Reminds me of another motorist who used to park near my house and go to work with a neighbour. I saw his rear offside tyre was very soft one day (probably on 10psi), it was still soft the next day and I told him of the problem. He noted it and then drove home, it was still soft the following day. Finally it was correctly inflated the following week.
I do not know how he did not feel the problem with the handling of his car, or why he took so long to fix it.
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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I do not know how he did not feel the problem with the handling of his car, or why he took so long to fix it.
Probably took him that long to find a petrol station with a working airline, doesn't sound like the sort to own a compressor or even a footpump.
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>>doesn't sound like the sort to own a compressor or even a footpump.
I offered him the use of my foot pump!!
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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People don't know why tyres have to be correctly inflated. You tell them and it goes in one ear and out of the other. They don't associate properly inflated tyres with grip or handling ... Doh... What they?
They recognise though that the car rides more comfortably over potholes and so on with only 10 or 15 psi in the tyres. I used to toot at people and point to the deflated wheel, but I don't usually bother now. There's probably no oil in the engine either.
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Never tried pumping up a modern car tyre with a footpump but I guess it would be rather hard - (the effor not the tyre !)
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This reminds me: the air pumps at the garages near me all manage a remarkable variety of types of useless and/or horrible, so I have been wondering about getting one of those 12v things wots plugs into the cigarette lighter. Does anyone know a good source for them?
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Must be silly season. Today watched a primera and a mondeo playing stupid people down A 413 near Gerrards Cross. Mondeo races up behind primera which is in the right hand lane. Mondeo pulls into the left lane to undertake, does so, and swerves in front of primera. Primera man doesn't like this and they proceed to tailgate eachother and swerve round eachother down the dual carriage way at high speeds. The Primera driver eventally loses it (control of the car as well as his very short temper), and ends up spinning into the central reserve grass the Mondeo then speeds off into the distance. So lucky that the Primera did not destroy anyone else in the process.
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Must be silly season. Today watched a primera and a mondeo playing stupid people down A 413 near Gerrards Cross.
Anywhere near the French Horn? used to love that place when I were a lad.
vbr............................................md
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wife put 45 psi in her tyres at the garage the other month this was after begging her to bring car to me sat morning to check them for her.
its a rare car these days with proper pressures in (apart from mine obviously) and i dont flash or wave or tell people anymore as it should be on their weekly "POWER" check.
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so I have been wondering about getting one of those 12v things wots plugs into the cigarette lighter. Does anyone know a good source for them?
I recently got a heavy duty one on ebay, a catalogue return item which is in perfect working order, not a mark on it. Including postage, saved about £10 over the Argos price.
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This reminds me: the air pumps at the garages near me all manage a remarkable variety of types of useless and/or horrible, so I have been wondering about getting one of those 12v things wots plugs into the cigarette lighter. Does anyone know a good source for them?
While they do the job, I found that they take a age, and make an infernal racket while doing it. The pressure guages on them tend to be somewhat inaccurate too.
I eventually got fed up with mine and went back to a dual cylinder foot-pump. If you get a decent quality one (there are reviews on auto express website) they're not much effort, and the one I've got averages about two pumps per psi, so nice and quick too.
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While they do the job, I found that they take a age, and make an infernal racket while doing it. The pressure guages on them tend to be somewhat inaccurate too.
I'm sure there are cheap ones available which are hopeless. Mine claims to fill from 0-30 psi in 5 mins. and is not very noisy. Inflating from 25 to 38psi only takes seconds. The only problem I've found with it is that despite having rubber feet, it vibrates quite strongly and wanders all over the place. I have a trusty PCL guage as a backup to check pressure.
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>>Never tried pumping up a modern car tyre with a footpump
It does not take too long if you use a twin barrel pump, plus its good exercise. If you carry the pump in the car, the bonus is you can add extra air at any time or place (within reason).
>>been wondering about getting one of those 12v things wots plugs into the cigarette lighter
Bought a cheap one recently (£6) - worse than useless. My cigarette lighter only works when the engine is running and the pump is only small capacity and took 3 times longer to inflate than with a foot pump. Not recommended.
