Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Friday, September 13, 2019
Monday, September 9, 2019
How To Fix A Flat Tire In An Emergency
It's that time of year again! Kids are going back to school. Let's say you have a kid going off to college for the first time away from home. Your kid has a new car without a spare tire. What do you do to protect your kid? Here is one option of many that you can have to protect your kid: Buy a tire repair kit for emergency use. The repair kit consists of a tire rasp, tire plug insertion tool, plugs and rubber cement.
The above pictures are examples of tire plug repair kits. One of them comes with a razor to trim the plug after repairing the puncture. The 12 volt portable air compressor shown is a Masterflow compressor with a built in tire pressure gauge. You will need a blade screwdriver and pliers to remove the puncturing object. If the car was not equipped with a jack, lug wrench and spare tire, you can purchase a jack, lug wrench and emergency tire repair plug kit from most auto parts stores or you can purchase an OEM jack, lug wrench and compact spare tire or OEM rim and TPMS Sensor/sensor valve stem from your local car dealer parts department.
On a 2008 & later car and truck, you will see either a metal stem on the rim or an ordinary looking rubber stem with a TPMS sensor attached inside onto the stem. On a 2008 and later model car equipped with the snap in rubber TPMS stems, a tire shop can replace the rubber stem with a metal TPMS stem like the one pictured here. The metal stem shown here is the type made to replace rubber TPMS Valve stems. The TPMS units are pricey if damaged, usually costing at least $50.00 for an aftermarket replacement that needs to be programmed to match the car's TPMS factory receiver to several hundred dollars for an OEM unit. Repair chemicals such as Fix A Flat can damage a unit as well. If you don't have some kind of spare tire such as a compact spare pictured here or a full size tire, you will probably need to do an emergency plug repair. To repair the leak, make sure you set the parking brake and put the automatic transmission into Park, or the manual transmission into either reverse or first gear. Find the jack point on the car. Slightly loosen the lug nuts before jacking the wheel up. Jack the car up and remove the wheel. Find the leak and pull the puncturing object out. Use the tire rasp to ream the hole. Coat the plug insertion tool with rubber cement and lubricate the hole. Pull the insertion tool out, insert the plug material into the tool eyelet and lubricate the plug with rubber cement. Push the plug straight into the hole, inserting at least 2/3 of the plug into the hole. Pull the tool out without twisting it. Check for leaks. If it leaks, try again with another plug, repeating the processes after removing the defective plug. If the plug successfully seals the leak, cut off the excess material, leaving at least 1/4 inch of the plug material behind. Do not cut the plug flush with the tread. Doing so will cause it to leak. Inflate the tire at least to the minimum pressure per car maker or to the maximum pressure on the tire sidewall. Remount the tire, using a star pattern to tighten the lug nuts. Lower the wheel and finish tightening the nuts. IMPORTANT: A plug repair is temporary. The tire needs to be patched inside to be safe.
The above pictures are examples of tire plug repair kits. One of them comes with a razor to trim the plug after repairing the puncture. The 12 volt portable air compressor shown is a Masterflow compressor with a built in tire pressure gauge. You will need a blade screwdriver and pliers to remove the puncturing object. If the car was not equipped with a jack, lug wrench and spare tire, you can purchase a jack, lug wrench and emergency tire repair plug kit from most auto parts stores or you can purchase an OEM jack, lug wrench and compact spare tire or OEM rim and TPMS Sensor/sensor valve stem from your local car dealer parts department.
