I have a SUV which has long travel suspension - so the scissor jack has to be screwed all the way to get a wheel off the ground - but I discovered that if I use a wood block 3-4" inches thick it makes the job a lot easier, particularly when doing a diagonal rotation to keep the wear even (recommended on a 4wd).

Well done you. I'm in my 55th year and wouls think twice about fighting with a wheel change although I probably would at home.

Effort for me is not jacking but undoing the wheel nuts.

I think the handles they give you are probably designed to prevent dopes from over tightening the wheel fasteners. Hence not man enough to undo them when they have been on a while, or have been overtightened by tyre monkeys.

When I had the Land Rover there was no way I would ever be able to shift the wheel nuts with the standard handle (big studs and nuts). I bought a 2ft breaker bar. which just fitted in the underseat box

goo.gl/wTkDre

It now lives in the Outlander boot where it lies against the lower tailgate and takes no room up. Very little resists it, but you have to remember to grip it 9 inches from the business end if putting the wheel back on without a torque wrench!

Not as good but a lot better then the usual tool supplied is one of these -

goo.gl/5vEHq1

one of which lives which lives in her car, and with sockets. Often seen in WIlko/tool shops/supermarkets.

When I was working in Rome three or four of us were walking to a Chinese restaurant for a meal - what else ? - when we came across a power dressed young woman balancing on a tyre wrench and bouncing up and down in a vain attempt to loosen the wheelnut. I acted like a gentleman and asked in sign language could I help. I always wear stout shoes so an application of boot solved the problem, as it did last week on my own car. . I'm sure that the tyre fitters don't need to put so much force on the nuts. When I came to put the spare on for her I saw that it had a swelling on the tyre wall. I fold her about this with throat cutting gestures, but she claimed not to understand. My boss, who was with me, snarled to put it on and at least get the young woman home. She thanked me by offering me a cigarette.

Was thinking about Bathtub Tom's post today, had to do a quick job to the family Aygo, wheelbolts and a thin spigot of no use for holding the wheel in place whilst lining up, fortunately really light wheels with sensible tyres.

As per Bathtub's mention about MB's fitment, it would be very easy for the sensible owner to take one of their wheelbolts into an engineers type stores and buy 6" of suitable threaded rod and by screwing that into a bolt hole about *half a dozen turns* would make a jolly useful locating tool to hang the wheel on whilst lining bolt holes up properly.

**would be easy to measure the exact length of a wheelbolt thread, then rough up the rod thread at the right point so it couldn't inadvertantly be screwed in too far and mess anything up inside the drum...a basic cheap pair of pliers, whilst never out the way, would be worth keeping in the kit for this purpose.

edit..Hillman, ever the gentleman, and as a true gentleman would, noted and appreciated how nicely dressed the young lady was, well done H..:-)

Edited by gordonbennet on 30/08/2014 at 20:51