Quick fix - tyre repairs!

One of the constant things we have to deal with here in Tanzania is bad roads and damage to tyres (sorry, tires for my U.S. readers). There simply is no maintenance at all done on the roads and they become a dumping ground for all sorts of things. On top of that people cart loads of scrap metal in hand carts that are not covered and things often fall off. I while back I put a four inch tear in the side wall of one tyre that could not be repaired.

While I could do nothing with that tyre, there have been many punctures that I have fixed and I am getting pretty good at it.

Tomorrow I am heading out to Singida for a couple of days and as I was checking the truck I noticed that one front tyre was down some. Time for some repairs!

Fortunately this puncture was in a nice position and was easy to find.  It was just a case of digging out the offending object (in this case a screw) with a pair of needle nose pliers.

Then you have to ream the the hole with a special tool so it is ready for the plug.

Putting the plug in is the next part. This is the hardest because it is obviously a tight fit. The plug has this "goo" on it to make it stick.

All that's then left to do is cut off the excess of the plug and check for leaks.

Then inflate the tyre to the required pressure and you are good to go - until next time!