The Webmaster Zone

Well its been a while since I've updated my story but I'll try to keep it brief. Mostly been having trouble with flat tires lately, when I was driving Kim back down to Seattle after getting back from England I got a flat. Went to go put the spare on and noticed it was flat too and had a giant screw sticking out of the side. I could have sworn I checked the spare before I bought it. Luckily we were still in Vancouver and within a couple of blocks of a gas station so I hauled them over and got the fellow to patch both of the tubes. After taking them off the rims I could see that the rims are getting a bit rusty so I attacked them with a wire brush while he put on the patches. Got back on the road, no problem. Until a week later, when I was driving around Squamish looking for a gig and guess what? Yep, same tire flat again, in the rain. Luckily I had the spare. Well, I thought, the rusty rim has done the tube in again. I asked around a bunch of tire shops but nobody deals with wire wheels, so in true DIY spirit I purchased two new tubes from National Tire (great guys) and a couple of tire spoons from Dalee Tire Supply and replaced the tube this weekend before I went down to Seattle. Probably one of the most physically intense activities I have done in a long time. Of course now I know how to do it so I won't need to expend quite as much energy next time. All was fine until last night when I got a flat AGAIN. Live and learn, here's a tip for you: if your radials are old and cracked, the cracks will chafe against the tube and eventually wear a hole!. It wasn't the rim after all (although they need some attention), its the bloody 10 year old radials. They are 185/70R14 which according to my own tech tips is too wide, so I am going to do some comparison shopping for good quality 175/70s and I'm looking into stripping and powder coating the rims (assuming they are true). In other news, I went to the Seattle ABFM this weekend and picked up a rear tail lens for $2 and a complete sway bar kit for $15. I just checked my A-arms and of course they don't have the holes for the sway bar linkage, but thats okay because I need to rebuild the front suspension anyway and I'll probably have to replace the A-arms regardless. Oh yes and I have a badge bar on my grille now (you will notice its missing in the picture above). Have a new handbrake cable from OMG to install. Phew!