Flat tires

Like most Mondays the battery was dead on the Stratus this Monday.  The alternator has been replaced and the battery was replaced twice under warranty.  I could take more time off and have him replace the battery again, or jump it Monday mornings.  It only dies if I don't drive it for 2 days.  So it's good all week.  I just couldn't be bothered right now to take it back to the mechanic.  On top of the battery this week I had 2 flat tires.  I filled them back up while the battery was charging.  By Wednesday the left rear was low again.  One of the joys of working in a Logistics Depot is that they use a lot of nails in the shipping crates.  While they have a magnet truck that drives around the base, it still doesn't get everything.  Usually it's non-ferrous materials, but one was a nail this time.

Found one!  

Pulled the first one out with the pliers.

When I was in High School I worked at a full service gas station for a while.  It was really more of a mechanics shop that happened to sell gas though.  It was Ron's 66.  It since has closed, moved across the street to a new building and is just a mechanic's shop now.  One good skill learned there was how to plug a tire.  

Step one:  Put a little lube on the reamer and insert it into the hole of whatever you just pulled out of the tire.  Make sure you're going at the same angle that the FOD came out at. This cleans out the hole and makes sure it's big enough for the plug.

Peel a plug off the paper.

Fight with the sticky rubber plug untill you get it into the needle and pull 1/2 way through.

Push the plug in, again at the same angle.

Push it almost all the way down, leaving just a bit of the ends sticking out.  Then pull the tool out and the plug will remain in the hole.

Cut off most of the excess.

The rest will wear off on the road.

On to the next one.

 The culprits....

The other tire has some slow leaks in the sidewall.  Looks like it's a monitor and top off for a while.  Those are soap bubbles.  I kinda wish the tires were bald, then I wouldn't care so much, but they have quite a bit of tread left on them.