On Sun, 31 Dec 2017 12:46:48 +0000, Roger Mills
wrote:

On 31/12/2017 11:56, dennis@home wrote:
On 30/12/2017 18:49, TheChief wrote:


Can't help thinking that the number of call outs for their
services will have increased with the introduction of these cost
saving devices.


It probably hasn't made any difference as most people can't change their
wheels anyway.


Is it a generational thing?

Maybe it is, unless unchecked?

At 75, I can still swap all 4 wheels on a
Volvo V70 with my winter set in under an hour.

And assuming you still have reasonable strength (plus the right tools,
like a spider or extending breaker bar), mobility and some common
sense / experience, there is no reason why you shouldn't.

One of the things I've done with most of my friends and family is to
oversee *them* changing a wheel, just in case. I'm hoping that even if
they change cars and we don't repeat the exercise, they still might be
confident enough to do it if push came to shove.

Same with our daughter and her installing Punctureseal in all her
vehicles. 1) They are hers and 2) she then knows how to do it safely
and 3) I'll not be here for ever. ;-)

With her Transit Connect, my *experience* of such things suggested we
should check that we / she can get the spare wheel out and we found we
could, but only just. The lowering mech was all jammed up and we had
to replace it. Then I made sure she fitted the spare wheel back, with
the tools I linked to on eBay because they were all missing.

I also got her to (grease then) use the supplied jack, rather than
getting my trolley jack because that would be all she had when out and
about. This also included tips for ensuring the jack was in the right
place, upright, extended close to the right height away from the
vehicle and only jacking the vehicle up enough to get the wheel clear.
To put the unused wheel under the right place on the vehicle to reduce
the risk should something slip or fail, how to align and lift / hold
with your knees, how to first run the nuts / studs up by hand and then
just nipping them up before lowering the vehicle onto the tyre
slightly to be able to tighten it a bit more (diagonally) before
lowering it fully to the ground for a final tighten.

We also printed the tyre pressures off with the Dymo label maker and
put them in the drivers door jam so you don't have to rummage though
the handbook to find the right pressures for the right tyre size /
average usage etc.

Luckily for her, all my 'precautions' and her willingness to be
involved paid off when she damaged the sidewall and the Punctureseal
wasn't able to help her. By the time I got to her she had the spare
wheel out and ready (but still under the van), the van jacked up and
she was just lifting the wheel off. She had managed to find a safe
place to limp into (as the tyre was already written off) so I just
oversaw her putting the spare on etc. She also helped when we removed
the damaged tyre, transferred the Punctureseal, fitted the spare, got
it balanced and put it back under the van. ;-)


Cheers, T i m