OT - Full Size Spare - Or Is It?

Yeah, that works fine IF the guy with the air wrench at the shop who last tightened them did it somewhere close to properly.

I find this to be rare. I don't know why exactly. Usually they are way too tight.

Reply to
TimR
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"once the lugs are slightly loose". Is that like "add water and heat"? Leaves out the critical details. How does one loosen the lugs, please?

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Here's how I did it last time. It was not a flat, I needed to change to an other set of tires to pass inspection. The other set was in the garage alr eady mounted, all I had to do was jack the car up and swap them.

So I dragged the kids away from their video games. "Daddy's going to teach you how to change a tire." groans and grumbles

Put the jack under the car. Raise it a little. Put the lug wrench on the lug. Pull as hard as I can. Turn red. Children laughing. Go to the gara ge and get 4 foot length of 1 inch water pipe. Pull as hard as I can. Tur n red. Children still laughing. Stand on water pipe. Jump up and down. Where are the kids? Guess they gave up. Put tires in trunk, drive to serv ice station, borrow an air wrench and floor jack. They were closed but the mechanic was still there and didn't even charge me to use the tools.

Reply to
TimR

I've had some success with the T shaped "star wrench". Pull up on the right, and put my foot on the left. Lean my fat against the vehicle.

Sounds like an obvious case of mechanic put the lugs on too tight with air wrench. There have been cases of damaged wheels and warped rotors with that "air wrench madness".

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

Uh, no. Not even close.

I'm slightly confused by your question.

I loosen the lug nuts with a lug nut wrench and (sometimes) a piece of pipe for leverage. Why does that matter? The procedure would be the same regardless of what kind of tool I use.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Since I started using a piece of pipe on the lug nut wrench many years ago, I have not had an issue with breaking lug nuts free. I have a piece of thick grey pipe, about 3 feet long that I slip over the lug wrench. Works every time. On occasion I have had to extend it way out for maximum leverage, but I've always been able to loosen the lug nuts when I had to.

When I recently had the tires replaced on my daughter's car, I was concerned that they would be too tight because of the length of time the installer spent with the air powered impact wrench on each wheel. I decided to check a couple when I got home and they felt just right. Seems like they had the torque setting correct, or close enough. Maybe the guy just liked the sound of the impact wrench.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

L shaped lug wrench X shaped lug wrench socket and ratchet Air wrench Socket and breaker bar

Each of these have different operating techniques. One can press up, press down, rotate.

One of my techniques is to use the X shaped lug wrench. I pull up on the right, with my hands. Push down on the left with one foot, lean on the side of the vehicle.

Using a socket and breaker bar, I can either put the wrench on the right and pull up, or wrench on the left and push down.

Same deal with L shaped lug wrench. Pull up, to the right? Push down on the left? Push left with handle at 12 o'clock?

Starting to become clear why I ask which technique one uses?

Reply to
Stormin Mormon

As I said, regardless of which tool I use, the procedure is the same as far as jacking the car up just enough to take the weight off of the tires before loosening and then jacking to down to add a little weight before tightening.

I don't consider the tool used to be a "critical detail" (your words) related to the procedure. Now, if you were simply curious as to which tool I prefer, that's something different.

My #1 preference? Any of the above tools, used by someone else, at no cost to me. ;-)

My reality preference? Me using an L-shaped lug wrench with a breaker pipe to initially loosen/finally tighten the lug nuts and a cordless drill with a big socket to spin them off and on.

I've never like the X-shaped lug wrenches. I never can get enough leverage and I've bent them trying to get lug nuts off. I don't like standing on them for fear of snapping a stud. I've tried ratchet handles and sockets with a breaker pipe. I've broke sockets, I've broke ratchet handles.

My pipe fits over all of the various L-shape lug wrenches that I and my kids' assorted vehicles have, both the short wrenches and the long ones. Trailer, van, pick up, wagon, sedans. It works for all of them, every time.

