One for Adam.

Must admit that had never occurred to me, but that is a useful trick to keep in mind. Not for personal use so much (one of the advantages of weighing a quarter of a fuckton, is that a wheel nut does not put up much resistance with me stood on the end of the spanner), but I can a good use case when assisting someone remotely who can't undo a wheel nut.

If it even has a torque setting.

That is partly the copper "relaxing" a little from long term compression and sometimes a bit of thermal cycling)

But mostly poor workmanship of the installer. Not as easy to get right on a lot of recent fittings.

When helping someone with a flat, always inspect the general condition of the vehicle.

On a trip to the tip, as a student, our pickup got a flat just as we were exiting the tip yard. Probably picked up a nail, somewhere along the way.

Now, on a normal vehicle, the nuts are taken off at least once a year (for tyre rotation pattern) or twice a year (winter tyres). This ensures the nuts are not frozen.

Well, the owner of the pickup was a twit. The nuts were rusted right onto the studs. So... we tried the "standing on the spanner" thing, and broke off *three* studs, leaving two studs to get home :-) That was my first lesson on the topic. "Geeze, I didn't know those would snap!"

What I carry in the car, is a tubular steel bar that fits over the tyre iron. And that provides some leverage for nuts that aren't actually rusted on. I carry two tubular steel bars (different sizes). One bar is an extension for the winder on the scissor jack. I can place the scissor jack in an inaccessible location, and operate the scissor, by turning the tubular bar. The second tubular bar is for leverage to release a too-tight nut.

If you tighten the nuts on a wheel too tight, it distorts the backing plate for the disc brakes. That's one reason you don't set the air wrench to max. I have on at least one occasion, re-torqued the tyres after a trip to a shop where I knew the wrench was set to max.

There is a table of torque values, for popular auto brands, on the web, and you can use that for selecting a torque value when re-fitting a wheel. I've not had a problem when using the recommended value (I change my own tyres from summer to winter and back again).

When putting the torque wrench back in its carrier box, always back off the torque setting so the springy bits can relax.

Paul

Possibly the only time I needed the AA and said I was in danger was a three car incident on the A64 when I was a passenger.

The wheel brace bent when I stamped on it and we were the only stranded vehicle.

Or you have a Morgan with wire wheels and you forgot to pack your copper-headed hammer :-)

Have fun 'torquing up' those nuts !, or forgetting that left and right hand wheels have handed threads.

Copper has the lowest creep of nearly all known metals. Brass creeps and I expect it is this that 'moves' most. Thermal cycling, with connectors of high current are problematic.

However, I'm aware the regs IEE regs don't expect you to revisit connections in copper wire, but connections with aluminium do specifically have a service interval.

Just asking. Would using a torque screwdriver prevent this? Or is it correct to have every single screw checked for tightness every year? Sound like a nice little earner.

I do wonder what the causesis. I saw one CU where I know for sure they had been tightened, yet several neutrals were loose years later.

Electrical checks from the consumer unit using advanced test equipment before any investigations. They don't descend on every socket, the same way that PAT testers descend on every plug.

If ye were hiring out the property, this sort of thing has to be done regularly.

If ye are not, then ye can comfortably put up with the blinking lights, strange heat sources, and having to install two smoke alarms in each room - just in case.

TLC now selling insulated torque screwdriver

As are Toolsatan:

Last time I needed to change a wheel, undoing the bolts wasn't the problem, freeing the wheel that was corroded into the hub was the problem ... chunks of wood and a lump hammer didn't help, eventually solved by semi-tightening the bolts and driving up and down a supermarket car park, doing heavy braking.

Thankfully I was at home at the time, but I once had to use a 3 legged puller to get a wheel off.