Jacks wrote the other week about the alarming experience of changing a wheel by a busy road. I damaged a front tyre on the Volvo on Saturday, and while it held enough pressure to get me (very carefully) home, it was clear by the morning that it wouldn't get me into town for a new one.
Having last changed a wheel in 1995 on a car (Astra 1.4) that weighed about a third less than the S60, had steel wheels and only four nuts, none of which were the locking kind, I was a little wary of the task, but I had a sunny morning and a firm, level drive to do it, so I pulled on the old clothes and gardening gloves and set to. For all my lack of experience, the job took about 25 minutes and nothing went wrong - credit to my dad for making me practise on mum's Renault 4 when I was 14.
Here are my observations.
- I'd never even opened the toolkit, but it was all there, including a pair of thin cotton gloves.
- I've had problems with some cars locating the jack points but the S60's, although counter-intuitively far from the wheels (they're barely a foot apart below the B pillar) are easy to spot and make a reassuringly positive engagement with the jack.
- The wheel bolts had last been moved in June, when I had new tyres fitted on the back, so nothing was seized. Even so, it took most of my 100kg on the end of the wrench to get them moving. Not sure how a more delicately built person would have done it.
- Only worrying moment came from the jack, which took a bit of effort to get turning. Once started, though, it worked smoothly and easily enough.
- The 125-section spare, after nearly nine years untouched in the boot, still had 56 of its recommended 60 psi.
- The hardest part was getting the big, dirty wheel into the boot. 'Space saver' is all very well, but it means that space isn't there in an emergency, Very glad this didn't happen on a long trip with a full load.
- Finally, my annoyance was slightly assuaged when I found that the damaged tyre had a little less than 5mm of tread remaining. It had been on the back for 18 months before moving forward in June, so I'd probably had half my money's worth from it. Still irksome that the pairs will now be out of phase, but these things happen.
|
>> so I pulled on the ... gardening gloves
Wuss. :-)
|
>> on the back, so nothing was seized. Even so, it took most of my 100kg
>> on the end of the wrench to get them moving.
Get a decent wheel brace!
|
>> Get a decent wheel brace!
>>
What else should be carried "in case" ?
I have some black plastic sacks. Better to kneel on than a muddy verge and they can be wrapped around the road wheel to avoid tread marks down you tux :-(
Disposable plastic gloves are also easy to store with the spare.
If possible, nothing beats a practice run popping a wheel off on a dry day in the safety of your drive, however I have a drive and never had to deal with one of the larger wheels of a 4 X 4 .
|
And a reminder to all readers that you loosen the wheel nuts whilst all four wheels are safely on the ground BEFORE you jack the car up.
(I have a 3' long bar in the car for non-moving nuts. Clearly the idiot at the garage on OP's car had done them up with an air gun.)
|
>> (I have a 3' long bar in the car for non-moving nuts. Clearly the idiot
>> at the garage on OP's car had done them up with an air gun.)
Nothing wrong with an air gun, as long as the torque is set correctly.
|
>> Nothing wrong with an air gun, as long as the torque is set correctly.
Well, of course that statement is true... but did you ever hear of a garage with a correctly set-up airgun?
|
>>credit to my dad for making me practise on mum's Renault 4 when I was 14.
Which reminds me - I've promised daughter (18 and driving) and son, 17 in October a lesson in wheel changing. Next dry weekend......
|
>> >> Nothing wrong with an air gun, as long as the torque is set correctly.
>>
>>
>> Well, of course that statement is true... but did you ever hear of a garage
>> with a correctly set-up airgun?
>
Only until the first time its chucked on the ground after its been used.
|
|
Remember also to carry a knife or scissors in the car so that you can cut through the tiewraps holding on your precious Halfords cheapie wheel trims.
|
>> >> Nothing wrong with an air gun, as long as the torque is set correctly.
>>
>>
>> Well, of course that statement is true... but did you ever hear of a garage
>> with a correctly set-up airgun?
>>
No, the usual ritual seems to be to tighten the bolts to 3 million lb/ft with an airgun, then make a show of finishing them off with a torque wrnech, which unsurprisingly just clicks straight over.
|
>> Get a decent wheel brace!
But if it's one of the extending type, don't use it to do the bolts / nuts back up in the extended position or you'll overtighten them.
|
The Volvo manual tells you how many torques to apply to the bolts but gives you no way to gauge this. I simply assumed that the best I could do with the toolkit wheel wrench would be about right.
Our Toyota roof bars came with a crude torque wrench to prevent overtightening of the fixing bolts, and they cost about a hundred quid. It wouldn't add much to the cost of a twenty grand motor car.
|
>> The Volvo manual tells you how many torques to apply to the bolts but gives
>> you no way to gauge this.
Do not attempt safety-critical activities without the skill and tools.
eBay item 380353926614 £16. Of course, you've no way of calibrating that...
"How many torques" LOL!
Last edited by: Mapmaker on Mon 15 Aug 11 at 14:37
|
...Do not attempt safety-critical activities without the skill and tools...
I would substitute 'skill' for 'common sense'.
When I worked in the proper garage, the only thing we torqued was cylinder head bolts.
Wheel nuts were nipped up with the airgun on an appropriate setting, or a spider brace.
I was going to say no wheel ever fell off, but one did on a Datsun Bluebird during the after-service road test.
The conclusion we drew was finger-tight is not tight enough.
|
Well my rules of DIY have stood me in good stead (mostly)
1. How hard can it be ?
2. What could possibly go wrong...?
3. Read the manual !
|
|
You don't need a torque wrench if you had Meccano. Anyone who did knows that all you have to do is tighten it until it's tight and then give it another 1/4 turn for luck.
|
Must admit I had a near go with SWMBO's Zafira the other week, had to change a wheel whilst out and about - old tyre lost all pressure all of a sudden - used the Vauxhall wheelbrace; tightened wheel bolts up as hard as I could by hand. Three days later 'orrible clicky sound from NSF wheel, thought the CV had gone. Jacked the car up and turns out the wheel bolts had loosened, I could undo them with my fingers - eek.
Now I make sure my proper telescopic wheelbrace is in the boot, in its unextended form it's still twice as long as the mickey mouse VX one and I've not had any wheels fall off in the last 25 years using it.
|
>>When I worked in the proper garage, the only thing we torqued was cylinder head bolts.
So that was a proper garage, was it? I wonder why manufacturers go to the lengths of specifying torques for pretty much every nut or bolt on a car? Wasting their time, are they?
|
>> lengths of specifying torques for pretty much every nut or bolt on a car? Wasting
>> their time, are they?
Clearly.
|
>>Clearly
Well they are in "proper" garages anyway.
|
Coincidentally I had to change a wheel today and, like WDB, I was expecting grief as it was the first time I had changed an alloy.
However, I did it in about half an hour, though I did use an extension bar on the brace.
The even better news is that, as I have a full size alloy spare, I won't have to change it again once I have the new tyre. Instead, I will get the new tyre put on the other side and keep the existing, worn but legal, tyre from that side as the spare.
|
Changing a wheel on the drive - pleasant surprise - Skoda
