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Debris on roads no problem with flat-tire fixes
By Michael A. Smith
The Daily News
Published May 27, 2009
People with trucks and SUVs were feeling vindicated after Hurricane Ike when roads that weren’t covered with water were covered with mud.
But even people in Jeeps with snorkel kits attached were driving around on four weak links — the tires.
One thing that was not in short supply after Ike was nails, wood screws, weird springs and all manner of other debris that can penetrate a steel-belted tire. So unless you’ve invested the several thousand dollars it takes to get run-flat tires like the American Ambassador to Baghdad, you’re going to have to be able to fix a flat.
Some of my colleagues swear by that injectable foam, but I don’t trust it. I opted instead for an emergency plug kit. They sell for about $5 at most auto parts stores and consist of a knurled spike to bore out the hole for a plug, a big needle for pushing the plug into the hole and the plugs — strips of rubber or leather coated in glue.
One pro of the plugs, and the foam, is that you can fix the flat without taking the wheel off the car or the tire off the wheel.
I’ve put at least one plug in all four of my tires since Ike. Only recently did I get a puncture that I couldn’t plug myself.
Speaking of air, that’s the next issue. Don’t count on finding a working compressor after the water recedes. To be safe, I bought one of the portable compressors that charges off a car system. It cost about $70 at an auto-parts store and also will jump-start a car, charge a cell phone and provide an emergency light.
It has worked well; takes a little time to get a truck tire back to full pressure, but not an unreasonable amount.
Now that I have it, I wouldn’t leave home without it.
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