On a 2008 & later car and truck, you will see either a metal stem on the rim or an ordinary looking rubber stem with a TPMS sensor attached inside onto the stem. On a 2008 and later model car equipped with the snap in rubber TPMS stems, a tire shop can replace the rubber stem with a metal TPMS stem like the one pictured here. The metal stem shown here is the type made to replace rubber TPMS Valve stems. The TPMS units are pricey if damaged, usually costing at least $50.00 for an aftermarket replacement that needs to be programmed to match the car's TPMS factory receiver to several hundred dollars for an OEM unit. Repair chemicals such as Fix A Flat can damage a unit as well. If you don't have some kind of spare tire such as a compact spare pictured here or a full size tire, you will probably need to do an emergency plug repair. To repair the leak, make sure you set the parking brake and put the automatic transmission into Park, or the manual transmission into either reverse or first gear. Find the jack point on the car. Slightly loosen the lug nuts before jacking the wheel up. Jack the car up and remove the wheel. Find the leak and pull the puncturing object out. Use the tire rasp to ream the hole. Coat the plug insertion tool with rubber cement and lubricate the hole. Pull the insertion tool out, insert the plug material into the tool eyelet and lubricate the plug with rubber cement. Push the plug straight into the hole, inserting at least 2/3 of the plug into the hole. Pull the tool out without twisting it. Check for leaks. If it leaks, try again with another plug, repeating the processes after removing the defective plug. If the plug successfully seals the leak, cut off the excess material, leaving at least 1/4 inch of the plug material behind. Do not cut the plug flush with the tread. Doing so will cause it to leak. Inflate the tire at least to the minimum pressure per car maker or to the maximum pressure on the tire sidewall. Remount the tire, using a star pattern to tighten the lug nuts. Lower the wheel and finish tightening the nuts. IMPORTANT: A plug repair is temporary. The tire needs to be patched inside to be safe.
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Antenna TV Drops Rescue Me With Dr. Lisa Chimes
Antenna TV has dropped the show Rescue Me With Dr. Lisa from their weekend educational series.
Dr. Lisa Chimes hails from Australia, and is well known for her work, matching shelter animals with loving families. Here are some great examples of pets she matched with families…
I definitely miss this show. Dr. Lisa Chimes has both beauty and brains!
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
National Doughnut Day #1 2019
This year's first National Doughnut Day is Friday June 7 2019. There's a second National Doughnut Day in early November. Homer Simpson is going to raid the doughnut shops if you don't hurry to get your doughnuts on Friday.
Thursday, May 30, 2019
Friday, April 26, 2019
Porky Da Baddass's Mean Shredded Pork
I like to slow cook a pork roast and turn it into one mean shredded pork, perfect for burritos and anything else you can stuff. I season the pork using sloppy joe sauce, burrito seasonings and a sauce similar to A1 steak sauce. Put the ingredients into a slow cooker and cook it until the meat shreds. It's a simple recipe I posted years ago on my blog Porky's Big Payback. I'm going to modify my recipe by using Jap Chae sauce in place of the steak sauce. If it turns out quite tasty, I'll post the results later.
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Upgrading An Old Style Harbor Freight Incandescent 2 AA Battery Headlamp To An LED Headlamp.
Okay, you got a free Harbor Freight 2 AA incandescent headlamp less than a year ago to use around your house. You're tempted to replace it with a more modern LED Headlamp, yet you hate the idea of tossing out an otherwise good flashlight into your trash. Or perhaps you got this headlamp flashlight a few months ago, only to have the bulb fail prematurely. You find out that most stores including Harbor Freight stopped carrying the replacement incandescent bulb for your headlamp. You wonder if you should toss it, or take the time to look for an LED to replace the small mini maglight style light bulb with an LED. I was wondering where I could find a 2 wire mini maglight bulb to repair my headlamp or a 3 volt white LED to upgrade it. I just recently stopped at my local electronics shop (Orvac Electronics in Fullerton California) and found an LED compatible to replace the blackened miniature bulb in my Harbor Freight headlamp. I found a single white 3mm LED marketed by NTE Electronics to fit in place of the 2 wire bulb. My headlamp still uses all its stock parts, other than the bulb. When you unscrew the lens and reflector, you remove 2 number 1 Phillips screws to remove the bulb. 2 springs retain the 2 wire miniature bulb. Once you remove the retainer springs and old lamp, you bend the leads on the LED and secure the LED to the bulb holder with the springs. No need to trim the leads on the LED either; just bend the extra length to fit into the housing. Just so you know, LEDs are polarized, so if the LED doesn't light up the first time you turn on the switch, remove the holder, LED and flip the LED around. Once you turn the LED around, when you screw the bulb housing in, the LED should light up. You'll find the light to be much brighter than the original bulb. The NTE brand LED part number is NTE30004, a super bright white LED that fits perfectly in the Harbor Freight headlamp without modifications.
Saturday, January 26, 2019
NAMM Show 2019 Worship Night: Welcome Matt Redman
