"Rod Speed" wrote in message
...
One other advantage with bolts (the modern way) is that they are bigger
and less likely to loose in the dark if you've put them carefully in the
upturned hub-cap...

Few cars have hub caps anymore.

True, but a lot of them have some form of detachable plastic wheeltrim,
often with fake hexagonal bolt heads moulded into it. The last time I had a
puncture (when an oncoming tractor forced me to veer onto a verge), the
thing that took me the longest time (far longer than jacking the car up,
removing the old wheel, putting on the spare and lowering the car to the
ground) was refitting the damn wheeltrim! It has a ring of springy wire
which presses outwards against the rim of the wheel, and you need about 10
hands to compress it all the way round so it will go past the rim and then
expand again on the inside. I'd get most of it on except one part, but as
soon as I pressed/hit it there, another part would spring out. I tried
subtlety and skill; I tried brute force; I tried swearing at it with every
bash and kick. Eventually it went back on again, but it probably took about
15 minutes of persistence. I think what finally worked was lying on my back
with my feet pressing on the left and right sides of the trim, and using my
legs to apply a lot of force.