Changing a flat tire.... with a sledgehammer??

On 10/24/2011 12:39 PM, Leon Fisk wrote:
> On Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:08:28 -0400
> "Existential > wrote:
>
> <snip>
>> Should I grease the rim/hub contact area? A number of people have told me
>> not to. Heat issues? A high-temp grease?
>> Maybe fabricate some kind of shim? Alum? Nylon?
>>
>> How about greasing lug nuts? I need to use a pipe on the lug wrench, and
>> sometimes I think the stud is going to break off with the g-d nut. Mebbe
>> anti-seize compound, or loctite?
>
> I've used wheel-bearing grease for the rim/hub contact area and
> whatever is in my general purpose oil can (usually ~30wt motor oil) for
> the lug nuts for many years.

flung oil/grease rots tire rubber. not a great idea. stick to
anti-seize. one tub will last hundreds of wheels.


> My truck is a Chevy 1982 K10 (bought it
> new) and I've never had any nuts come loose and a rim has never stuck
> on the hub. I always use a 4-way lug wrench to finish torquing down the
> lug nuts. Learned my lessons with impact wrenches, nuts coming loose,
> nuts too tight, stuck rims... when I was still a teenager. Don't want
> to repeat any of them nowadays, except maybe being that old again,
> provided I can take along my accumulated knowledge ;-)
>


--
nomina rutrum rutrum

On 10/24/2011 09:08 AM, Existential Angst wrote:
> Had to sledgehammer the flat tire/rim off the hub, it had rusted on so
> hard -- which is strange, bec the tires had been rotated a month or two
> ago.
>
> I've had to kick rims off hubs before, but never sledgehammer it off -- and
> I'm not talking taps, I'm talking full swings. I almost gave up!! The wood
> I used to protect the rim edge was destroyed.
> Had this flat occurred anywhere but right outside my shop, it woulda needed
> towing.
> It was a full 1/2 hour workout -- I needed a nappypoo afterwards.

don't use a sledge - you can brinell wheel bearings. loosen the lugs
so there's a small gap between them and the wheel, then drive around the
block and brake hard. that'll do it. once loose, tighten again and
drive back home. it'll come off easy then.


>
> Should I grease the rim/hub contact area? A number of people have told me
> not to. Heat issues? A high-temp grease?
> Maybe fabricate some kind of shim? Alum? Nylon?

use anti-seize. grease/oil flings and gets on tire rubber and even
brake disks. bad idea.


>
> How about greasing lug nuts? I need to use a pipe on the lug wrench, and
> sometimes I think the stud is going to break off with the g-d nut. Mebbe
> anti-seize compound, or loctite?

anti-seize is fine. just don't over-do it. loctite is good too, though
/much/ more expensive. loctite has the benefit of not over-lubricating
the stud and upsetting the wheel torque settings while still sealing
against corrosion. with anti-seize on the lug threads, you may need to
back off factory torque spec a little.


--
nomina rutrum rutrum

On 10/24/2011 04:33 PM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
> Years ago, I had that problem with my Dodge Van. Rear wheels
> would stick on. My answer to get a very small grinding wheel
> for my drill. Maybe inch diameter. I jacked up the back, one
> wheel only. Chock the fronts. Took the wheel off (heat and
> beat). Started up the motor, and with great nervousness, I
> put the shift in reverse. Only one hub spun, but it spun
> good.
>
> Used the small grinding wheel in the drill, and made the hub
> smaller. Turn off the engine, and the hub stopped turning.
> Jack up the other side, and do that one too. Grind the hub
> down.
>
> The wheels went on on and off, OK, afterwards, that way.
>

grinding/abrasive wheels are a bad idea. they remove metal as well as
rust. taken to extremes [repeated operations over time], they can lead
to out-of-round conditions.

best to use a bladed scraper that doesn't remove metal and keeps
surfaces flat. or a wire brush/wheel if you insist on being motorized.


--
nomina rutrum rutrum

On 10/24/2011 2:10 PM, jim beam wrote:
> On 10/24/2011 01:59 PM, dsi1 wrote:
>> On 10/24/2011 9:13 AM, Gunner Asch wrote:
>>
>>> I always use antiseize on my lug nuts and tighten them down by hand.
>>> Ive never found a need to torgue them to any set range. And they come
>>> off reasonably well also.
>>
>> I just lean on the socket/breaker bar to tighten the nuts. My friend
>> always insists on using a torque wrench which is a drag. It's better to
>> develop a feel for torque for most nuts/bolts. Not all of them, of
>> course. :-)
>
> good luck on that delusion of adequacy. if you've ever tested your
> torques using this method vs the torque wrench, you'll find two things:
>
> 1. you're way off - seldom does even an experienced mechanic get within
> 20% of actual.
>
> 2. they're entirely inconsistent nut to nut.
>
> even a $35 torque wrench from woolmort can give you better results than
> that.
>
> all this may be less relevant on a 50's chevy pickup, but it's an issue
> on many modern cars - see n8n's response.

My guess is that most mechanics don't use a torque wrench to tighten a
nut/bolt.

