Changing winter to summer tyres myself

[Eddo1968]

After my ski trip next week I'll be ready to change my winter tyres back to summer tyres. Should I get a specialist outfit to do it or can I just use the jack in the boot and do it myself? If you have a flat you're expected to do it yourself at the side of the road so I can't see much difference, although is there any thing else i should know about?

The last time I changed a wheel was on a Mini Metro about 25 years ago - this could be a bit different :Blush:

[iwaters]

I assume you mean swaping the wheels (i.e. you have a complete spare set of wheels with the summer tyres on)? If so then yes do it yourself.

A trolley jack would be easier and you should put axel stands under the car too.

Make sure the bolts are tightend to the correct torque which is 120Nm I think. Check if you have directional tyres (it will say in the sidewall) and if so make sure you put them on the right side.

[Bratty]

The summer set should have been marked up when they were taken off (as should the winter set), ie. chalk mark on inner sidewall eg.LF-Left front, RR-Right rear. That way you can keep the tyres with the same wear characteristics on the same axle, if not you would be advised to measure the depths of tread and pair up the best match Fronts and Backs. Also it is reccommended to get the set going on re-balanced (I personally do not bother:Blush: but it can bite you in the derrier! (wheel wobble, early bearing failure and other horror stories!).

Changing your own wheels over using the vehicle equipment supplied will give you the advantage of knowing where and how the bits work and where they are located ie. locking wheel nut location, jack location, jacking points etc. BEFORE!!?!! you are caught in heavy rain with a flat tyre having to call the AA cause you are stumped as to how it works;).

How was the ski-ing? Take it the winter tyres were OK?

Dunk

[Eddo1968]

Thanks for your replies! I have complete sets for winter and summer - 17" and 18" respectively, so it's just a case of putting them on. When the garage took off my summer tyres last time they chalk-marked them.

Unfortunately I won't have access to the trolley jack and axel stands - hopefully it won't be a problem?

Re the skiing - I'm going next week and hoping that I'll get to try the tyres in snowy conditions because since I bought them in early Jan it's been mild!

Good idea to get to know how to change the wheels before a flat in the dark!

[iwaters]

Its not a problem not having a trolley jack or stands. It just makes the job easier. The jack in the boot of the car is designed to be small and as such they are a bit fiddly for regular use.

Stands are for safety but as long as you don't put any part of your body under the car you shouldn't need them. I just put them under out of habit.

[Eddo1968]

Thanks, I've just checked on-line and the stands are quite affordable so will probably invest in a pair.

[certacito]

A word of warning, don't be as stupid as I was and stand/jump on the wrench when tightening the wheel bolts.

The locking nut adaptor has now left two big dents in the stud recess of my otherwise immaculate 19" summer alloy.

Invest in a torque wrench or pay to get them fitted by a garage. I thought it would be an easy job but in a moment of utter madness I damaged a wheel for the sake of about £40.

[ScottyUK]

Having a trolley jack and stands in one thing. Getting them in the right place without damaging anything is another.

If you do use the car's jack then mind your knuckles on the road.

;)

[certacito]

A word of warning, don't be as stupid as I was and stand/jump on the wrench when tightening the wheel bolts.

The locking nut adaptor has now left two big dents in the stud recess of my otherwise immaculate 19" summer alloy.

Invest in a torque wrench or pay to get them fitted by a garage. I thought it would be an easy job but in a moment of utter madness I damaged a wheel for the sake of about £40.

Forgot to mention that since swapping the winter to summer last week it's snowed twice and more is forecast tomorrow :(

I thought end of March would be safe even for west central Scotland!!

[vwawudi]

Forgot to mention that since swapping the winter to summer last week it's snowed twice and more is forecast tomorrow :(

I thought end of March would be safe even for west central Scotland!!

certacito, I just came online to say how glad I am that I've not changed over! Sorry mate. It's been blizzardy at work here in East Kilbride this morning!

[certacito]

certacito, I just came online to say how glad I am that I've not changed over! Sorry mate. It's been blizzardy at work here in East Kilbride this morning!

:o I know, I'm in EK now with a drive back over the M77 in a couple of hours with my summer sledges fitted.

