Flat …tires

June 8, 2007 by David.

In my life I haven’t had very many flat tires, but when I do, they tend to be eventful, so to speak. The first flat I ever had was on a dune buggy. It really was my fault.  I aired the tires down when going off road down logging trails. I was in my mid-twenties and apparently being cool with low-pressure tires was more important than actual performance - after all, lowering pressure helps in sand or rock, NOT logging roads.  Adding to that was the fact that the Beetle had way oversize tires on the back - ten inch wide rims - and the tires weren’t quite wide enough so the bead had to stretch out to seat against the rim instead, giving a sidwall that tapered in from the edge of the rim. Hey, at least I wasn’t the one that matched up those tires and rims. Anyway, lowering the pressure in that situation was asking for, well, exactly what we got. When one of the tires’ beads popped away from the rim and with no spare, the guy that was with me (no second vehicle, but at least another person was along - did I mention ‘young and stupid’?) and I walked out to the road, fortunately only a couple miles. We hitchhiked about ten miles to a service station where we called his dad to come rescue us. Eventually his dad arrived. This guy owned a body shop and Read the rest of this entry »

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