BTW...the short lug wrenches, like my daughter's Mitsubishi came with, leads me to believe that the lug nuts do not need to be extremely tight. The manual gives a torque setting and it is my assumption that the recommended torque can be achieved with the tool provided with the car, although I've never actually checked it. Obviously, I can get it tighter with a longer wrench, and even tighter with a pipe extension, but wouldn't one think that the tool provided with the car should be able to properly get the lug nuts on (and off) without any other tools?

When I had the rental this weekend, I was able to loosen the lugs with the short wrench that came with the car, even though I never actually changed the tire. Assuming it was mounted with the correct torque, the short wrench is all that should be needed.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Which is not an addable option on most cars that don't have one.

Reply to
clare

Better than half of vehicles are "stud centric", not "hub centric" and they use the same studs and nuts.

Reply to
clare

It's not clear to me what you are trying to say. Please explain.

This was a 1986 Subaru. The bolt pattern of the "wrong" wheels was the same as the correct ones, but the wheels definitely did not fit the car correctly. If my memory serves me correctly (it's been a while) the center of the wheel did not fit over the hub and therefore the wheels were not "inboard" enough.

Rough numbers, picture a tapered hub on the car, with a max diameter of 3". Now picture a wheel with a 2.75" hole in the center. The wheel fit over the hub and studs but not all the way in against the rotor. There was a gap that allowed the wheel to move side to side while driving, eventually loosening the lug nuts and damaging the studs. The mechanic probably just tightened the lug nuts, never realizing that the wheel was not seated up against the rotor.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

I did that with my '01 Ranger. I specifically bought the "full sized spare" option. "Full sized" meant that it was a 15" tire on a 15" (steel) wheel, even though the truck had 16" aluminum wheels. IIRC, the tires were 235R16s with the spare being a 215R15. It never came off the tire sling.

Reply to
krw

Should have bought them a proper tire iron for Christmas.

Yes, but if they don't, it's time to find someone else to do your work. They're hacks and can warp your rotors.

Reply to
krw

Several years ago, I had Costco rotate my tires. They're supposed to use torque wrenches (with the manager checking all work, personally). A few days later I had the car inspected, without fanfare. A couple of hours later my wife called me, rather pissed, saying that a wheel passed her. Fortunately, she had just gotten off an Interstate and was on a side-street. The wheel chewed itself up pretty well, broke a couple of lug nuts, and did some significant damage to the fender on its way to freedom. No one took responsibility, of course.

Reply to
krw

OK - I think I understand you now. The wheel center hole was too SMALL for the hub. I thought you were blaming the problem on the wheel center being too LARGE for the hub. Yes, if the rim could not seat all the way it WOULD cause a problem, and the "mechanic" who installed the wheels was blind and dumb.

The "mechanic" likely attempted to install Toyota wheels. The Soob takes metric 5 wheels - 5 on 100, with 56.1 counterbore. The Toyota bolt circle is the same, but the counterbore is a lousy 2mm smaller (at 54.1mm)

Reply to
clare

I guess it is not important to me. I don't know if any of my last three cars had one. Rare that I'd lock the doors anyway, but my remote starter does.

Locked car doors make amateur thieves damage you car and do nothing to stop a pro.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

They keep honest people honest and appease insurance companies. That's all any lock does.

Reply to
krw

"Counterbore" ?

Reply to
Larry W

A simple device commonly called a "torque stick" has become more popular in recent years, and it's a good thing, too. Looks like a short extension that goes between the impact wrench and the socket, but it's made out of just the right thickness and grade of steel to limit the amount of torque applied to the lug nuts. They come in sets that cover the common lug nut sizes and torque ranges. They're cheap and effective and really prevent overtorquing lug nuts. We've bought them for all the techs at my shop and insist that they use them.

Reply to
Larry W

I tried my passenger door lock with a key a few weeks ago. I can barely get the key in, never mind turn it. Power remote locks and/or the driver's door key hole is all I've ever needed. Of course, I should fix it just in case both of the other 2 methods go bad at the same time.

BTW...No remote starter that I've ever had, and I've had a number of them, locked the doors. What's the point of that?

Reply to
DerbyDad03

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