheel right under the car tire aligning the bead and rim with the edge car tire, then back the car over the rim, sometimes having to move the bad wheel and tire closer to break the bead. Joe Futrmbl

First time I have ever seen a field side wall repair, great job and inspiration.
Thank you.

[ctb]

Wow and more wow....I can't believe the ingenuity you had (let alone the faith) in such a thought to repair those things...and FIVE HOURS!?! I can't even imagine how long the initial shock would have taken me before I could even wrap my head around some kind of solution! Great solution, education, and thought maybe retiring in MX might not be such a bad idea.........thx for sharing!

[TomsBeast]

[QUOTE=arctictraveller;270580]I decided I needed two spares, a compressor, a plug kit, patches, a tire iron... and haven't had a flat since. [QUOTE]


Story of my life

[rltilley]

Originally Posted by geoffff

Here are some other Sportsmobile pics. Some have rear wheels a bit farther back than center. I have a feeling I remember mine always been that way.






And someone else's van...







Anyone else?

-- Geoff

That has to be the SMB they used to demo the vans. Sitting in that at the Fresno shop changed my mind about floor plans and I went with the RB50 plan. Here are some pics I took of it in late 2011 or early 2012. Scroll right for more.

https://roberttilley.smugmug.com/Car...le/i-WBmXkDP/A

[geoffff]

Originally Posted by ctb

and FIVE HOURS!?!

The second tire the next morning took me only 3 hours



I figured it couldn't hurt to try....


-- Geoff

[geoffff]

Here's a little time-lapse youtube video of me making that first tire repair. Video is compiled from motion-activated footage by my dash cam. 5 hours of time condensed into 1 minute.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxJKsYX9bf4

-- Geoff

[Twoxentrix]

Did I miss it??? I would suspect that whole process would have been at least a 2 Beer project...guess when we all become real focused (almost obsessed) with a project we tend to block out the important things.
Still amazed you managed to get that tire back on the road!

[bigriver]

Yep... an admirable feat for sure.