I have asked a question at the end of the note.

I have two used tires ( obtained at Mexican tire shop ) on the front of my =
Explorer.
1/4 inch of tread is left.  I was driving on a dirt road that had rocks on =
it from time to time.  The rocks were as large as 1 inch.

First I got a slow leak on the passenger side front tire.  I fixed that wit=
h a plug of tar? impregnated string.  Father down the road there was a soft=
 !bang! and the driver side tire was leaking from a hole about 5 mm wide.  =
I put some impregnated string in this hole and slowed the leak such that th=
e tire would hold air about two hours ( I am waving my hand in the air ).

Since it was *labor day holiday Monday* no tire shop was open where I was.
I elected to drive back to Denver with two cans of tire inflator at the rea=
dy.
I was stopping every 10 minutes to look at both tires.
15 minutes out of Fairplay , I ran into a massive traffic stoppage.  The tr=
affic was NOT moving at all as far as the eye could see ( which was about a=
 kilometer ).  I did a U-turn and pulled off on a side road.

Now I decided to extract the spare tire and replace the driver's front tire=
..  I had two lug wrenches and an ABS cheater pipe.  I weigh 111 kilograms a=
nd have medium large muscles.  After straining , standing on the wrench , e=
tc...... ( since the lug wrenches extend away parallel to the centerline of=
 the lug , it is hard to get super good torque ) ..... I was unable to remo=
ve any ( that is zero ) of the lugs.

I drove back to Fairplay.  ( I am omitting a lot of swear words in this des=
cription ).  After trying to find an impact wrench ( none ) , finding a hug=
e crescent wrench ( did not work ) ..... I called a tow truck.  Just then a=
 large teenager happened by and he and I applied the T-lug wrench to the lu=
gs.  He was utterly amazed at how tight they were.  We got 4 of the 5 lugs =
off and then ( as I feared ) , the lug wrenched snapped  ( previously could=
 see that it was winding up ).  With even more difficulty we removed the la=
st lug with the one-side wrench ( which flexed quite a bit ).  As each lug =
released , it made a cracking noise.

I oiled the lugs , put on the spare , cancelled the tow truck , and went ba=
ck to Denver using an alternative route.

Could these have been counterfeit tires ?  It appears they can be easily ho=
le punched by a rock.  They say they are steel-belted radials.  Looking clo=
sely , the sidewalls seem to be wobbly with a sine curve of period 30 to 40=
 cms and an amplitude of 5 mm.   Normally I do not drive on rocky roads.

99guspuppet


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