Damn Flat Tyre and Damn Space Savers!

[Maro]

Got a puncture last night coming home from dinner (nice way to ruin a lovely evenign).

Luckily we were only 200 yards from our hose so I managed to limp home. First time I have ever had one and only the second tyre I have ever changed (first was a tractor so a little different in scale!).

Got 3 of the Nuts off ok but the last one was a real stubborn one!

I had to use real Japanese "Ki ai!" on the last one - split my shirt and ended up with fiction burns on my arms where the shirt rubbed against it :lmao Felt a tad foolish about that!

Of course once i had removed the tyre I went to get the spare and realised that it is a space-saver. Literally a waste of space! YOu can't travel more than 50Mph on these so they are more of a hazard than a help! COmpletely pointless especially as the well in the boot will accomodate a full size spare - this is a new thing which most makers are doing.

:banghead :banghead

[Bobenis]

Damn those nuts. Use some lube next time..lol.

[eire1274]

I hear you, Maro. Those "donuts" as we Americans call them are a waste. They're designed to let you "limp" to the tire shop, but most idi0ts around here put them on and then drive on them anyway. FYI, they'll wear out your slip joints on a FWD car, or the rear differential (gearbox) on a RWD car extra fast. They are never intended for any long-term (more than a few miles) driving.

I ripped the spare out of my Mitsubishi altogether. Better uses for the space. I keep a full size spare in the garage. If I ever need it, I'll go home and pick it up, and take it back to the car.

[Maro]

Yup

Interestingly I was reading an article on tyres in the paper at the weekend saying how infrequent flats are nowadays:banghead

I was talking to the guy who replaced it just now- the tyre is faulty. It had come away from the inner steel ring. He was pretty impressed as he reckoned he didn't see that very often.

AU$75 well spent ona new one - good job as I am off to Canberra on Saturday!
:banana

[eire1274]

Better to have it happen close to home rather than on a long trip. :thumb

[Maro]

Originally posted by eire1274
Better to have it happen close to home rather than on a long trip. :thumb

Damn right - the motorway to Canberra is only about 300Km but is pretty bleak!

The guy at the shop told me to chuck the L-wrench and get a cross-brace one.

[eire1274]

Right. They take up more space, but a) their universal (4 lug sizes) and b) you can get more leverage, using two hands 180 degrees opposed.

[Maro]

Originally posted by eire1274
Right. They take up more space, but a) their universal (4 lug sizes) and b) you can get more leverage, using two hands 180 degrees opposed.

Instead of waking all our Neighbours from our echoing, underground carpark with Ki Ai!

I had to send my G/F upstairs as her laughter at my inability to get it off was seriuosly eroding my strength:D :D

Wouldn't fancy doing it on a wet and widy hard shoulder

:Nope

[Powderboy]

Originally posted by Maro
Yup

Interestingly I was reading an article on tyres in the paper at the weekend saying how infrequent flats are nowadays:banghead

I was talking to the guy who replaced it just now- the tyre is faulty. It had come away from the inner steel ring. He was pretty impressed as he reckoned he didn't see that very often.

AU$75 well spent ona new one - good job as I am off to Canberra on Saturday!
:banana


sorry to hear about you're ordeal, and i'm glad it happened at a lower speed where everyone and the vehicle ended up safely.

i don't want to knock your tire guy, but it seems that if you drove on it for nearly 1/8 of a mile, then whatever damage caused it to go flat would be hidden by the tire being destroyed on the way home. i'm in the tire business myself and find it near impossible to understand what specific problem caused a tire to go flat initially after it has been driven on flat.

i see a lot of times a tire will go flat from a simple puncture and continue to be driven on for a few feet. those few feet often times will completely shred the sidewall and the bead of the tire, making the damage look worse than it really is.

either way, you are back on the road and safe. look into getting a full size spare asap, and make sure whoever tightens your wheels down whenever they are removed for service is torqing them to the proper vehicle manufacturer specs. another snafu we see quite often is lug nuts being over tightened and near impossible to get off by hand. that is possibly why you had such trouble with it when you tried to change it. make sure they are not installing the lugs wiht an impact gun unless they are using a torque stick(colored stick that prevents tightening of lugs over a certain ft/lbs.) and make sure they use a torque wrench to tighten them by hand afterwards, this is like a bigger wrench with a dial on it to preset the torque of the lug being driven, it clicks when the preset amount is reached.

if anybody ever has a tire or wheel related question, feel free to email me or post here, or simply check out my company's website @ www.tires.com, find the info center and read away!

