Can't get tyre off...

smemon

ok, in the last month, i've had 2 flat tyres + one on my parents car tonight :rolleyes: in total, i've bent and snapped 3 bars :rolleyes:

out of those 3 tyre's, i've only managed to change 1 :mad:

i've got 4 out of 5 bolts of on this one and the other one won't budge. i've jumped/hopped/kicked...nothing.

maybe it's just my luck, but it's ridiculous the way tyres are put on by compressors - obviously until they are watertight.

im now getting a compressor to take them off in the future any ideas where to get one?? (im not weak or a woman either ) i have the muscle power as bending 2 and snapping 1 metal bars proves

Wishbone Ash

Do you mean tyre or wheel?

smemon

wheel/tyre same thing to me

crosstownk

smemon wrote:

wheel/tyre same thing to me

They are totally different things if you think about it. Taking a tyre off a wheel is very difficult. Removing a wheel from a car (complete with tyre) should be relatively simple. But sometimes due to heat a wheel bolt/stud can prove quit stubborn. A lot of tyre fitters just blast bolts in with an airgun making it impossible to remove them at the roadside with the tools provided. Wheel bolts should be correctly torqued, but very few places will do this for you.

Sharply tapping a stiff nut can sometimes help. There are plenty of 'extension bars' available from motor factors which give you more leverage when removing a nut/stud.

smemon

crosstownk wrote:

They are totally different things if you think about it. Taking a tyre off a wheel is very difficult. Removing a wheel from a car (complete with tyre) should be relatively simple. But sometimes due to heat a wheel bolt/stud can prove quit stubborn. A lot of tyre fitters just blast bolts in with an airgun making it impossible to remove them at the roadside with the tools provided. Wheel bolts should be correctly torqued, but very few places will do this for you.

Sharply tapping a stiff nut can sometimes help. There are plenty of 'extension bars' available from motor factors which give you more leverage when removing a nut/stud.

yeah we used to have a good extension bar in the last car. I did get another one after the first bar snapped but again tonight, the extension bar bent :rolleyes:

so i'll have to go for something bigger and better yet again. i'll look around for a compressor though because i don't want to be crippled everytime i get a flat tyre.

GrumPy

Are your womanly hands turning it the right way?

the_batman

Remeber, "Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosey".

BrianD3

How long are the bars you're using? Are you using extendable wheelbraces or breaker bars? The latter are a lot stronger and can be 2-3 feet or more long. A breaker bar + decent socket should move the most stubborn of wheel nuts. You can also extend a breaker bar by putting a length of heavy pipe over the handle however this is a last resort as the bar wil probably be damaged and any guarantee that comes with the bar will be invalid.

bushy...

As well as a compressor you will need the airgun ( cheap one won't do either if they're as tight as you say) . Buy a bar & socket from somewhere that does proper gear. A decent one shouldn't bend/break at all on just wheel nuts .Maybe ask tyre lads where they buy theirs. You can get electric impact gun , saves you getting compressor & easier to put in the boot of the car

smemon

yes, anti-clockwise

remember i've got 4 off, so i know what it takes this 5th one is like the 5th atlas stone in the worlds strongest man

the wee bars they give you with the car are a joke! i wouldn't mind, but i actually got an x-shaped professional one from a lorry driver after the first ordeal, and now it's bent too :mad:

crosstownk

I assume you're loosening the nut initially with the FULL weight of the car on ground and not the jack.

smemon

crosstownk wrote:

I assume you're loosening the nut initially with the FULL weight of the car on ground and not the jack.

tried both, no luck. anyway's i got it off eventually with the help of a neighbour who has a big extension thing

i might get an impact gun all right. Pricey but probably worth it for a formula 1 like wheel change about €80 delivered on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.ie/RDG-1-2-HEAVY-DUTY-AIR-IMPACT-WRENCH_W0QQitemZ130037316327QQihZ003QQcategoryZ22664QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

crosstownk

smemon wrote:

a neighbour who has a big extension thing

Is he popular with the ladies?

antodeco

crosstownk wrote:

Is he popular with the ladies?

lol!