Now, should I swap them back or is this the final fall before Spring, decisons decisions. ;)

[vwcabriolet1971]

If using the makers' car jack always chock the diagonally opposite wheel and use a block of wood under the jack to limit the effective height of the jack. This minimisers the tendency of the jack to tilt sideways.I use 2 pieces of 4 x 2 inch for this purpose. At the risk of stating the obvious, it's much easier to loosen the wheel bolts when the full car weight is on the wheels . i.e. before using the jack. Also the wheel bolt wrench should always be used in a downward direction . I'm always amazed to see some owners pulling up the wrench straining their bent back. It hurts my back just to watch ! Much easier to use your body weight to push down !
Wire brush bolts to remove rust and apply a little copper anti-seize to the bolt threads ( none on the underside contoured face of the bolt ! ) and your wheel bolts should not seize .

[kodkod.84]

It's snowed at Easter time the last two years here in East Anglia- the winter wheels will be staying on until May!

[vwawudi]

It's snowed at Easter time the last two years here in East Anglia- the winter wheels will be staying on until May!

Easy Anglia was funny!

[legendamongus]

I'd invest in a trolley jack if you want to do it yourself. You can get decent quality ones for £30-40 and it makes it much easier to change wheels over. The standard jack is rubbish IMO - daft design that means you're guaranteed to spend far too long lifting the car and will probably end up scraping your knuckles on the road as well. I use a hockey puck on the top of mine with a groove cut out to fit the standard jacking points, and other grooves on the underside so that it fits the jack plate. Works pretty well.

I personally wouldn't bother with axle stands if you're only going to change wheels quickly. I'd just lift one corner, swap the wheel and move to the next one. It's not really in the air long enough to warrant the use of stands IMO.

As others have said though, make sure you chock the opposite corner, and leave the car in gear with the handbrake on.

[SC03OTT]

If using the makers' car jack always chock the diagonally opposite wheel and use a block of wood under the jack to limit the effective height of the jack. This minimisers the tendency of the jack to tilt sideways.I use 2 pieces of 4 x 2 inch for this purpose. At the risk of stating the obvious, it's much easier to loosen the wheel bolts when the full car weight is on the wheels . i.e. before using the jack. Also the wheel bolt wrench should always be used in a downward direction . I'm always amazed to see some owners pulling up the wrench straining their bent back. It hurts my back just to watch ! Much easier to use your body weight to push down !
Wire brush bolts to remove rust and apply a little copper anti-seize to the bolt threads ( none on the underside contoured face of the bolt ! ) and your wheel bolts should not seize .

I agree with everything here apart from that in bold. I'd advise against pushing down towards the ground when either loosening to tightening bolts. If you slip, you will be punching the ground with a large force. Que a trip to A&E with a fractured hand. If the wheel bolts are torque correctly, you won't need to put that much force into removing them anyway.

A good set of axle stands and a trolley jack is also a good investment. You'd be surprised how often you'll use them once you have them.

[Big Bird]

A good set of axle stands and a trolley jack is also a good investment. You'd be surprised how often you'll use them once you have them.:beerchug:

Totally agree with this. I also got a proper nut wrench at the same time. Lost count how often it's been used.

[legendamongus]

I'd advise against pushing down towards the ground when either loosening to tightening bolts.

I find that loosening bolts is easier if you locate the wrench on the bolt with the handle parallel to the ground and just stand on it with one hand on the roof to steady yourself. Probably looks a bit weird to passers by but it makes the initial loosening much easier. For tightening, torque wrench wherever possible.

[Eddo1968]

Ok, so I should add a torque wrench to the eve-growing shopping list :)

Amazing that it's still snowing in Scotland. Here in Paris, spring has definitely arrived, although hopefully not in the Alps yet!!

[theskyfox]

Bought my tyres from kwik fit (Summer and winter) and just drop in to them with the wheels in the car. They swap them over for free..takes them about 10 minutes.

-Andrew

[certacito]

Trolley Jack, axle stands & chocks for £15

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?isSearch=true&fh_search=+0000005307142&x=11&y=14

[certacito]

......... if you locate the wrench on the bolt with the handle parallel to the ground and just stand on it with one hand on the roof to steady yourself............


This is exactly what damaged my summer alloy when the locking nut key left two deep dents.

[vwcabriolet1971]

I agree with everything here apart from that in bold. I'd advise against pushing down towards the ground when either loosening to tightening bolts. If you slip, you will be punching the ground with a large force. Que a trip to A&E with a fractured hand. If the wheel bolts are torque correctly, you won't need to put that much force into removing them anyway.