[getit29]

Yeah some people put the lugnuts on so tight that it is almost
impossible to get them loosened up. I have had them so tight
on there that I actually twisted the lug screws and nuts completely
off. :Nope

[eire1274]

True, I pulled a lug bolt on my wife's old Tempo once because the tire shop had put the nut on so tightly. Fortunately, I had the tools to fix that.

I don't let anybody touch my cars anymore unless I absolutely can't do it in my own garage.

[bejohnson]

When I have the tires changed the guys are always amazed that I bring out the correct socket and torque wrench for the lug nuts to be installed. I drive a Ford F-350 and the lugs are the cup washer design and require 140 ft-lbs and most kids don't tighten them enough.

[eire1274]

I use the cone style lugs, often referred to as tuner lugs. Rather than a female socket that fits around them, these require a male connector that fits into a recess on the head of the nut. They have a specific torque requirement of 135-145 lb/ft.

I've see tons of people using these kinds of nuts (which are nice because you can custom order them with different heads, making your wheels darn near un-stealable) and they wonder why one or two seem to have fallen off.

By the way, Ed, it's lb/ft, not ft/lb.

[bejohnson]

Originally posted by eire1274
I use the cone style lugs, often referred to as tuner lugs. Rather than a female socket that fits around them, these require a male connector that fits into a recess on the head of the nut. They have a specific torque requirement of 135-145 lb/ft.

I've see tons of people using these kinds of nuts (which are nice because you can custom order them with different heads, making your wheels darn near un-stealable) and they wonder why one or two seem to have fallen off.

By the way, Ed, it's lb/ft, not ft/lb.

Can be either 140 lbs at one foot or one pound at 140 feet. It all depends on who writes it but you are technically correct for the English system. When I learned it back in the 1950s everybody said foot-pounds which was the number of pounds at one foot.:thumb

[Maro]

Luckily for me I have a "Heroic frame"

:lmao :lmao :lmao

My G/F's friend has beenworking in East Timor for a year, she has heard about my Sword and Archery experiences and I mentioned that I am going on a course to forge knives from scratch. Reflecting on theis and my Long hair and beard, she has christened me the "Viking"

:rofl2 :rofl2

:thumb

[Powderboy]

Originally posted by eire1274
I use the cone style lugs, often referred to as tuner lugs. Rather than a female socket that fits around them, these require a male connector that fits into a recess on the head of the nut. They have a specific torque requirement of 135-145 lb/ft.


what kind of vehicle do you have? 135-145, it must be a truck. spline lugs are no more special than any other lug in torque requirements. just like air pressure changes with tires, you should always go by the vehicle manufacturers recommendations for lug torque and air pressure, regardless of the lug style, or the tire max air.

please dont let me confuse anyone here, but the only time air pressure recommendation will change on a vehicle is when there is a plus fitment or a different size tire installed, inwhich case, a conversion chart involving load index and tire size should be consulted.

[bejohnson]

Originally posted by Powderboy
what kind of vehicle do you have? 135-145, it must be a truck. spline lugs are no more special than any other lug in torque requirements. just like air pressure changes with tires, you should always go by the vehicle manufacturers recommendations for lug torque and air pressure, regardless of the lug style, or the tire max air.

please dont let me confuse anyone here, but the only time air pressure recommendation will change on a vehicle is when there is a plus fitment or a different size tire installed, inwhich case, a conversion chart involving load index and tire size should be consulted.

It is a truck and tire pressure recommended by the manufacturer is for average loading and conditions. Tires should always be inflated to the pressure recommended by the TIRE MANUFACTURER for the load and or service that the tire has to handle.

