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What have you done with your California today?

Plug is designed a temporary fix only.

Replace the tyre or get it repaired properly (patched). Once repaired the speed rating might not be maintained (see below from US site but would guess guidance is same for UK):

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Tire Manufacturer Policies​

A few tire manufacturers allow a punctured tire to retain its speed rating when returned to service if it can successfully pass a thorough exterior / interior inspection and be repaired following the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) specified multi-step procedure.

Several other manufacturers specify their highest speed-rated tires (originally V-, Z-, W- or Y-speed rated) can be driven no faster than the 130 mph speeds permitted of a lower H-speed rating.

However, most tire manufacturers reason that since they have no control over the severity of the damage caused by the puncture, the destructive stresses encountered if the tire was driven while underinflated/flat or the quality of the repair itself, they cannot confirm if the tire has retained its full integrity or high-speed capability. Therefore, most tire manufacturers have established policies that a punctured and repaired tire no longer retains its speed rating and should be treated as a non-speed rated tire driven no faster than 85 mph.

Finally, a few tire manufacturers recommend outright tire replacement, as they will not accept repaired tires for warranty consideration or do not endorse repair of V-, Z-, W- or Y-speed rated tires.

A summary of tire manufacturer speed-rated tire repair policies for non-run-flat tires are listed below:

Tire Manufacturer's Puncture Repair Recommendations​

Manufacturer/BrandSpeed RatingMultiple Repair Locations
BFGoodrich​
Maintained3 repairs, minimum 90° apart
Bridgestone​
Voided2 repairs, must be a minimum of 16" apart
Continental*​
MaintainedRepairs cannot overlap
Cooper​
VoidedRepairs cannot overlap
Dick Cepek​
VoidedRepairs cannot overlap
Dunlop​
Maintained**Repairs cannot overlap
1 repair, H and above
Falken​
VoidedRepairs cannot overlap
Firestone​
Voided2 repairs, must be a minimum of 16" apart
Fuzion​
Voided2 repairs, must be a minimum of 16" apart
General*​
MaintainedRepairs cannot overlap
Goodyear​
Maintained**Repairs cannot overlap
1 repair, H and above
Hankook​
VoidedRepairs cannot overlap
Kumho​
Voided2 repairs, minimum 180° apart
Laufenn​
MaintainedRepairs cannot overlap
Michelin​
Maintained3 repairs, minimum 90° apart
Nexen​
MaintainedRepairs cannot overlap
Pirelli V and Above​
Repair Not Endorsed by Pirelli1 repair
H and BelowMaintained
Power King​
VoidedRepairs cannot overlap
RIKEN​
Maintained3 repairs, minimum 90° apart
Sumitomo​
VoidedRepairs cannot overlap
Toyo H and Above​
Reduced to H. Voided if more than one repair.4 repairs, minimum 90° apart
Below HMaintained. Voided if more than one repair.4 repairs, minimum 90° apart
Uniroyal​
Maintained3 repairs, minimum 90° apart*
Vredestein V and Above​
Repair Not Endorsed by Vredestein2 repairs
H and Below*​
Reduce 1 speed rating per repair
Yokohama​
VoidedRepairs cannot overlap
*Voids materials, workmanship and tread wear-out warranties.
**Only 1 repair permitted to retain H and above speed ratings.

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Thanks @Ch1pbutty
Yes, that’s the intention tomorrow morning. Either a proper repair with internal patch or new tyre. I’m anticipating it will be a new tyre.
 
This idea is copied from several other fora where it always seems popular.
I'll kick it off and say this morning I chauffeured my wife 50 miles to a meeting and visited the local VW retail centre whilst I waited for her meeting to conclude. Had a look over the new Tiguan, it seems practical and fairly well equipped.
The journey there and back was smooth and relaxing, confirming that the Cali. is just as versatile as a run around as it is camper van.
Nothing, as I sold it 3 weeks ago... advertised on here by the way and the response was fantastic seeing it's the end of the main camping season. Believe it or not, a dealer bought it with a £500 holding deposit and travelled over 130 mile to pick it up a couple weeks later; he was even ok to let us go on a final camping trip before picking it up! It's still for sale on ebay, but he let me know he had already hired it out to somebody for the weekend until he gets the sale. We're going podding by the way as we still have the camping bug :offtopic:)
 
