RE: Stuck in Sand

From: fawcett@uism.bu.edu
Date: Thu Sep 03 1998 - 14:10:02 EDT


     I bought a "truck-air" air compressor from JC Whitney that plugs into
     the cig. lighter to air-up after driving in sand/snow... It's slower
     than a gas station pump but faster than the car types that I think are
     next to useless. So if I'm close to a station I'll ease my truck on
     over but in some places I've been wheelin' there isn't any sign of
     humanity for miles around... It comes in handy then!
     
     T.
     
        <<I've done this very thing to get across snow and ice. You can go
     as low as 5psi but this is REALLY hard on sidewalls, so unless you
     have 6 ply or better sidewalls I'd stay at the other suggested
     settings. At low pressures it's very easy to "roll the bead" (ie:
     take the tire off the rim) so slow travel and very slow corners are
     recommended.
        A nifty fix I saw done by the folks crossing the Antarctic (using 2
     PSI in their tires) when they rolled the tire bead off the rim was to
     carry a can of benzene (cigarette lighter fluid) and spray it into the
     tire. Then toss a match onto the rim. The quick burning gas would
     expand the tire back onto the rim with a "pop" and you could add air
     into the tire and drive on it again. Might not be a bad idea if you do
     alot of snow driving, to carry a can of the
     stuff and a book of matches.
        This underinflation technique is great for getting out of
     snow/ice/sand. Great thing to post up to the list...
     
     Shaun H.
     Tustin, CA>>



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