As I said I have a F-350 Ford with a front axle loading of 4400 pounds which is 2200 pounds per tire. This calls for a tire pressure of 65 pounds. At 65 pounds I get edge wear because of the long wheel base pushing in turns so the wear is much better at 70 pounds of tire pressure which is still 10 pounds under the tire rating and rim rating. The rear axle, which has dual wheels carries the same load range tire (Load Range E) but under normal conditions the load is about 5500 pounds axle load. This is only 1375 pounds per tire and the rims are only rated at 65 psi air pressure. The tires perform wonderfully at 55 - 60 psi and when I carry a full load I bring the pressure up to 65 psi. I normally get about 75,000 miles on the front tires and around 115,000 miles on the rear. The truck has about 402,000 miles on it.

The same applies to car tires. Inflate for load and conditions but use no less than the car makers recommendations and no more than the maximum cold inflation pressure on the tire.

[Powderboy]

bej,
i wasnt referrnig to your truck, i was referring to erie.

i'm glad you brought it up, big trucks and duallies are a totally different area. we do a fair amount of them, and they do require different air settings. just like trailers tires, they should be inflated to max when carrying a load. with daullies and 3/4 ton trucks, especially fords, we find air pressures that work best vary from tire to tire. i'm sure you know your truck better than i do, and whatever works for you, works best.

[eire1274]

Originally posted by Powderboy
what kind of vehicle do you have? 135-145, it must be a truck. spline lugs are no more special than any other lug in torque requirements. just like air pressure changes with tires, you should always go by the vehicle manufacturers recommendations for lug torque and air pressure, regardless of the lug style, or the tire max air.

please dont let me confuse anyone here, but the only time air pressure recommendation will change on a vehicle is when there is a plus fitment or a different size tire installed, inwhich case, a conversion chart involving load index and tire size should be consulted.
Highly modified 3000GT VR-4 (that's the twin turbo, AWD spec). It's my avatar under my name to the left.

I have aftermarket wheel studs and bearing assembly, aftermarket brakes, modified 4-wheel steering system, oversized wide-set wheels, and I occasionally run auto cross with the car. Thus, 135-145 lb/ft, per specification for my setup.

Added: by the way, that's 3785 lbs less driver, curb weight, and A/V electronics. Haven't dyno'd yet this year, but I'm guessing currently at approx. 400bhp, probably closer to 500 when the new injection system, fuel computer, and intercooler upgrade happens.

[getit29]

Originally posted by eire1274
Highly modified 3000GT VR-4 (that's the twin turbo, AWD spec). It's my avatar under my name to the left.

I have aftermarket wheel studs and bearing assembly, aftermarket brakes, modified 4-wheel steering system, oversized wide-set wheels, and I occasionally run auto cross with the car. Thus, 135-145 lb/ft, per specification for my setup.

Added: by the way, that's 3785 lbs less driver, curb weight, and A/V electronics. Haven't dyno'd yet this year, but I'm guessing currently at approx. 400bhp, probably closer to 500 when the new injection system, fuel computer, and intercooler upgrade happens.
eire1274, what kind of gas milage are you getting with that much
HP under the hood? 500bhp sweeeeeet dude gotta love those
ponys under the hood can't never have to many of them under there. :devil :thumb

[eire1274]

Hahaha... gotta love Japanese engineering... if I turn down the boost controller, I go back to about 21/26 mpg (better than stock, which is 18/24, thanks to less restrictive exhaust). Only problem is, anything less than 91 octane and the engine has BAD TIMES. Which means no ethanol in this beast.

It's alright, though. I run 104 octane at the track. I hate to think how expensive that's going to be this summer. It was around $3.50 per gallon last year, when 91 octane was $1.59. 91 is now $2.19.

The car is disassembled at the moment. Replacing the clutch and installing a new 5-speed trans. Also need new tires. If money goes right, I'll have it back on the street in a few weeks, and when the HKS parts come from Japan, watch out! (Yes, I'm a little excited.)