Wabco has launched an emergency truck tyre inflation kit. Although now a common feature on some cars and vans, where a normal spare wheel is no longer provided on weight, packaging and cost grounds, up until now the sheer volume has made this seemingly impractical for truck tyres. The Wabco kit, which can be carried in a small bag, comes in three parts: a special tyre valve adaptor a bottle of sealant and an air-line that plugs into the truck's air supply circuit.
There are four steps to achieve a repair, and the whole process takes about 10 minutes. If possible, remove the cause of the puncture and move the truck until the hole is on the ground. Fit the adaptor to the valve, connect the sealant bottle to the adaptor, and pressurise the bottle with the air-line. When the contents of the bottle have been transferred to the tyre, remove the adaptor and inflate the tyre to its normal pressure.
Drive away to distribute the sealant. You now have 1,000km or 14 days to have the tyre repaired in the conventional way. The non-latex sealant material means that the tyre can be cleaned using just water, and has no effect on the eventual recycling of the carcass. The current bottle of sealant is large enough for a conventional single tyre, and Wabco is working on the optimum size to handle super-singles. The recommended price for a full kit is €179 (£137), and around €100 (£77) for a refill.
