BajaNomad

Now...here's a nice post without negatives#2

yankeeirishman - 7-6-2005 at 07:54 PM

Tires. I am so tired of tires!

Flat tires. I thrive on them ol? flat tires on my Rover. Makes me do these neat dances and calls, in the middle of the road?strangers about?have wild look on their faces for some reason! Seems to happen a lot to me, these flat tires. Three times last year. Twice (so far) this year! You would think that I have learned by now, eh?

I didn?t. A few months ago, we were going up that Hell Road south of Gonzaga Bay to reach the old man Coco. Sure enough?I hit that only and one?sharp rock in the middle of the Bajian desert. For the SECOND time in 2 years, in the same spot! Changed tires, and made a u turn back to San Felipe since my spare tire was now spent. Still don?t have a clue what this bloke Coco is all about. We never seem to be able to get over that steep grade of Hell Road.

So here I am?.again?in the middle of a dirt road that was first used in 1849, the Henness Pass Road. It stretched from near Verdi, Nevada, over the Sierra Nevada Mountains via the 6,700 foot Henness Pass, down the ridge between the North and Middle forks of the Yuba River, to it junction with routes into Yuba and Nevada counties. The dance and calls, in the middle of the road resumes again! The kids think I have gone mad. Very gone!

http://activities.wildernet.com/pages/rectype.cfm?areaid=CA&...

I was prepared this time, and that is the point of this post for all you Newbies (worms). After we got back from our last Baja adventure (vacation trip, not business trip) I went to Sears. Armed with data that I c/c off the BajaNomads forum?.the perfect tire inflator and rubber plugs for punctures, was purchased. The Craftsman 12v 300 psi suv/truck air compressor inflator. Works off the cigarette lighter outlet, has a flashlight to it, flashing red beam lights, and ..oh?.the air compressor! From a very flat tire?this unit worked superior! I recommend to all, carry one of these units in your car. And learn how to use a plugging device for holes in your tires.

And carry lots of candy in the car for the kids!



[Edited on 7-7-2005 by yankeeirishman]

[Edited on 7-7-2005 by yankeeirishman]

Packoderm - 7-6-2005 at 08:12 PM

My 5-year old son really likes that picture of the colored tongues. He often demands that I try to get Crystal Lite that will turn his tongue red.

I was forced to...

yankeeirishman - 7-6-2005 at 08:19 PM

have a blue licker like them, they made me eat some too! But you ol boys will never see that picture of me:lol:

Fatboy - 7-6-2005 at 10:23 PM

Where does that road come out at? And whats with you and tires? I have had fewer flats in 10 years than you have had in one?
I pan and wheel in the sierra's and need to check that road out.
Of course as JR's says, "I have been going there for years"! I know some cool spots for camping, Snake Lake is a good one, so is Grouse Ridge up around Jackson Meadows Res. :yes:

yankeeirishman - 7-6-2005 at 10:48 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Fatboy
Where does that road come out at? And whats with you and tires? I have had fewer flats in 10 years than you have had in one?
I pan and wheel in the sierra's and need to check that road out.
Of course as JR's says, "I have been going there for years"! I know some cool spots for camping, Snake Lake is a good one, so is Grouse Ridge up around Jackson Meadows Res. :yes:


Go behind Verdi to Dog Valley Road and follow it. You'll come on to Camptonville at mile 78. The best place to camp on this route is Milton Reservior. Brook Trout is excellent there. This is a few miles west of the Meadows. Oh...be sure to take the loop to Summit City...an old ghost town (gold panning). Go fetch <Backcountry Adventures: Northern California> isbn 1-930193-08-4

[Edited on 7-7-2005 by yankeeirishman]

Fatboy - 7-7-2005 at 06:17 PM

Thanks, even though it is a little farther south than I usually go I am going to try that route in the next couple of weeks! I will even make the Summit City detour, maybe even find a few flakes!

Bruce R Leech - 7-7-2005 at 06:23 PM

spend the extra bucks on the tires and get the best and carry 2 spears and the other things that you said.

Fatboy - 7-7-2005 at 06:38 PM

You don't have to get the best of course you can,but maybe you need to get something more suited for what you require. I spend about $125 each for my Les Schwab tires for my wrangler. I can a quieter tire, I can get ones that last longer, I can get ones that look better and so on and on. To me though it is much more important that I know they will hold up to my off road use. The good things is that they have! I disagree with the "carry two spares" crowd because it has been my experience that one is enough. Sure sometimes having two would help out, but so would having three or four. I have always carried a portable airpump and a plug kit kit along with a good spare. I am not a tire guy but see how many plys in both the sidewall and tread of your current tire and then see what the options are for more. Watch your speed and tire pressure. Too much and too little tire pressure can both result in more flats. Sometimes it is just luck.

Flat Tires

MrBillM - 7-7-2005 at 08:32 PM

Back in the bad old days before the aborted Highway construction, we had so many flat tires on the road between Puertocitos and Gonzaga that I lost count. We were driving Baja Bugs in those days so space for spares was limited, usually carrying one that matched the front. I've still got photos of us next to the road breaking down tires with hand tools. In addition to various patches and boots, We usually carried a couple of tubes for the larger rear tires. On one trip we made, there were six Baja Bugs and, by the time we got back to the highway below Catavina, there wasn't a single good spare left and two of the Bugs had brought two spares. One of the two advantages of switching to 4WD vehicles in later years was the space to carry two spares easily. The other advantage was being able to go up steep grades slowly without having to get a high speed start at the bottom of the hill.