Just happened to notice that the inside right rear tyre was lifting the tread, bugger. It is always the inside tyre! If I had stopped half a metre sooner it would have been on the ground and hidden. It's 30 odd degrees by now and horribly humid... so a tyre rotation took about an hour, and now we have no spare - on Saturday of a long weekend...We will continue. I mean what are to odds of another tyre problem? About 20km short of Echuca, BANG, a fairdinkum blowout. Slowed down got off the road. So, it is the otherside inside tyre... We flapped along a bit to put some bitumen under the wheel and jack. The outside wheel is carrying the load though. Now desperately hoping there is no other damage.
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| This is after the tread was freed. Note the drag marks |
By now it is hotter and no shade. Ah we have awnings! This time hard work, wheels off and wheel brace needed to extract the tyre tread which is jammed between the brake drum, springs and shock absorber. Then untangle what is left of the tube... Fortunately no damage to the likes of brake lines or airbag. So the outside wheel again goes on the inside and the previously removed wheel on the outside, damage and all, no choice here!Very gingerly mobile warning lights on we head for Echuca at about 40KPH keeping the left wheel on the bitumen as far as possible. A long, nervewracking half an hour or so. Now we are after somewhere to stay for a couple of days... Info Centre advises there is only one dog friendly CP, 7km away in Moama.
Another slow careful drive later we are at the new (15 month old) Coco Bend Caravan Park. We buy ice to immediately chill some beers. I'm knackered after making it 175km for the day. We were planning to watch the sunset near the VIC/SA border. Now it seems we will be tourists in Echuca for a day or so. Ah well better than being stuck on the side of the road. Monday is not a PH in NSW so we hope the Moama Tyre guy will be there to sell us 4 new tyres, maybe 5. The cheap chinese WANLI, 5 years and 50,000km old tyres are ALL going to the tip!
