Old school
 

I've been three years in Africa and have covered approx. 33,000 miles on a new set of XZL's and am only now having to replace them.

I use LC split rims and the tyrepliers bead breaker. All my punctures have been internal and not due to foriegn objects entering the tyre - these tyres are tough!

Just completed a 10,103km round trip to Zim and back over 6 weeks and we had 5 flats in total. This I put down to overloading, old split rims and poor quality local tubes, but I still would not change to tubeless.

Go for two complete spare wheels not just one - northern Kenya etc kills tyres.

definately two spares, even then many times I have ended up with no useable spare for a while!! It also gives you some leeway if you rip a tyre or mash a wheel (although with my toyota split rimes I think I would shift the worlds orbit before the rims bent!!).

also carry spare tubes as it is easier and better than trying to mend the puctures and they aren't expensive. go for commercial grade or michelin if you can, they will last better.

Michelin "Airstop" or Dunlop "Airseal" seem about the best HD tubes - but make sure that they give you 750/16s and not 650/16s (as happened to me).

On a long trip (like my last) carry as many tubes as you can. I had 5 spare tubes last time - it's easier just to fit a new tube during the day and leave fixing your puncture(s) until the evening.

Funny how those running tubed tyres always seem to know lots about puncture repair... ;-)

I drove 27,000 miles in Africa last year on tubeless BFG M/T's, the majority off tar or on bad roads and... not one puncture! Not even a dodgy valve.

It could be I'm due some bad luck, but so far so good (taps head). The second spare has been staying at home.

I've suffered torn tyres in morocco, as did my mate (perhaps we are both just crap drivers!!) and in Ukraine somenone very nicely stuck a knife through my tyre while waiting for the lights to change. figure a tubed tyre would fail on that as well!! at least you could fit a spare tube as a get me home measure, so if you go down the tubeless route, still carry a couple of tubes, just in case!

Tubes or not?
 

Hi

must say that in my time travelling I have only experienced a flat on a tubed tyre, never on any of the tubeless that I ran - make your own decision.

I would run tubeless tyres with a few tubes as emergency back-up.

Chris

If you are 100% SURE that you you can fix your tubeless tyres in EVERY situation and in EVERY place then go ahead.

Where ever I go and whatever stupid things I do, I know that I can weld or beat my wheels into shape, and I am talking about a catastrophic wheel failure.

Of course all driving is not just to get from a to b, when you come off the road to play and you get a flat, you'll probably be in conditions where it is possible to collect another and some of these places are not safe. Changing your wheel is the quickest and safest solution - stripping your wheel and fixing a puncture requires time and cleanliness - not always advisable or available.

The other reason that I use split rims is that nearly every safari operator in Africa uses 70 series Toyota LCs as does nearly every NGO. Yes the bosses have larny vehicles but the ones you find in the field all 16" have split rims.

AND, whether LC or LR, they both use 750/16 or 235/85 tyres.

M'lord, I rest my case. :)

PS: Yes, I am a crap driver!

Dr Who?
 

ChrisC - Now most of us are talking about travelling the earth. You are talking about time travelling? WoW!