Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

I have changed numerous tyres at the roadside. It can be done quite easily. I had issues with one wheel which had ‘stuck’ to the hub - severe kicks with my size 11s didn’t make any difference. Luckily I was able to be a hammer which sorted it out. If you are going to buy a spare wheel and tools, make sure you get a decent wheel brace - I’ve had one bend (Renault I think) to the point it was unusable.

Quite likely! It was jolly quick.

This. Deffo carry a hefty extendable brace with a decent quality socket. All the manufacturer-supplied ones are a token gesture at best, made from horse hair and rusk.

Use plenty of copper slip when re-fitting wheels to make sure they’re less likely to fuse to their hub.

Wheel theft is much less common these days; back in the day a mate had a lovely Seat Ibiza Mk1 SXi with the original multi-spoke wheels which were constantly targeted to the point where he just stuck it on steels…

Changing the wheels from winter - summer - winter every year definitely makes it easier, as they’ve never been in place for more than 6 mo.
If the wheels have been on for a couple years/winters, I imagine it could be quite the ordeal.

I had all 4 wheels nicked off a Mondeo ST220 in Maida Vale. Left on blocks. This was with security nuts. Dedicated thief will just hammer a socket into them

I am considering removing the locking bolts, but suspect if I’d have fitted the wheels in the first place I’d been able to get them off as I would have used anti-fuse paste and not whaled on them with a gun.

Thieves round our way are in to cats, but not alloys as they are all scuffed to fuck anyway.

That’s savage, proper caricature crime business.

It had the front bumper nicked as well - can't remember if that was the same incident or separate. I moved shortly afterwards and swapped it for an Accord estate

triumph tr owners having a day out, spotted at the swan in hanley swan nr malvern today, 7 all together

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n00b question but my MOT runs out when I am not around, can I get it done before?

Can get it done up to a month before the expiry and have it last until a year after it expires (if that makes sense).

Up to a month beforehand and still retain the original date IIRC.

super thank you

On the tyre changing business....

We were on the way to the woods when the kids were baby and toddler and had a flat. I thought it was the perfect time to just call the breakdown cover. I can't remember their time frame, but it was totally unrealistic so I did it in a bus stop on a hill.

It was totally stuck. I tried kicking it. Nothing. So thanks to the joys of modernity I watched a YouTube video, which helpfully explained that I should put it on my garage lift and tap round the inside of the rim using my rubber mallet.

Not having either with me, I wrapped a plastic bag and bungy around the wrench to make a rubber mallet and followed the same method. It worked!

Renault 19 16v

I'd forgotten all about these.

I'm sure it's more than nostalgia, but weren't Renaults nicer back in the day?

I'd say it's successor, the Megane, has gone through a number of decent iterations. But they all got progressively dumpier it's true, however, the new model is a slick piece of design. I don't even know if there's a hot Clio any more?

Back on tyre changing -

Does anyone have any recommendations for a decent wheel nut wrench (or brace)?

I'm unsure whether to sink £50 on a heavy duty long ratchet driver or just get something specific like this telescoping product from Lazer.

Just get the telescoping one. Once they're cracked you shouldn't need to ratchet them off right? Just need maximum leverage.

Or get an ugga dugga

^this.

I keep meaning to get something similar.

Top tip is to ask the garage/tyre place not to blast the ugga dugga at your wheel bolts but instead torque them to spec. The air ratchet will almost certainly be far tighter than it needs to be.

That said I could not get the old place to do this, so I got into the habit of slackening the bolts with a breaker bar and then torquing to spec whenever it'd been in for wheel work.

They shouldn't be using the impact on a locking bolt anyway.

I may be too late - but something between the two would be best.

I've got a nice long 1/2 breaker bar that has never failed to get a wheel nut off. As suggested - ratchet is pointless - but those telescopy ones can flex if it's on tight. You want something long and stiff (oooooeeeerrrr).

https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/streetwize-strong-arm-breaker-bar-553998790

This is kind of why I wanted the long ratchet initially. I don't think ratcheting is pointless as in my experience having some control over the angle of the tool beyond what the orientation of the bolt allows is valuable.

You'd still have some control over that, even with a locking bolt, as you can put the 1/2 in driver in 4 different orientations.