Emergency Tire Replacement Help Needed

[patsparks]

The spare wheel in my Toyota Crown was made in 1968, still looks as good as the day it was made because it was stored in a dry dark place. Except for the fact it is a cross ply tyre I would have no issues with using the tyre which has never been on the road. All the tyres that have been exposed to the elements have been replaced even though the car has only 17,000 miles on it. I would have an issue with a tyre which was exposed to the elements of sun and rain but a tyre stored out of the elements, no problem.

By the way I am not advocating using a 5 or 10 year old tyre but tyres that are a year older will be harder and wear longer. There may be reduced rolling resistance but the main thing is longer life. If you want maximum grip like on a sports car or racing then use fresh tyres but for a commuter car aged tyres are good.

[jayman]

Originally Posted by patsparks

I wouldn't use Dunlop tyres on my car ever again. I have had several Dunlop tyres fail at half tread life so have lost faith in them.

My FJ Cruiser came with Dunlop Grandtrek tires. Although they rode smoothly, the wet traction was scary - they had *no* wet road safety margin to speak of

Our roads here are poor quality, there are visible grooves where the truck traffic wears down the surface. So naturally, after a rain you have standing water in these groves up to 2cm deep. A recipie for hydroplaning

I fitted Goodyear Fortera TripleTred with less than 2,000 km on my FJ. Not sure if this tire is available in Australia, it has a very obvious directional tread pattern. Very safe in rainy weather

[jayman]

Originally Posted by Linda L

The worst thing was trying to figure out where the previous owner had hidden the wrench for the locking lugs he had installed (one on each wheel). We went over the car about three times before we found it (in the hidden compartment beneath the floor in the trunk). I was thankful that a truck driver and his wife stopped to offer assistance, as the lugs were not loosening one bit for me. Little good it does you to "know" how to change a tire when you can't loosen the lugs!

Linda

Sorry to hear about your misadventure. Your Prius vintage has a somewhat unique load capacity requirement, best to stick to the tire the Toyota dealer offers

Your problems also highlight why it's so important to practice changing the tire in the comfort and safety of your own garage or driveway. It isn't a big deal to spend 3 hours on a Saturday with a few beers in an attached garage monkeying around with the factory "jack" or figuring out how to use the wrench.

Practice makes perfect

I really have no faith in stock "jacks" as most of them are obviously intended for 1-2 uses, max. You can pick up hydraulic trolley jacks on sale - 2 ton is plenty. I also keep a 12x12 of heavy 1/2 inch plate steel as a support for the jack.

Ever try to jack up a car on a soft surface, say a gravel shoulder or soft dirt? The jack sinks into the ground, so some sort of plate really helps

Invest in a torque wrench, even a cheap one is better than none. Make sure when not in use you back off the torque value to "0." Most tire shops grossly exceed the rated torque spec of the lugnut

Those locking lugnuts are usually a waste of time. In an emergency, you're always in a panic trying to find the damn key. A professional thief can easily get around the "locking" nut feature. I always demand and put the original lugnuts back on

A dab of antiseize on the studs will also make removal of the nuts a lot easier. In a location like mine, where road salt is used in winter, it's *mandatory* to dab antiseize, or you will *never* get the nuts off

What else? Keep an eye on the pressure, I like to check mine every week.

jay