Thanks @SusiBus
Having had a chat with them, I’ve booked it into a local tyre centre tomorrow morning. They are taking the tyre off to have a proper look and if possible will apply an internal patch which is an approved fix. If not it’s a new tyre. I just need to be sure it’s as safe as possible before any long motorway journeys. Wouldn’t feel happy doing 70 with a plug.
Good to hear this and I’m surprised the original tyre shop was willing to send you on your way without taking the tyre off the rim, or being very clear that its a temporary repair and should be treated as such. As a minimum the carcass needs to be checked internally for any damage from being driven under inflated before you should be comfortable with sustained driving. But once checked by a competent fitter and a proper repair carried out, assuming it meets the criteria for repair, there’s no reason the tyre couldn’t continue to be used. Wasteful to do otherwise.
 
Well today I strapped the Cali to the mountain bike and headed for the hills.
Awful journey but 7 hours later I’m installed. Heater on, curry on the stove and beer on the go.

As much as I love the summer there is something quite nice about a nice warm van and a smug feeling when it’s cold and dark outside.

:cheers
 
Good to hear this and I’m surprised the original tyre shop was willing to send you on your way without taking the tyre off the rim, or being very clear that its a temporary repair and should be treated as such. As a minimum the carcass needs to be checked internally for any damage from being driven under inflated before you should be comfortable with sustained driving. But once checked by a competent fitter and a proper repair carried out, assuming it meets the criteria for repair, there’s no reason the tyre couldn’t continue to be used. Wasteful to do otherwise.
All now checked and no tyre damage, so a mushroom type plug fitted from the inside. Apart from the puncture I was also a little concerned about what looks like a gash in the tyre but it was actually just one of the thin slits in the tyre that was stretched open by the offending bolt. You can see the slits in adjacent sections. No permanent damage and it’s sprung back into place. I asked the technician to double check it for me and he was very happy that there was no exposed cord etc.
Feel a lot happier now.
£24 for the repair against £175 for a new tyre. Thumbs up for Risborough Tyre Company.
I might still buy a Rat Tail repair kit for roadside ‘get me home’ temporary repairs but really wouldn’t be happy to rely on such a repair for long high speed journeys.

E9828795-D888-486C-B06E-1AEEB3D3A490.jpeg
 
Pi***d of with gas igniter not being up to the job,use this rechargeable lighter instead.View attachment 85650
Hi @Brembo some on here have replaced the unreliable piezo igniter with a battery powered one. Seems to be a good modification and fairly inexpensive. Search for HOB IGNITION UPGRADE.
 
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Hi @Brembo some on here have replaced the unreliable piezo igniter with a battery powered one. Seems to be a good modification and fairly inexpensive. Search for HOB IGNITION UPGRADE.
It's a great modifiation - I completed it two weeks ago and first used it in anger last weekend. Faultless.
 
Finished replacing the cabin filter and replaced the engine air filter by myself, super easy little jobs, so many good videos on YouTube on how to fix things on the cali / t5,

Has made a world of difference to the smell in the cabin. Before it was all musty and tabacco ish that just left my nose and throat feeling irritated. Put an aircon bomb through the system too which seemed to nuke a lot of bad smells too. Hopefully it doesn't come back.

Next thing is figuring out which inka seat covers to go for now that they've finally come down in price. And they have a new range of leatherette colours which we're so tempted to buy.
 
The last stretch to the peak is a 200 meter scramble, as always faster going up than coming down!
Wikipedia has a real treasure on Canigo...

The 500 Peseta note had an image of the French village Vernet-les-Bains with the French mountain Canigo in the background.
1634682627620.png

Why would the Banco de Espana want to do that!?
 
Wikipedia has a real treasure on Canigo...

The 500 Peseta note had an image of the French village Vernet-les-Bains with the French mountain Canigo in the background.
View attachment 85769

Why would the Banco de Espana want to do that!?
The Roussillon region, where the Canigó is located, was part of Catalonia until the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, and has always been important in Catalan culture. Many people in the countryside outside Perpignan still speak Catalan.


That's the Catalan poet Verdaguer on the banknote.
 