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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Does anyone know a good source for them?
I have one from Halfords, and a separate dial pressure gauge (the gauge on the compressor is uselessly inaccurate). Yes, it makes a racket and takes a little while but it is still quicker and less hassle than going to my nearest filling station (Sainsbury's) in which people going into the shop use the air-line bay as parking, despite a 400-space car park next to it, and because I carry it around in the car it has the added advantage that I can check my tyre pressures anywhere I go. Would recommend.
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"Does anyone knowa good source for them?"
I bought a Michelin twin cylinder one from Halfords (good test results from Auto Express)
Super accurate guage and easy to use... even my 23 year old son uses it... so it must be good. Very stable...
madf
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>> I bought a Michelin twin cylinder one from Halfords
I'll second that. After three cheapies which didn't last 5 minutes, the Michelin one is excellent.
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"Never tried pumping up a modern car tyre with a footpump"
Then you should, PU. The footpump in my garage still works well after 30+ years (though I have to fix it occasionally to make it stay attached while I pump) and I only rarely (i.e. in emergency) have to use a garage air-line. The last time I did that was in NZ last year when I got a puncture in a hire car .
Oh, and it takes about 15 strokes to add 1psi to 'a modern car tyre'. Not excessively energetic, IMO.
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so from 10psi to 30psi that's like 300 strokes. I wouldn't be able to drive after that.
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.....and by the time I could the tyre would be flat again.
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er thats called a puncture not a leak ;)
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a pair of puncutred lungs as well. Thank the lord for run flat tyres !
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a pair of puncutred lungs as well. Thank the lord for run flat tyres !
Here's a little conundrum concerning Runflats on a car which doesn't have any spare (as a consequence).
You own, say, a new BMW series 1 with these tyres, which, I believe, if punctured, one can run on them for, say, 50 or 90 miles/kms - can't remember how far exactly.
You set off from home on a holiday, say, with a journey of several hundred miles in front of you and after about 90 miles one of your tyres goes 'flat' and so you continue for as far as you dare according to the tyre manufactures's recommendations.
Having reached this maximum then, what do you now do, not having any spare, ring the rescue services or limp to the nearest tyre repairer hoping that they can service such monstrosities?
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BMW Assist !
Don't get me wrong I hate this aspect of new BMWs
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I've got a cheap twin cylinder footpump and although I've never inflated a tyre from scratch with it, it works a treat to add the 2-4 psi you occasionally need after a checks.
For pressure, I use a little Halfords digital keyring gauge. Won a couple of tests in bike mags for accuracy, and cost me about eight quid. Great little tool.
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BMW Assist ! Don't get me wrong I hate this aspect of new BMWs
It's one of the many reasons why I did not buy that particular car but not the most obvious one. That, was the overall packaging, which was so awful i.e. the looks (in particular), the cramped interior, the small glass area - I could go on and on, but I won't!
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BMW Assist ! Don't get me wrong I hate this aspect of new BMWs
BMW Assist .................aaargh !
My wife has a BMW MINI (no spare) and got a late night puncture - tyre shredded - called BMW Assist - 2 hours later contracted out breakdown truck arrives, and they are are authorised to load the car onto the trailer and take it to the BMW dealer - nothing else. They don't have access to tyres, tyre depots etc.
BMW dealer is 20 miles from home, next day dealer calls and tells me he will get mobile tyre fitter in to replace the tyre (Pirelli P3000) cost c. £90..........................I've anticipated this & tell them that I gan get same tyre from local tyre dealer for £56 ( I had phoned around) and after a few moments they come up with a price of £55-95 (!)..........
So - the evening trip out curtailed, wife had to get lift to work next day, lift to dealer to pick up car etc.
I really don't think putting a car on the road without a spare of any kind is a good idea. There is room for a space saver spare wheel on the car (it was a £35 option that I suggested we order when specifing the car - but the saleswoman talked SWMBO out of it saying "You won't want to be messing around changing the wheel - one call to Assist and we'll do everything")
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