Did some chores and hauled some water and then noticed the back tire on the Jeep was low so started the Ponderosa to get some air to pump in it, and Harold and Kevin and I headed into town to get it fixed.
Went to the tire shop and a nice young man said he would take it in and look at it. First of all he took me around the jeep and measured all the tread depth and rubbed his hand on all the side walls. Ok so now I know I'm in for a sales pitch. He showed me a chart that said my tires were in the half worn out range but not to worry, they will check them over real well when they get it inside. He said it would take 45 minutes so we went to Harbor Freight to kill some time. Walkin around HF and the phone rings. It's nice young man. Bad news he says! Pin hole in sidewall and it can't be fixed. Good news!!! They have lots of tires. I said can't you put a plug in it? He says no that the rules of the company don't allow fixing side walls because they patch them and patches on side walls don't work and they don't do plugs at all. (that was his first mistake because I don't do well with rules lol) But amazingly he has a new tire that is a match for mine and recommends that I change both tires so they truly match. I said, can you just put my spare on and I will think about what I to do. He says, "No!! we don't put spares on vehicles that are over 10 years old!!! (Do you see where he is going with this?? Plus he has just called my jeep OLD!!!) Cha--ching!!!! only way out is new tires!!!! NOT!!! I told him the best way to fix it was to put the keys in the ignition!!! He said "What will that do?" I said it will help you to start it so you can drive it out in the parking lot and have it waiting for me. !!! LOL. When we got back there, he was all apologetic and gave me a written quote on new tires and I made nice and in the end he didn't charge me a cent for taking off the tire and checking it out. I will buy my own plug kit and fix it myself!!! What caused the pin hole??? I'm betting it was a cactus back in Apache Junction and it took this long for it to decay and work itself out of the hole. Certainly nothing that will jeopardize the safety of the tire if I plug it, but maybe it is time I looked at buying a tire monitor system in case this happens when we are towing it down the highway. Anyway tire is not fixed and I guess I will be the one putting the spare on.
Tomorrow Kevin and Rhonda have to catch the plane back to Minneapolis and then drive back to Wisconsin where they live after spending a couple weeks here with P&H in Las Vegas. We decided to have a potluck supper and a bonfire to bid them farewell. It was a bit chilly but a big fire fixed that. And a delicious supper was the main even.
Tonight we are at Lake Mead on Government Wash Road 36.12391, -114.8338 and this is the view from our window.
Sorry to hear about the tire. I know what you mean about the salesmen. The problem is they really don't know much about tires, just enough to sell tires. I have no patience with them. What they say about not patching a sidewall is true. "I've dealt with truck tires for many years". Its because the side wall flexes and the patch or plug will fail. If it were me and the other tire had at least 50% tread left I would just replace the one tire. If your spare is over 10 yrs old the other way would be to buy 2 new tires and use the good one taken off as a spare. As you say it wouldn't be good to have the tire fail while pulling behind you MH.
ReplyDeleteHave to agree with all that Dennis has said. In Ontario they will not patch side walls. Yes an expense probably you weren't counting on, but certainly better then the alternative.
ReplyDeleteI know your story wasn't meant to be funny but I was laughing at your back and forth with the tire guy. I know nothing about tires except that they are black circular rubber things that move our vehicles down the road, but you do want to be safe on the road. :)
ReplyDeleteOh Patsy, please let me know if you find my stories funny. I do try to create a little humour out of every situation and at times I may embellish just to make the story better. If you can't laugh at my stories then I have failed in writing them. One of the problems we have in this world is not seeing the funny or good side of things.
ReplyDeleteAlways fun to go to tire shops. They always think you need at least one new tire if not four. You might want to do a Google search on plugging sidewalls though. Doesn't look good for a permanent fix.
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