Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Do I need fancy tools to change my car tires?

My winter tires have their own rims. I've been changing them on my own with the tools provided with the car with the basics I learned back in high school. What I don't have is a that ';torque wrench'; or whatever it was called that tells you how tight the bolt is fastened. Would it be a good idea to buy one? Do I need fancy tools to change my car tires?
It is a good idea to have a torque wrench. You can tighten the wheels enough so that they won't fall off by guessing how tight you have them but there are problems from this; stud and nut damage from over tightening, rotor warp-age from uneven tightening, loss of wheel from under tightening. As a mechanic, I torque wheels to specification. Not because I can't guess well with my impact, but because I do my job properly.Do I need fancy tools to change my car tires?
I've changed wheels on all of my cars and only ever used a wheel spanner and tightened as much as I could. Never had any problems, an extendable wheel spanner is great as it gives you more leverage.
If you aren't very good with changing the tyres or are unsure in anyway its always better to be safe then sorry , when changing a tyre always becarful not to ';cross thread'; the bolt as it goes on dont force it i usually just tighten it as hard as i can with my arms when I can tighten any further I stand on it your best undoing the bolts why the wheel is on the road jack the car up raise the wheel take bolts tyre off put the new tyre on tighten bolts as far as your arms will tighten them, then let the jack go put the tyre back on the road and then check eat nut one at a time by standing on the wrench with about half your wait
Do you mean you are changing tires already on rims or putting different tires on existing rims? If the former, all you really need is a car-jack and a 4-way, both of which you can buy at your local auto parts store(you may need some bolt-loosener if the lug-nuts are rusty). If the latter, i would suggest going to a tire shop and letting them put the tires on the rims, then balance them and then put them on your car.
I have changed many tires as a do it yourselfer never using a torque wrench but now as a shop owner, a torque wrench is cheap insurance even for the do it yourselfer, you can do damage by overtightening your lug nuts and obviously by under tightening you could lose a wheel, for a do it yourselfer you can pick up a cheap torque wrench at autozone and I feel it would be worth your while
change out your tires,make sure the lugs are tight.then go to a shop and pay the guy ten bucks to check that they are tight with an impact wrench.
It would not hurt to have a torque wrench. It isn't really critical but I do it myself to my wheels. It makes me feel better to know that they are tight .

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