A good set of axle stands and a trolley jack is also a good investment. You'd be surprised how often you'll use them once you have them.
I've removed wheels hundreds of times over many years of servicing the family cars and have never even touched my hand on the ground when pushing down with the wheel wrench let alone injured my hand. If the wrench is correctly angled and the bolts are not seized then this method is not a problem . Longer telescopic wrenches should be used if the bolts are seized. These wrenches are sold in the supermarkets for only a few pounds. If the bolts were seized then they should be attended to as in my previous post.
The idea of standing on a wheel wrench makes me go cold all over. One slip and you could get a deep gouge down the side of your leg.
It only takes about the time it takes to give your car a quick wash , to remove wheel bolts one at a time and give them a wire brush and a little copper anti seize on the threads . Could save a lot of time/expense at the roadside.

[iwaters]

I've removed wheels hundreds of times over many years of servicing the family cars and have never even touched my hand on the ground when pushing down with the wheel wrench let alone injured my hand. If the wrench is correctly angled and the bolts are not seized then this method is not a problem . Longer telescopic wrenches should be used if the bolts are seized. These wrenches are sold in the supermarkets for only a few pounds. If the bolts were seized then they should be attended to as in my previous post.
The idea of standing on a wheel wrench makes me go cold all over. One slip and you could a deep gouge down the side of your leg.

Yes I've done myself a mischief standing on the wrench. :o

I use a windy gun now, no worries. Annoys the neighboughs having the compressor running though! ;)

[kodkod.84]

I got a 12v impact wrench from machine mart that plugs into the cigarette lighter socket, it is better than I thought it would be for £25 ;)

[certacito]

I got a 12v impact wrench from machine mart that plugs into the cigarette lighter socket

Can you set the torque on this as I think I saw that it goes up to 350nm which would be too high?

[Sportwag]

I don't have winter tyres but I want to switch the fronts to the rear so that I can get rid of all four Pirelli Cinturato banana skins at once. Couple of questions: -

Where is it safe to raise the car using a trolley jack and to locate axle stands without causing any damage underneath?

The wheels havent been removed since the car was delivered new - are the wheels likely to have seized onto the hubs?

[iwaters]

I don't have winter tyres but I want to switch the fronts to the rear so that I can get rid of all four Pirelli Cinturato banana skins at once. Couple of questions: -

Where is it safe to raise the car using a trolley jack and to locate axle stands without causing any damage underneath?

The wheels havent been removed since the car was delivered new - are the wheels likely to have seized onto the hubs?

The jacking points are on the sills just behind the front wheel and just in front of the rear wheel. If you look there you will see the chassis metal protruding.

I doubt very much the wheels are seized onto the hubs. If by some chance they are just bump them off by tapping (quite hard) the back of the wheel with a rubber mallet.

[legendamongus]

The idea of standing on a wheel wrench makes me go cold all over. One slip and you could get a deep gouge down the side of your leg.

I see your point, but so long as you're careful and make sure that the wrench is well seated on the bolt, it works surprisingly well. You wouldn't think it but it's quite easy to control the downwards pressure by moving your weight, and if you only use one foot, which is what I should have said in my previous post, you can use the other on the ground to prevent you falling off it. I've done it often and no accidents thus far (touch wood).
Obviously I wouldn't suggest it for undoing every bolt but for those that have seized its an alright method when you're at the side of the road without your tool set. Good points made by certacito about the locking nut, the shape of it does make it harder to seat securely.


Can you set the torque on this as I think I saw that it goes up to 350nm which would be too high?
If this is the Clarke one that Machine Mart sells, you can't change the torque setting. I got one last year to undo bolts and didn't like it at all to be honest. Wheel bolts should always be torqued up with a proper torque wrench though, makes them easier to get off in the future and if they are over tightened then they can shear off. Not good.

[vwcabriolet1971]

I see your point, but so long as you're careful and make sure that the wrench is well seated on the bolt, it works surprisingly well. You wouldn't think it but it's quite easy to control the downwards pressure by moving your weight, and if you only use one foot, which is what I should have said in my previous post, you can use the other on the ground to prevent you falling off it. I've done it often and no accidents thus far (touch wood).
Obviously I wouldn't suggest it for undoing every bolt but for those that have seized its an alright method when you're at the side of the road without your tool set. Good points made by certacito about the locking nut, the shape of it does make it harder to seat securely.


