"Richard" wrote in message
news
And don't get me started on the pillock who invented the space-saving
spare wheel.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-20984194
Ah good. We know where to send the hate mail ;-)
It sounds like a good idea, but it depends critically on that naive
assumption that "I asked how many times that person had used their spare
wheel. I was told they had never used it." My experience is different.
Driving on poorer country lanes and places where there may be crap on the
road, I have probably had a puncture every couple of years. The other week I
had to go off the edge of a road surface onto a verge to make way for an
oncoming tractor, and there was a lip on the edge of the tarmac with a
wheel-width trough in the grass verge. My wheel went into it and the road
surface gouged a hole in the inner sidewall of my almost brand new tyre. It
was a small enough hole that I didn't notice and completed my journey, but
then found I had a flat tyre a hour later. And I've lost count of the number
of nails that I've had through the tread - lucky most of the time the
puncture has been repairable.
The problem with tyre sealant and inflator packs is that they are only a
get-you-home measure. The tyre can never be repaired and must always be
replaced, whereas with a conventional tyre many punctures can be repaired,
allowing you to get a normal life out of tyre and not having to replace it
while it still has plenty of tread.
I've never yet had a wheel whose nuts I couldn't undo. With a cranked or
cross-shaped wheelbrace it is easy:
- stand at right angles to the car (facing the front or back); I'm going
assume I'm facing forward and changing a nearside wheel, so my right hand is
closest to the car
- do not jack up the wheel yet, it needs to remain on the ground to stop it
turning (especially front wheel on a rear-wheel drive car) as you loosen the
nuts
- in your left hand, hold the opposite end of the wheelbrace to the end with
the nut
- offer it up to the wheelnut with the crank at about 9 o'clock position (as
seen if you were to look towards the wheel)
- raise one foot and place it on the crank, or the end of a side arm (cross
brace)
- press down with your leg while pulling up with your left hand to
counteract the tendency for the wheelbrace to fall off the nut; if brute
strength isn't enough to shift the nut, give it a slight kick until it gives
- once each nut has turned maybe 1/2 a turn, jack up the wheel and loosen
and remove all the nuts (put them somewhere safe like in a hub cap or
wheeltrim)
- now squat down facing the wheel and hold it in your hands at 4- and 8
o'clock position on the tyre tread, with your forearms braced against the
inside of your thighs; ease the wheel off the central boss
- same technique to replace with new wheel
- tighten all the nuts, working in the order 1, 4, 3, 2 (or any order that
isn't consecutive - you want to avoid cyclic stress)
- lower the wheel onto the ground and get back into the original position,
now with the crank in the 3 o'clock position, and fully tighten the nuts
I've done that in about 5 mins per wheel. I've swapped over all four wheels
(exchange nearside front and back, and offside front and back) which needs a
total of 6 wheelchanges (allowing for temporarily fitting and removing the
spare) inside half an hour.
Modern parallelogram jacks don't make it easy because the handle won't stay
extended (it's designed to fold away for storage) and there is so little
ground clearance that I often scrape my knuckles on the ground. A hexagonal
nut on the side, into which you put the wheelbrace, would be so much better,
as you can disconnect the brace and rotate it back from 3 o'clock to 9
o'clock before putting it back on to turn it from 9 to 3 (or vice versa for
lower the jack), for the initial stage when there isn't enough ground
clearance to turn the brace through the lower half of its rotation.