>
>
>
>>
>>>
>>> I simply tighten them to..."ugh!" and get back on the road.
>>
>> I like to tighten nuts to "eeaw!"
>>
>>> Gunner
>>>
>>> One could not be a successful Leftwinger without realizing that,
>>> in contrast to the popular conception supported by newspapers
>>> and mothers of Leftwingers, a goodly number of Leftwingers are
>>> not only narrow-minded and dull, but also just stupid.
>>> Gunner Asch
>>
>
>

"dsi1" > wrote in message news:j84va3$tn6>
> My guess is that most mechanics don't use a torque wrench to tighten a
> nut/bolt.
>


You may be right.. In this town, no professional mechanic uses a torque
wrench
on the lugs..

I do, but I am not running a business.. When I take my car for rotation, I
take my
own torque wrench, set at the appropriate level, and have them torque the
star
pattern.

They once asked me why.. And I told them that if you dont do this, you risk
having your rotors warp and may have to turn the discs.. They said "Nobody
in town does this. And I hope the people dont find out"

Whether you accept this or not, this is my way of doing things and I demand
that it be done. I never have to have rotors turned when I demand that
this
be followed.

dsi1 > fired this volley in news:j84va3
:

> My guess is that most mechanics don't use a torque wrench to tighten a
> nut/bolt.
>

My guess is that some well-established tire centers not only use a torque
wrench, but have described tables of torque for each size/make vehicle
model.

I recently got tires for my wife's care at "Discount Tire". They pre-
torqued everything with a wimpy setting on an air impact wrench, then
carefully (I watched they guy set the wrench) dialed in a click-torquer,
and went around to every lug on every tire. I was watching, mostly out
of boredom, until they got around to that -- then I took notice. I asked
about it, and they have a book of settings per make/model/wheel size. A
good job, done right.

Don't assume until you ask.

LLoyd

On 10/24/2011 2:26 PM, hls wrote:
>
> "dsi1" > wrote in message news:j84va3$tn6>
>> My guess is that most mechanics don't use a torque wrench to tighten a
>> nut/bolt.
>>
>
>
> You may be right.. In this town, no professional mechanic uses a torque
> wrench
> on the lugs..
>
> I do, but I am not running a business.. When I take my car for rotation,
> I take my
> own torque wrench, set at the appropriate level, and have them torque
> the star
> pattern.
>
> They once asked me why.. And I told them that if you dont do this, you risk
> having your rotors warp and may have to turn the discs.. They said "Nobody
> in town does this. And I hope the people dont find out"
>
> Whether you accept this or not, this is my way of doing things and I demand
> that it be done. I never have to have rotors turned when I demand that this
> be followed.

I've always seen tire guys using a torque wrench as a final tightening
in this town. Sometimes they're call a special wheel tightening monkey
to do the job. At least the supervisors got something to do.

On 10/24/2011 2:26 PM, Lloyd E. Sponenburgh wrote:
> > fired this volley in news:j84va3
> :
>
>> My guess is that most mechanics don't use a torque wrench to tighten a
>> nut/bolt.
>>
>
> My guess is that some well-established tire centers not only use a torque
> wrench, but have described tables of torque for each size/make vehicle
> model.
>
> I recently got tires for my wife's care at "Discount Tire". They pre-
> torqued everything with a wimpy setting on an air impact wrench, then
> carefully (I watched they guy set the wrench) dialed in a click-torquer,
> and went around to every lug on every tire. I was watching, mostly out
> of boredom, until they got around to that -- then I took notice. I asked
> about it, and they have a book of settings per make/model/wheel size. A
> good job, done right.
>
> Don't assume until you ask.
>
> LLoyd

As I said, I don't use a torque wrench to tighten lug nuts. I'm not a
professional but I'm aware that the tire guys have a procedure to
tighten the wheel nuts.

OTOH, the reality is that most mechanics don't use a torque wrench to
tighten every fastener. Mr. Beam doesn't either. Obviously, sometimes
we'll use a torque wrench - I mean, we're not animals here.

dsi1 > fired this volley in news:j85008$27s
:

> Sometimes they're call a special wheel tightening monkey
> to do the job. At least the supervisors got something to do.
>
>

In fact, that's what Discount Tire does. The tire monkey changes and pre-
torques everything. ANOTHER guy comes by with the torker, makes a show of
looking up the setting and setting the wrench, then does every lugnut.

It may be partly for 'show', but it's the right way to do it.

LLoyd

On 10/24/2011 2:47 PM, Lloyd E. Sponenburgh wrote:
> > fired this volley in news:j85008$27s
> :
>
>> Sometimes they're call a special wheel tightening monkey
>> to do the job. At least the supervisors got something to do.
>>
>>
>
> In fact, that's what Discount Tire does. The tire monkey changes and pre-
> torques everything. ANOTHER guy comes by with the torker, makes a show of
> looking up the setting and setting the wrench, then does every lugnut.
>
> It may be partly for 'show', but it's the right way to do it.
>
> LLoyd

My guess is that their insurance underwriters will insist that they do
it. It seems like a prudent thing to do.