The Roussillon region, where the Canigó is located, was part of Catalonia until the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659, and has always been important in Catalan culture. Many people in the countryside outside Perpignan still speak Catalan.


That's the Catalan poet Verdaguer on the banknote.
Took it as far as the car park then left it for the day :rolleyes: cars aren’t allowed on Iona

62A75E85-7191-4BCF-AB4F-A36E44DAAD87.jpeg

6531E490-D467-480E-B256-D39F0E23678A.jpeg

F20F68BE-0151-4238-9561-8125883DC898.jpeg

146E2A94-6396-4C89-8ECD-E509B4EDE5CC.jpeg
 
Drove to Butser (Stone Age) Farm today and was rather alarmed by the appalling maths of their historians.

c0dc38628eca34186a830d74926b49b3.jpg


The Stone Age covers 99.99% of human life on this planet.

This might be intended to refer to population or time. Probably time.

The Stone Age lasted about 2.5 million years depending on how you define the Stone Age. 99.99% of 2,500,000 years is 2,499,750 years, so, if correct, non Stone Age humans first appeared 250 years ago.

The figures are even more absurd if the 99.99% refers to the total sum of all humans living in the Stone Age.

Nevertheless, we had a great day out, and I learnt many new things about our ancestors, and saw first hand how bronze can be extracted from rock using basic bellows.

aa55e6999c6cfade4ca4f053a386ecba.jpg
 
Drove it home after being stolen almost 2 years ago. It has been a really long...but really good day. We took the loss hard... and lost a lot of gear (we were packing for a year long trip when it was stolen)...but she is back...and we are happy... still hard to believe we actually have it ....but I check every 20 min and so far...its still there! ....surreal
 
Drove it home after being stolen almost 2 years ago. It has been a really long...but really good day. We took the loss hard... and lost a lot of gear (we were packing for a year long trip when it was stolen)...but she is back...and we are happy... still hard to believe we actually have it ....but I check every 20 min and so far...its still there! ....surreal

How was it stolen?

How was it recovered?
 
Drove to Butser (Stone Age) Farm today and was rather alarmed by the appalling maths of their historians.

c0dc38628eca34186a830d74926b49b3.jpg




This might be intended to refer to population or time. Probably time.

The Stone Age lasted about 2.5 million years depending on how you define the Stone Age. 99.99% of 2,500,000 years is 2,499,750 years, so, if correct, non Stone Age humans first appeared 250 years ago.

The figures are even more absurd if the 99.99% refers to the total sum of all humans living in the Stone Age.

Nevertheless, we had a great day out, and I learnt many new things about our ancestors, and saw first hand how bronze can be extracted from rock using basic bellows.

aa55e6999c6cfade4ca4f053a386ecba.jpg
He will love this place:

 
He will love this place:


I’ve been going there since a child in the 70s. My mum chose it as the place for her sixtieth birthday picnic.

Weald and Downland is a superb museum with reconstructed houses from across southern England.

Butser is different as it builds new houses as it is believed they might have been built using tools which might have been available during the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman occupation and Saxon Period.
 
How was it stolen?

How was it recovered?
House burglary 2 weeks before...in the shock of that, we didnt realize a key had also been stolen...it was recovered when a parking garage owner reported to the police that the vehicle had been there a really long time and they could not contact the person who parked it there.

The wheels, tires, all internal contents, mats, including the brandup seat covers that were identical to the upholstery...(I just find that really odd for some reason that they took those off)...were all gone. It was a lot of gear as we were packing up and getting ready for the long trip, but frankly nothing compared to the value of the campervan...which they just left. I dont really get it.

It had some body damage on the bonnet and bumper...and here and there. Interior was OK...some damage to the re fridge top. Overall, it was in reasonable shape.

I never thought we would see it again.
 
Drove to Leeds Van Centre to have the 'OK' button fixed and washer level sensor looked at, and swap to winter tyres while I was there.

They didn't have the part for the button and will have to take off the front bumper and by the sounds of it dismantle most of the front end to get to the washer bottle, but ran out of time before I needed it back so another trip back booked in. ☹️

Ah for the days of a washer bottle sitting nice and accessible! Although they never had a sensor in those days and relied on you checking. Or in my case carrying a bottle of washer fluid for when it ran out. Progress.
 
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