If this is the Clarke one that Machine Mart sells, you can't change the torque setting. I got one last year to undo bolts and didn't like it at all to be honest. Wheel bolts should always be torqued up with a proper torque wrench though, makes them easier to get off in the future and if they are over tightened then they can shear off. Not good.
I'm not aware of any impact wrench ( air or electric driven) that can be adjusted to a precision torque setting . The impact wrenches apply a rapid succession of suddenly applied loads which are completely different to the gradually applied load of a conventional torque wrench. The impact wrenches are excellent at loosening seized bolts but should not be used for tightening them.If no torque wrench is available then if the bolt threads are clean from rust and the makers wrench is used with a modicum of sense /torque then the final actual tightening torque will not be far away from the correct value.
I've seen tyre fitters using "click" type torque wrenches applying excessive torque long after the wrench has "clicked". So you can't always assume because a torque wrench was used, that the wheels were correctly tightened.
Rust is the big problem with seized wheel bolts. Had a Audi TT driver trying to replace a flat tyre just down the road from me . He couldn't undo the bolts as they were almost seized solid. I volunteered the use of my long breaker bar to undo the bolts . He nearly bent my high tensile steel one metre bar and the wheel bolts came loose with an almighty crack ! When removed the bolts were found to be very heavily corroded. If left long enough to corrode, bolts will require to be drilled out.

[Zafi]

I doubt very much the wheels are seized onto the hubs. If by some chance they are just bump them off by tapping (quite hard) the back of the wheel with a rubber mallet.

Mine were stuck tight. To get them free I loosened all 5 nuts and rocked the car side to side, then jack it up again. This was 2 days after the salesman claimed the wheels had been balanced as I felt a slight wobble at 80 mph :mad:

A good clean up and smear with copper grease meant that the Winter wheels came off trouble free after 4 months :)

[nudger2000]

On this topic...

I know this is probably a little basic for most people on this site but:

If I ordered four rims with winter tyres on from somewhere like mytyres.com, if the tyres are balanced already on the new steel wheels, then I should be able to fit them directly as if changing the tyre with a puncture as mentioned above.

If I am switching over from Audi alloys to steel wheels, are separate nuts required and are they likely to come with the wheels? Sorry if this is a stupid question but I've never had to purchase wheels before..

What do people recommend as the best way to store the not-in-use wheels with tyres?

Thanks for your help

[Bratty]

As far as I can remember there is a difference between the wheel bolts, steels should be ball shaped at the mating face and alloys cone shaped, but it might depend on the manufacturer (I used my alloy (cone) bolts on my old winter steels and they did not fall off but they do RING the surface which will in turn damage the alloy).

Remember to mark the wheels with their positions as it will make refitting simpler ie. you can swap the fronts to the backs or visa-versa but you do not want to be mixing differing tread wear on same axles.

Best storage method is a wheel tree "Google:- Felgenbaum" (lap dancing pole that has 4 supports on it for the centers of the wheels) where the tyres are not in contact with anything (can cause deformation if layed flat with all the wheels on top of each other. At worst store them upright in breathable bags (to protect the rubber from UV damage).

Dunk

[Bratty]

If using the makers' car jack always chock the diagonally opposite wheel and use a block of wood under the jack to limit the effective height of the jack. This minimisers the tendency of the jack to tilt sideways.I use 2 pieces of 4 x 2 inch for this purpose. At the risk of stating the obvious, it's much easier to loosen the wheel bolts when the full car weight is on the wheels . i.e. before using the jack. Also the wheel bolt wrench should always be used in a downward direction . I'm always amazed to see some owners pulling up the wrench straining their bent back. It hurts my back just to watch ! Much easier to use your body weight to push down !
Wire brush bolts to remove rust and apply a little copper anti-seize to the bolt threads ( none on the underside contoured face of the bolt ! ) and your wheel bolts should not seize .


I was doing a main wheel change on a Boeing 737 end of last week, which has an initial torque on the single (BIG:DNUT) of 750Nm (the Tqwrench was set up wrongly (long story!) and it was more like 800-850Nm, I was pushing downwards as it was basically my whole bodyweight, IT SLIPPED OFF THE NUT! All I can say is that I have a whole month of physio to look forward to:o:o! Murphys Law struck again.

Dunk

[certacito]

Just bought a 'wheel tree' that fits tyres up to 295mm wide on eBay.de for Euro 30,67 delivered to Scotland.

Item number was 290380868132 if anyone is interested.