SODDING WHEEL NUTS!
Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2004 5:49 am
What is it with garages that change your tyres, that they have to put the bolts on so fricking tight superman himself would curse trying to get them off? Damn near gave myself a hernia trying to loosen off the bolts on my (garage-fitted) rear tyres, not to mention actually putting a slight bend in my tyre-iron, a more noticable one in a couple of the bolts, and coming close to rounding a couple others' heads off. Took forever, braced with a foot on one end, both hands on the other, much bouncing up and down and kicking hard, and had my fallen on my arse or on my back more than once. There's just no bloody call for it. If I had been a young lone lady on a diet of celery and mobile-phone-and-makeup pushups, I'd still be there, hoping never to get caught with a puncture on a cold wet country road with no phone signal.
It's not as if they're holding the wheel on any more securely in the end, not noticably so. The front wheels, fitted by myself, have seen in close to 10,000 miles since I last saw to them (last time I swapped the tyres) and are still holding nice and fast despite numerous high-speed motorway blasts and much unsympathetic cornering and braking. Yet all it took to loosen those bolts off was a foot, a single hand, a quite curse and a grunt, and a quick kick-cum-push & tug.
I don't get it. Is it just a case of not knowing how to operate their high powered bolt tightening machines or what? It goes beyond a safety measure, seeing as I had to impart enough force to actually damage the bolt.
(( sorry, just had to vent and rant and rail against this, as it turned what should have been a fairly easy 20 minute task into an hour long pain fest. but at least i had the chance to pop the cambelt cover off and get a definitive answer on my gear ratios by turning the lifted wheel in 2nd, 3rd, 4th.... 3.94 diff, 1st at 3.45 then following with 1.94, 1.29, 0.91 for a top gear of approx 17.5mph/krpm with 145/70/13s assuming perfect tread height. Score! ))
Anyone else got wheels that simply wont come off that they had to drill the bolts out for??
It's not as if they're holding the wheel on any more securely in the end, not noticably so. The front wheels, fitted by myself, have seen in close to 10,000 miles since I last saw to them (last time I swapped the tyres) and are still holding nice and fast despite numerous high-speed motorway blasts and much unsympathetic cornering and braking. Yet all it took to loosen those bolts off was a foot, a single hand, a quite curse and a grunt, and a quick kick-cum-push & tug.
I don't get it. Is it just a case of not knowing how to operate their high powered bolt tightening machines or what? It goes beyond a safety measure, seeing as I had to impart enough force to actually damage the bolt.
(( sorry, just had to vent and rant and rail against this, as it turned what should have been a fairly easy 20 minute task into an hour long pain fest. but at least i had the chance to pop the cambelt cover off and get a definitive answer on my gear ratios by turning the lifted wheel in 2nd, 3rd, 4th.... 3.94 diff, 1st at 3.45 then following with 1.94, 1.29, 0.91 for a top gear of approx 17.5mph/krpm with 145/70/13s assuming perfect tread height. Score! ))
Anyone else got wheels that simply wont come off that they had to drill the bolts out for??
glad i discovered this on my own driveway... they'll come off a tad easier now should the worst happen (and i dont mean coming loose at 85 in the outside lane)