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Grex > Agora41 > #115: How to do embarrassingly simple, obvious things | |
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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 129 responses total. |
janc
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response 50 of 129:
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Apr 26 00:16 UTC 2002 |
I expect that with discount tire, as with any organization that depends
on a staff of low paid people, quality of service varies widely. A lot
depends on the particular person who works on your car. But that's
true anywhere you go.
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rcurl
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response 51 of 129:
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Apr 26 04:19 UTC 2002 |
Even on Grex?
I keep going back to Discount Tire. Only once did they let me down with
a set of tires that gave a rough ride and didn't last long. They have
an aggressive sounding name, which I don't remember. It was a bad steer....
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i
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response 52 of 129:
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Apr 26 10:39 UTC 2002 |
I'm not very happy with the tires that Discount Tire on W. Stadium sold
me, but have heard that the Washtenaw store is better.
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keesan
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response 53 of 129:
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Apr 26 13:51 UTC 2002 |
The stores sell different tires? Washtenaw store sold Jim a defective tire
which the Stadium store tried a few times to repair. I think Washtenaw
finally replaced it. At both stores people were extremely courteous and
friendly and unusually well-organized and able to think for themselves.
I wonder if Discout Tire pays their workers better than average.
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jazz
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response 54 of 129:
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Apr 26 14:57 UTC 2002 |
Got a good replacement used tire at Firestone on Emmett after one of
mine was slashed by a vengeful Ypsilantite; it was better than getting four
matched tires, and considerably cheaper.
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bdh3
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response 55 of 129:
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Apr 27 05:01 UTC 2002 |
When I used to routinely buy used tires years ago (lots of road
work) the generally accepted wisdom was that radial tires stayed
on one side of the car and 'rotated' front to back. Thus the
problem of buying used was to make sure it was from somebody
that bothered to label side. Is this currently true? Has
radial tire technology improved in the last couple decades?
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tsty
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response 56 of 129:
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Apr 28 04:01 UTC 2002 |
rotations are still done front<=>back only.
the risk of reversing the rotation is that you generate
a tread separation as the tire conforms to it's new
loaded chracteristics - internal squirm in the layers.
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mdw
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response 57 of 129:
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Apr 28 05:30 UTC 2002 |
Tires are often marked for direction of rotation - with some tread
designs, it makes a difference.
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jep
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response 58 of 129:
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Apr 28 15:20 UTC 2002 |
Grrr... I'm still trying to change to the spare tire I bought a week
ago. I didn't have a jack, so I finally got a jack. I didn't have a
lug wrench that fit the nuts on the truck, so I got a lug wrench. It
wasn't big enough. (1" lug nuts.) I got another lug wrench. I got
the nuts off, and now I can't get the wheel to come off. It's been on
there at least 4 years that I know of, and maybe 5 or 6. It's stuck;
if I pull it, I can turn the wheel left or right, but it doesn't
budge. I hit it a few times with the lug wrench, and some rust fell
off, but the wheel didn't budge.
So, my next question... now what? Do I beat it off with a hammer?
I'm mechanically inept, but expect to be able to change a tire... this
has been a frustrating experience.
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bdh3
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response 59 of 129:
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Apr 28 17:02 UTC 2002 |
Get a can of WD40 (you should have a couple cans on hand at all
times as it is useful for a lotta things). Spray the area between
the hub and the wheel until it is quite wet. Let it set for a bit
and bang the edge of the wheel straight in with a BFH (another
necessary tool). Repeat until you break the wheel loose from the
hub.
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jep
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response 60 of 129:
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Apr 28 17:18 UTC 2002 |
My only hammer is a claw hammer. I guess if I need it, I'll get a
bigger one. Don't I have to worry about bending the rim?
I drenched the hub and screws (what's it called, what the lug nuts go
on? Lugs?) with WD-40 and am going to let it set for a while.
Thanks!
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rcurl
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response 61 of 129:
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Apr 28 18:13 UTC 2002 |
They are studs, or lug studs.
