OverlandingMan
New member
I wasted $10 000.00 because I listened to my wife.
She said “no, we do not need new tyres, we will buy a new set in Bolivia, they are cheap as chips in Bolivia”. This was back when we were still on African soil. I insisted that we should change the tires and the rims before leaving home to circumnavigate South America and drive up to Alaska. She put her foot down hard, the lips pursed and the arms folded. “Yes dear”, I said. We shipped the Landy to Uruguay, still wearing her 70% used mud tires and then proceeded to drive to and fall in love with Brazil so hard that instead of heading south to Ushuaia we drove up to the far northern deserts and dunes. Brazil is a massive beast of a country, as big as the USA, it took almost 10 days to drive her terrible single lane roads from the far north to the far south. We had a blow out in Uruguay, the tire imploded completely scaring the wits out of the biker we were overtaking. A kind man took us to a tire dealer in Frontiera and Riveira, the shared Uruguayan and Brazilian city where we found tires in the size we needed at a decent price. “Let's change all four”, I said “if the one tire blew the other are just waiting to blow”. “No!”, she said “we will buy a new set in Bolivia”. “But, sweetheart, We still have to drive aaaaaaaallllll the way down to the end of the world then drive aaaaaaalllllll the way back up to Bolivia, these tyres will never make it”. Sweetheart put her foot down hard, pursed her lips and folded her arms. I persisted, “seriously, trust me, we need to change them all now”. Sweetheart then engaged low range diff lock full blown tantrum. She worked through her entire unpleasant arsenal of female persuasion, but not once was reason entertained. She won, but with a warning that the victory was hollow. I am a patient man. The second tire blew out on the infamous Ruta 40 in Patagonia. An icy cold wind ripped at my flesh and numbed my fingers as I removed the imploded tire. What followed next was a two week charade in Punta Arenas, nowhere were the size tires we needed to be found. We were about to make one of the greatest rookie mistakes of our overlanding “career”. We decided to buy a set of old Series Land Rover rims and install the skinny 750 16 tires all the old timer, long term overlanders rave about. All was well until ten miles outside Ushuaia, the end of the world, where we were to have the first of very many punctures, the tube tires were installed on tubeless rims you see. I hated those horrible, skinny tires and they hated me, they even tried to kill us and the kids on a few occasions. From Ushuaia we drove all the way up the spine of the Andes until eventually, on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, I could take no more. Listening to the wife's advice I bought a second hand set of rims on the internet and a beautiful set of 33, 12.5 R15 muds in anticipation of a drive through the Amazon in the rainy season. The nightmare was not yet over, the second hand rims, which had been transported up to Cartagena from southern Colombia, were widened by a chimp with a welding machine, air leaked from every rim and the Landy slumped on flat rubber within a few hours. I could not return the tyres to the dealer because the rims were faulty and eventually we had a set of brand new rims flown in from the UK at great expense. How did this whole charade cost so much? Well, if you total the costs of not only the rubber and the rims but also courier fees, accommodation expenses, food for a family of four, costs of puncture repairs and the resulting delays and hidden expenses we lost about $10 000.00 of our travel budget, that equates to about 3 months on the road given our monthly budget of $3000.00 a month.
The moral of the story? Never, ever listen to your wife, especially when it comes to the rubber for your rig. Fit the best rubber you can afford, get out there and explore!
PS. We eventually learned that the tires were not cheaper in Bolivia.
PPS. The wife no longer has the veto.
She said “no, we do not need new tyres, we will buy a new set in Bolivia, they are cheap as chips in Bolivia”. This was back when we were still on African soil. I insisted that we should change the tires and the rims before leaving home to circumnavigate South America and drive up to Alaska. She put her foot down hard, the lips pursed and the arms folded. “Yes dear”, I said. We shipped the Landy to Uruguay, still wearing her 70% used mud tires and then proceeded to drive to and fall in love with Brazil so hard that instead of heading south to Ushuaia we drove up to the far northern deserts and dunes. Brazil is a massive beast of a country, as big as the USA, it took almost 10 days to drive her terrible single lane roads from the far north to the far south. We had a blow out in Uruguay, the tire imploded completely scaring the wits out of the biker we were overtaking. A kind man took us to a tire dealer in Frontiera and Riveira, the shared Uruguayan and Brazilian city where we found tires in the size we needed at a decent price. “Let's change all four”, I said “if the one tire blew the other are just waiting to blow”. “No!”, she said “we will buy a new set in Bolivia”. “But, sweetheart, We still have to drive aaaaaaaallllll the way down to the end of the world then drive aaaaaaalllllll the way back up to Bolivia, these tyres will never make it”. Sweetheart put her foot down hard, pursed her lips and folded her arms. I persisted, “seriously, trust me, we need to change them all now”. Sweetheart then engaged low range diff lock full blown tantrum. She worked through her entire unpleasant arsenal of female persuasion, but not once was reason entertained. She won, but with a warning that the victory was hollow. I am a patient man. The second tire blew out on the infamous Ruta 40 in Patagonia. An icy cold wind ripped at my flesh and numbed my fingers as I removed the imploded tire. What followed next was a two week charade in Punta Arenas, nowhere were the size tires we needed to be found. We were about to make one of the greatest rookie mistakes of our overlanding “career”. We decided to buy a set of old Series Land Rover rims and install the skinny 750 16 tires all the old timer, long term overlanders rave about. All was well until ten miles outside Ushuaia, the end of the world, where we were to have the first of very many punctures, the tube tires were installed on tubeless rims you see. I hated those horrible, skinny tires and they hated me, they even tried to kill us and the kids on a few occasions. From Ushuaia we drove all the way up the spine of the Andes until eventually, on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, I could take no more. Listening to the wife's advice I bought a second hand set of rims on the internet and a beautiful set of 33, 12.5 R15 muds in anticipation of a drive through the Amazon in the rainy season. The nightmare was not yet over, the second hand rims, which had been transported up to Cartagena from southern Colombia, were widened by a chimp with a welding machine, air leaked from every rim and the Landy slumped on flat rubber within a few hours. I could not return the tyres to the dealer because the rims were faulty and eventually we had a set of brand new rims flown in from the UK at great expense. How did this whole charade cost so much? Well, if you total the costs of not only the rubber and the rims but also courier fees, accommodation expenses, food for a family of four, costs of puncture repairs and the resulting delays and hidden expenses we lost about $10 000.00 of our travel budget, that equates to about 3 months on the road given our monthly budget of $3000.00 a month.
The moral of the story? Never, ever listen to your wife, especially when it comes to the rubber for your rig. Fit the best rubber you can afford, get out there and explore!
PS. We eventually learned that the tires were not cheaper in Bolivia.
PPS. The wife no longer has the veto.
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