Preparing for a long roadtrip with 35is
- Thread starter sym
- Start date
Scottish Borders
matsmith749
Active member
Check over the tyres & inflate them to the right pressures, do a normal service. I wouldn't be changing coils out just for a road trip.
The most common cause of breakdown is battery related - so makes sense to check that & if replace if it's tired.
Get the car properly clean - decontaminate it / clay it / polish it - so it looks great on the pictures.
Make sure everything is topped off fluids wise & get good breakdown cover.
That's all I would do, make sure you have good sat-nav & the plug sockets are working in the car so you can charge your phone (notorious for popped fuses!)
The most common cause of breakdown is battery related - so makes sense to check that & if replace if it's tired.
Get the car properly clean - decontaminate it / clay it / polish it - so it looks great on the pictures.
Make sure everything is topped off fluids wise & get good breakdown cover.
That's all I would do, make sure you have good sat-nav & the plug sockets are working in the car so you can charge your phone (notorious for popped fuses!)
Agreed on first and last counts, but runflats could well be a waste of time in Norway (as they are anywhere else, actually) because of the potential distances between punctures and tyre shops. 80km at 80kph might work in the UK, but it's laughable in many parts of Norway.john-e89 said:Couple of tins of tyre gunk and a good quality inflator if you're not running run flats.
Have a great trip.
raymond.harper
Senior member
Take 5 liters of oil and some coolant. Charger for your phone.
Busterboo said:Agreed on first and last counts, but runflats could well be a waste of time in Norway (as they are anywhere else, actually) because of the potential distances between punctures and tyre shops. 80km at 80kph might work in the UK, but it's laughable in many parts of Norway.john-e89 said:Couple of tins of tyre gunk and a good quality inflator if you're not running run flats.
Have a great trip.
Don't tell me tell the OP.
Busterboo said:Agreed on first and last counts, but runflats could well be a waste of time in Norway (as they are anywhere else, actually) because of the potential distances between punctures and tyre shops. 80km at 80kph might work in the UK, but it's laughable in many parts of Norway.john-e89 said:Couple of tins of tyre gunk and a good quality inflator if you're not running run flats.
Have a great trip.
I was going to suggest that the OP considers adding some rat's tails to supplement the tyre gunk if not running with run flats.
Given Buster's observation about distances between tyre shops in Norway, then I'd definitely be adding them to the list of things to pack.
Otherwise, make sure that you have good breakdown and recovery cover
Cheers!
Andy
These are not critical questions, just ones for information, please.
I've watch a rat's tail video and the system looks quite straightforward. However:
1 How do you identify where the puncture is? (By the time you know you've got a puncture, found a safe place to repair it, jacked the car up and taken the wheel off - possibly in the dark - it may have gone flat and the puncture may not be blowing hard enough to tell you where it is ... )
2 Is a rat's tail better than tyre gunk? (The latter seems an awful lot easier.)
Cheers.
I've watch a rat's tail video and the system looks quite straightforward. However:
1 How do you identify where the puncture is? (By the time you know you've got a puncture, found a safe place to repair it, jacked the car up and taken the wheel off - possibly in the dark - it may have gone flat and the puncture may not be blowing hard enough to tell you where it is ... )
2 Is a rat's tail better than tyre gunk? (The latter seems an awful lot easier.)
Cheers.
I’d say most punctures are from nails/screws picked up from the road and then the tyre slowly deflates setting off the tyre monitoring system, at which point pull over and have a look at the tyre, moving the car forward a couple of feet at a time so you can inspect the hole tyre, if it’s a screw or nail, then leave it in, pump up the tyre, slightly overinflated and carry on your journey and then get it repaired ASAP, for me the tyre weld is for if you’ve driven over something which has gone in and back out, in which case use the tyre weld/gunk and then get a repair/new tyre, I haven’t tried the “rates tails” so can’t comment on their use.
it would be quite hard I would suggest to 1) find the leak, 2) get the puncture repaired using rats tails without taking the wheel off. I have a jack/wrench in the car for that purpose. I also have gunk. You can't be overly prepared - especially in Norway. Hope you have a great time - the country looks EPIC!
A puncture is a PITA at any time - fixing it just a further headache to deal with when travelling.
Last Friday my wife picked up a screw in a tyre and even though it was still in the tyre, pressure wasn't holding up too well. A modest 30 minute urban drive home, after inflating the tyre to the recommended pressure, saw it lose more than 5 psi. Then after it was parked and reinflated, an hour later it lost about 7 psi. Luckily our handy tyre centre is not too far away and a quick trip fixed it.
Don't rely upon the nail screw in the tyre to be leak free or remain in place. You could use tyre weld, but as noted elsewhere on this and other forums, it's not without issues unless it's possible to wash it out with water - then waiting for the tyre to dry before refitting (if it's salvageable).
When I first got my Z4 I was reading all I could about running with non run-flats, because that's what mine came with. Slime was mentioned a lot and I think it was said that the BMW emergency repair kit was a rebrand of the Slime kit with inflator. Even though it claims to fix holes up to 6mm it recommends no more than 100 miles before making a permanent fix.
I found Smarbear (Rob) on this forum recommending rat's tails and though it can be a pain to take the wheel off to find a hole, if the nail/screw is still in there it's a straight forward to seal the hole and have an almost permanent fix (which it isn't). If the nail/screw isn't in there then the old trick of spraying all over the tyre with very soapy water will find it.
I just came across this video from Fort Nine comparing a few tyre repair methods https://youtu.be/Qm6fTWaj3QE
Cheers!
Andy
Last Friday my wife picked up a screw in a tyre and even though it was still in the tyre, pressure wasn't holding up too well. A modest 30 minute urban drive home, after inflating the tyre to the recommended pressure, saw it lose more than 5 psi. Then after it was parked and reinflated, an hour later it lost about 7 psi. Luckily our handy tyre centre is not too far away and a quick trip fixed it.
Don't rely upon the nail screw in the tyre to be leak free or remain in place. You could use tyre weld, but as noted elsewhere on this and other forums, it's not without issues unless it's possible to wash it out with water - then waiting for the tyre to dry before refitting (if it's salvageable).
When I first got my Z4 I was reading all I could about running with non run-flats, because that's what mine came with. Slime was mentioned a lot and I think it was said that the BMW emergency repair kit was a rebrand of the Slime kit with inflator. Even though it claims to fix holes up to 6mm it recommends no more than 100 miles before making a permanent fix.
I found Smarbear (Rob) on this forum recommending rat's tails and though it can be a pain to take the wheel off to find a hole, if the nail/screw is still in there it's a straight forward to seal the hole and have an almost permanent fix (which it isn't). If the nail/screw isn't in there then the old trick of spraying all over the tyre with very soapy water will find it.
I just came across this video from Fort Nine comparing a few tyre repair methods https://youtu.be/Qm6fTWaj3QE
Cheers!
Andy