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jep
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response 62 of 129:
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Apr 28 21:19 UTC 2002 |
I still can't get it off, despite liberal application of WD-40 and the
purchase of a larger hammer. I've had it. It's time for AAA.
I get 5 calls per year, and this is #4. I guess I better be careful
for the rest of the year, which ends in October.
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gull
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response 63 of 129:
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Apr 28 21:30 UTC 2002 |
Re #55, 56: I've heard that tire companies now say that there's no need to
keep radial tires on the same side, but I don't have a cite.
Re #62: You could try lowering the truck carefully onto the wheel with the
jack. The weight may break the wheel loose from the hub. Be careful you
don't get in a position where the truck can fall off the jack, though.
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russ
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response 64 of 129:
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Apr 28 21:41 UTC 2002 |
Re #58: Use penetrating oil; WD-40 isn't really made for that, it's
made to displace water ("Water Displacement formula 40".) Also, pound
with a rubber mallet and/or heat with a propane torch around the lug
bolts. Don't beat on steel with steel, you'll bend it.
Before re-assembling, remove rust from the wheel and brake drum with
a wire brush. You might want to put some wax on the mating faces too.
I'd avoid grease, because it might allow the lug nuts to come loose.
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gull
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response 65 of 129:
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Apr 28 22:07 UTC 2002 |
Properly tightened lug nuts won't come loose just because they're greased.
It doesn't sound like the lug nuts were what seized anyway, so the place to
put the anti-seize compound would be on the hub center. It's probably the
center circle that fits into a matching hole in the wheel and keeps
everything centered that actually seized. The key here is to use it very
sparingly so it doesn't get onto the brake disc, if this wheel has disc
brakes. (If that's the case, you should make sure to clean up any WD-40
that got on there, too, before it ruins the brake pads.)
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jep
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response 66 of 129:
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Apr 28 22:11 UTC 2002 |
The jack I got is hydraulic. I did try letting it down and jacking it
back up a couple of times, and that didn't help. I had little trouble
getting the lug nuts off once I had a big enough wrench.
If the tires last long enough for my tax return to come, so I can
replace them all, then I'll be fine. I just won't drive the truck much
in the meantime.
AAA did send someone. The guy beat the wheel off, just like bdh3
suggested I do. Oh, well, now I can drive the truck for a little while
anyway.
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other
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response 67 of 129:
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Apr 28 23:47 UTC 2002 |
If you have a hydraulic jack, it wouldn't be too hard to rig up something
which transfers the force of the jack ram to the lug wrench to free the
nut. Of course, this would be done with the vehicle not jacked up.
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jep
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response 68 of 129:
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Apr 29 00:08 UTC 2002 |
re #67: I did that. Using the hydraulic jack, I placed it in the back
of the truck, on top of a bicycle. I then ingeniously (I thought)
slunk inside, and called AAA, and let someone do it who knew how.
There's just nothing like creatively using your brain to solve a
problem. (-:
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other
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response 69 of 129:
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Apr 29 01:45 UTC 2002 |
I'd say your force transference device was far more Goldbergian than what
I would likely have done... ;)
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mdw
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response 70 of 129:
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Apr 29 02:18 UTC 2002 |
I'm afraid I would have gone for the good old-fashioned shove -- being
as careful as possible not to shove it off onto myself.
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bdh3
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response 71 of 129:
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Apr 29 05:44 UTC 2002 |
I gotta tell yah. What kind of father raises their sons to be
so mechanically inept? Do they hate their sons so and favor
daughters? Do they set out to raise 'girlyman'?
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rcurl
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response 72 of 129:
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Apr 29 06:20 UTC 2002 |
You loosen the lug nuts, and then give the wheel a big thunk, while
the car is on the jack of course. Sounds like that's what the AAA
guy did. The wheel can take a lot of side force - consider the forces
when driving.
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bdh3
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response 73 of 129:
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Apr 29 06:40 UTC 2002 |
How many slug-foot-pounds is a 'thunk'?
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rcurl
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response 74 of 129:
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Apr 29 06:44 UTC 2002 |
About 1 slug-foot/sec
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