AMurphy

The little tubular sockets that come with the car are no match for an over-enthusiastic grease monkey with the air gus set to max pressure or setting more suitable for the wheels of a crane.
You were lucky they did not strip the threads, then even your neighbors handy-dandy extension would be about as useful as a limp sausage.
Obtain a socket of the same type as is used on airguns. Usually, black oxide, 6 sided, not 12 point and thickwalled, so as not to split under pressure. 3/4" "T" handle, then you and your neighbor can hammer away goodo.

Here is one you can use a sledge on if necessary.... actually it is necessary....just have to remember to pack the sledge every time you go shopping.

Stky10

On a related issue, about a week ago I got a puncture, got all the nuts out, but couldn't pull the wheel off. I don't know how long it had been on, but it felt like it was welded. It took a lot of wd40, crowbarring, and hammering to get it off. I put a skinny on, and brought it to the nearest advance tyre place about 10 mins down the road cos I needed a new tyre. He needed a sledgehammer to get the skinny off even though it was only on 10 mins.

So to help myself if I ever get a puncture on a dark night, I'm going to take all the wheels off one by one. I've heard if you use grease on the inside of the wheel, and the wheel disc part it prevents the sticking. Is this true, and is there a better solution?

Rovi

Stky10 wrote:

So to help myself if I ever get a puncture on a dark night, I'm going to take all the wheels off one by one. I've heard if you use grease on the inside of the wheel, and the wheel disc part it prevents the sticking. Is this true, and is there a better solution?

Use an anti-seize compound like Copaslip or Copper Ease or something similar on the mating surfaces of the hubs, and a smear on the wheel nuts/studs would be no harm either.

Forget about the flimsy crap usually supplied with the car, and invest in a decent 1/2" square drive swivel bar and a good quality 6 point socket to suit.

Any decent motor factor can supply all of the above.

Remove your wheels and give everything a clean up with a wire brush or sandpaper. Smear a bit of anti-seize compound on the mating surfaces of the hubs and the nuts/studs, and re-fit the wheels.

Ideally, a torque wrench should be used to tighten the nuts; the torque spec should be in your user's manual.
Here's a generic chart.

In the absence of a torque wrench, run them up 'comfortably tight' with your shiny new bar and socket. There's no need to go crazy. It's at least as important that they're all pretty evenly tightened as it is to have them at any particular 'tightness.'

Check that you can undo them

Check them after a short spin to see that none have loosened, and check occasionally thereafter.

Motor away happy in the knowledge that you can remove the wheels any time you want, using the same tools with which they were installed.

kikel

Go back to your tyre fitting place and get all nuts torqued.

BrianD3

I think the air impact gun is overkill for wheel nuts. So I'd agree with Rovi and Amurphy - get some kind of decent hand tool. The Britool E86 looks good but is expensive, Halfords do a similar thing (24 inch breaker bar with swivel head) for 33 euros. Halfords tools are pretty OK. They also sell "wheel nut sockets" for 10 euros, these are grey metal with a coloured plastic sleeve and are claimed to be impact quality. Halfords also do proper black impact sockets but these are so thick walled that they might not be able to get them onto the bolts on some alloy wheels

And don't use a long bar to tighten up the bolts/nuts. You'll overtighten them. For tightening use the standard wheel brace thet came with the car or go down on the handle of the breaker bar.

Esel

smemon wrote:

i've got 4 out of 5 bolts of on this one and the other one won't budge. i've jumped/hopped/kicked...nothing.

Hope you didn't loosen the other four before starting on the fifth one? If so, putting the other four back on fairly tight, then trying to break the other one free should do it. When removing bolts, work diaginally and only break the seal on each first. Then continue diagonally.