jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

It pays to take the time to shop around. The steel wheels holding snow tires in my shed are severely rusted. I didn't use them last year, and I don't want to use them in that condition. Looking online for wheels, I had several choices. I could have gotten black steel wheels for $106 each, or I could have gotten new tires mounted on the wheels for over $400. Going for alloy wheels, the price would have been almost double.

Then I looked on Amazon. The same black Dorman wheels were available for $50 each, delivered. They'll be here on Tuesday. I'll have to pay the local guy to put the tires on the wheels because I don't do that anymore, but it's still an economical way to get snow tires on my car. Glancing at the ratings, two people gave the wheels a rating on just 1. They ordered the wrong size! 🤣

Speaking of size, the common recommendation is to get a smaller diameter snow tire. Not only does it bite into the snow better, but it's lighter and cheaper.

I put my sons' snows on yesterday, and one went flat almost immediately. I removed it, pumped it up, and looked for something stuck in the tread. Nothing. I used water and looked for bubbles several times. Nothing. The tire goes from 35 psi to zero in a matter of minutes. Besides the tread, I checked the bead on both sides and the valve. I'll have to bring it to the local guy.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

Corroded rim?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

It's an alloy wheel, and there are no bubbles! This is a real puzzler because it loses air so quickly. It's not the sidewalls, either.

I hate waiting and paying when I could just stick a plug in it myself. I'll try again before I bring it.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

You mentioned putting water on the tire. A little soap in the water will make the bubbles persist and it's easier to see leaks.

bikinkawboy Loc: north central Missouri

Don’t forget to check the area around the valve stem as well as the valve core. While cores seldom fail, I had two fail on the same tractor within two weeks this summer.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Right. I was in a hurry, so I left "soap" out of my post. 😂

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I figured you probably knew that

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I'm going to remove the tires from the wheels and see how bad the rust is. Maybe I can save the wheels. I might save a bit on mounting and balancing.

I'm not giving up on that leaking tire. If the air is coming out so fast, it's got to blow bubbles!

Scruples Loc: Brooklyn, New York

Everything in NYC went from the white stuff and is now pure as the driven slush. My wife wanted to hire a person who wanted $100 upfront to shovel. I told her we aren’t paying in advance. It’s a good thing we didn’t pay to have someone shovel the rain out of our driveway and off our front porch.

Crooks are everywhere and love to take advantage. It’s better to wait for the fog to clear and you see the real nature of people.

agillot

A air leak that fast should be heard . put the all wheel in bath tub , that will show .

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

In the 1970s, I plowed driveways with my Jeep. I typically charged $5.00 - $10.00. One year, we had a snow storm every Thursday. I left at 6:00 AM and got home for Thanksgiving dinner at 9:00 PM. That was unusual. I never intended to make a business of it, but when neighbors saw that I had a Jeep with a plow, it was one request after another. I also did some shoveling. The Jeep with the Fisher hydraulic plow cost $3,200. I bet the plow alone would cost more than that now.

$4,188 for the plow.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Nice buy!! My 2024 Hybrid Honda CRV Touring has a "snow drive". I've not yet tried it, but we had about 3 inches yesterday and more today. Might be enough to give it a try.

Happy driving!
Mark

bikinkawboy Loc: north central Missouri

Snow drive simply disables the ignition. How much safer could you be when your car is still in the garage?

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Well "bikinkawboy", I'll try it and find out. You can have much more fun in the Attic!

Here's what Honda says about Snow Drive:https://hondask.com/the-honda-cr-v-is-equipped-with-a-snow-drive-mode-heres-what-you-need-to-know/#:~:text=The%20Honda%20CR-V%20is%20equipped%20with%20

Of course, how might Honda know more than you?

Mark

bikinkawboy Loc: north central Missouri

How might they know more than me? Those engineers get paid to come up with ideas, so of course they are going to offer up anything that crosses their minds. No matter how stupid it is, they hope someone is dumb enough to pay them for it.

I don’t get paid for thinking so I don’t do any more of it than is necessary. It keeps the brain clutter to a minimum and clears the road for really good ideas. When an idea does cross my mind, there’s no way it can be anything but great! The thought that came to me just now is to become a motivational speaker with something like, “Constructive Thinking for Fun And Profit.” An even better follow up idea is to sell franchises so that I don’t even have to speak, just cash the checks.

(I hope you know I’m being facetious.)