Or the outgoing VW Passat system, you remove one bolt, screw in a guide bar before removing the rest of the bolts, remove the wheel. Then slide spare wheel over the guide bar, insert 4 bolts before removing guide bar and replacing last bolt.
StarGazer
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No I don't, the wheel slips down. To present the wheel correctly it has to be spot on. Lowering it on the jack wouold also have to be mm perfect too.
When you have a perfectly sensible way of doing something - studs onto which you screw bolts - why use a stupid way?
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No I don't, the wheel slips down.
Ouch.
::[sympathy]::
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I hope the engineer who came up with this mounting system did well out of it; a pay rise or promotion perhaps.
He or she reduced the numbers of parts significantly, removed the tight tolerance to obtain an interference fit between stud and hub, and removed the operation of pressing the studs into the hub from the assembly process. Bravo!
Most mounting and dismounting of wheels is done under workshop conditions, and while it is difficult to change them in the dark by the roadside, it is possible.
While there are difficulties in the design of F1 cars and the likes of Ferraris, being able to thow money at the design does ease the situation. A good engineer is one who can make for a shilling what any fool could make for a pound.
Number_Cruncher
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I hope the engineer who came up with this mounting system did well out of it; a pay rise or promotion perhaps.
I must disagree with you for once, NC. It's a clever change from the point of view that you explain, but there is more to car maintenance than the workshop.
Most wheel-changing may well be done there, but not all. The most urgent maintenance is done at the roadside.
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>>The most urgent maintenance is done at the roadside.
Yes, I agree, that's very true.
However, we all want to buy cheaper cars, and the cost savings required to achieve this have to be made somewhere. For most people, for most of the time, the method of wheel attachment is not of any concern.
I don't think many car purchase decisions have been swayed by the presence or absence of wheel studs!
Number_Cruncher
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However, we all want to buy cheaper cars,
Not all of us; some want cars built to a quality standard. Then others sneer and call us badge snobs. ;-)
What worries me is that people think they are getting cheaper cars "for free", but they are not. The cost savings are made in areas they won't notice until too late.
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>>The cost savings are made in areas they won't notice until too late.
This is an excellent point. However, in terms of wheel security, bolts are adequate, as are studs.
Most car buying dullards are, unfortunately, more interested in the "quality" of the interior trim, and in some peculiar, meaningless, term, "build quality". So, the type of leather graining on the gear knob is seen by and commented upon by many, but vitally important "oily bits" are only considered by the discerning few.
That marketing has undoubtedly triumphed over engineering in automotive design is one of many reasons why I don't work, and wouldn't consider working for a motor manufacturer!
>>Then others sneer and call us badge snobs. ;-)
Perish the thought!
While many who buy Porsche do so for the badge and the status, Porsche make IM(alas limited!)O very well engineered cars.
Number_Cruncher
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I quite agree,but you could line up one hole with the wheel on the ground,insert bolt then use it as a pivot to lift wheel and bring other holes into alignment.Easier with car in gear for FWD.
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OK I've lined the holes up, I've slid the bolt into the hole on the wheel. I grasp the wheel with both hands and present it to the hub (without rotating it by even 1mm) Which hand do I use to screw the bolt in while I'm keeping the wheel steady?
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You grasp the wrench with your knees and use that of course.
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I'm with you Nsar, it's a right royal pain in the bum, my old beetle used to be like this, the way I did it was to support the wheel on my foot, then you can lift it into place using just one hand to steady it and the other to insert the bolt.
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OK,if you cannot hold the wheel with one hand lower the jack until they are aligned.I am not defending this cheapskate way of making cars,they should all have studs,butI have done it the way descibed.
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I think I would have discovered the problem much earlier when doing a regular wheels off check.
I think I would have obtained a couple of lengths of studding and cut a slot in one end of each. Plus a small screwdriver.
With the wheel off screw in the two studs
Pop on the wheel.
Screw in two of the bolts.
Remove the studs using a screw driver if required.
Restore those bits with the spare wheel, short plank etc.
Oh and some black sacks for the spare when it is resting on your passengers lap.
I am told motoring IS fun!
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My old Alfa (not this one, it doesnt have a spare!!) came with a red "guide bolt", which is as Henry K described above, you screwed it in, put the wheel on using the guide, put the rest of the bolts in, removed the guide bolt and put proper bolt in. Easy.
Also, be aware that with the run flat tyres the makers do say you can't repair any punctures, once punctured they're knackered.
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Saw a Range Rover the other day running on a run-flat tyre. Going very slowly and you could hear the noise of the tyre from some distance away. Looked extremely uncomfortable, too.
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Eh?? Do your hubs not have a boss on them that fits inside a recess on the wheel?
>>I was just going to say that!
--
L'escargot.>>
So was I.
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>> Eh?? Do your hubs not have a boss on them >> that fits inside a recess on the wheel? >>I was just going to say that! -- L'escargot.>> So was I.
I wasn't.
But I was thinking it.
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>> >> Eh?? Do your hubs not have a boss on them >> >> that fits inside a recess on the wheel? >> >> >>I was just going to say that! >> -- >> L'escargot.>> >> >> >> So was I. >> I wasn't. But I was thinking it.
ESP
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Don't see many people changing a flat tyre these days. Most stand forlornly by the side of the road with a mobile phone to their ear - in an incapable sort of way.
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There is no way that my 5'4" wife who only weighs 8 stone wringing wet could change a 17" wheel and tyre. She woudlnt even be able to get it out of the boot of a goona for instance.
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There is no way that my 5'4" wife who only weighs 8 stone wringing wet could change a 17" wheel and tyre.
I'll always change it myself IF safe to do so. This generally means that I'll do the nearside but not the offside unless I can go somewhere away from the road.
As for Mrs P, RF, imagine 5'1" and a 19" X5 wheel ..... no chance!
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