Silly old sod, no actually he is a nice guy but. For some unknown reason or other he decided to swap his VW touran car wheels around. He said so he gets even wear on all the tyres, what a load of BS and old wifes tales, when a tyre gets worn stick a new one on.
Anyway he decided to swap them around. Not only got the trolly jack stuck but also a spare wheel as a side supportstuck as well.
the long and short of it is I managed to free both and refit a wheel he had taken off. He then decided to tighten the wheel studs with what is a called a “spider” socket (4 prongs at right angles) nuts fit into.
WOOhhh I said what about torque (measured in Newton Mtrs ) the amount to tighten. Over tightening can stretch or strip the thread on the stud bolt and not enough and the wheel becomes loose.
Never bothered before he said, on no I won’t accept that. manufactures set how much to tighten in Nm. I happen to have a torque wrench so I asked him for the manufactures setting. Would you believe one of the most important bit of information is not in the handbook. So much for German cars me thinks. sol I go on thr internet to look it up.
So I have left him with the torque wrench and set it for him, also showed how to use it.
I do wish that if people are going to mess about with cars, especially wheels, they new what they were doing beforehand.
My late Father did an apprentiship with Talbot cars and passed a lot of his knowledge onto me. I also worked on cars when saving to get married so have a fair idea of what is what, even though modern cars are so complex the basics still apply.
Avoid cars with air suspension due to the way the front wheels lean causing excessive wear to the outer tread caused while turning, the wheel leans over. I had one a Toyota Landcruiser 4.2 diesel with air suspension never again
Personally I have never agreed with tyre rotation, if I move wheels it is only front to back on the same side of the vehicle. In my opinion swapping the tyre to the other side of the vehicle increases the wear caused by braking and acceleration as the tyre direction is reversed.
Some tyres have to rotate in a certain direction but I have never had any.
A few years ago I had to recover some drain rods from a drain. Using rods is simple, you rotate the rods in the direction that tightens them, not in the direction that leaves half of them detached in the drains.
Yes I’ve done many a repair on my cars, partly out of necessity, but mostly out of enjoyment, from engine out, to bodywork, I’ve done a few jobs around my previous cars, nowadays though, my cars are mostly under warranty so I don’t touch them, apart from checking fluids/tyre pressure ect although, I do enjoy properly cleaning them…
I stopped working on my car (other than topping up water, oil, tyres) when I bought my first brand new one and took a look under the bonnet (hood). What I saw under there scared the living daylights out of me and I hung my spanners up there and then.
That was exactly my reaction when I first open the bonnet of my Mitsubishi Colt apart from the radiator and battery there was nothing I recognised, no plugs, no leads, no fuel pump, every thing was behind plastic covers.
My current turbo diesel is easier to work out what is what but I don’t even change the oil any more, just take it in for a service.
If my rear tyres were wearing and needed replacing, I would swap a good pair of front tyres to the rear, and put the new tyres on the front. Being a front wheel drive, I always preferred to have the best tyres on the front.
Of course these days I do the same as Bruce and Percy, and only ever lift the bonnet to check the oil etc and clean round the engine. I’ve always liked to see a clean shiny engine.
I agree Bruce, and a back wheel skid is easy to control, whereas a front wheel skid due to worn tyres, is far more serious and uncontrollable.
When I was a younger more reckless man, we deliberately put part worn tyres on the back of the Mini’s to assist when doing hand brake turns.
Absolutely. Not many people know this but all Government cars, cars used by Royalty, police, etc have their tyres changed with 3mm tread pattern remaining even though the legal minimum is 1.6mm. It’s quite surprising just how much wet breaking distances increase as tyres wear below 3mm tread remaining. As an ex-tyre development guy myself, I always change my car’s tyres at about 2.5mm tread pattern remaining and I always change them in pairs never, ever in ones. Oh, and while I’m on this particular hobby-horse, never buy retreads or part worn tyres because you don’t know if the tyres have been abused (like Fox’s handbrake turns ). Always buy the best you can afford.
Yes the modern diesel is a beast that requires little maintenance other than regular filters and oil changes with a good quality lubricant. Even the old chore of valve clearances has been taken care of by hydraulics that auto adjust. On the very rare occasion a warning light comes up the diagnostic reader pinpoints the problem.
). Always buy the best you can afford.