The Winter's Coming Winter Tires Thread

[Ironhorse]

I need new tires for my not winter wheels. The Potenza’s are wore down to the indicators. Where do we like to buy tires from these days that will give a fair price and not #### up the rims when mounting them?

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

I need new tires for my not winter wheels. The Potenza’s are wore down to the indicators. Where do we like to buy tires from these days that will give a fair price and not #### up the rims when mounting them?

Urban X.

[Ryan Coke]

Originally Posted by photon

My dad got a torque wrench says he wants to replace his winters himself this year, so I figure we can do it together.

He was just going to jack it up one corner at a time but I'm not sure I'd trust the little jack that comes with my car (or the hydraulics of a floor jack).

It seems to me like a floor jack with a couple of jack stands would be safer, but is there a way to do one corner at a time with a setup like that? Can't put the jack stand on the point where it's being jacked up obviously, would there be somewhere else to put a jack stand just for safety while doing that corner?

Also my car has some hub rings, but just thinking ahead how does one usually stop the rings from falling out of the wheel while putting the wheel on? Or are they usually tight enough that's not a problem? I suppose I could put them on the hub but they're plastic so seems like it'd be easy to damage them.

I assume just normal Princess Auto / Canadian Tire tier floor jack / jack stands are fine?

EDIT: Oh this seems cool, the jack has a place to put the jack stand in: https://www.princessauto.com/en/4000...t/PA0009133364

I do our vehicles all the time. I have the gear to do it quickly, so it saves me time vs actually having to make an appointment and bring them in anywhere.

I have a good jack, and just make sure no body parts go under the car at any point. But if in doubt, just put a jack stand beside the jack mounting point, not fully touching the car. If something happened at least it will save you.

The plastic rings can usually just get placed on the hub on the rotor, then the wheel goes onto that. Just be really aware of those…on one of our vehicles, the winters have the rings, the summers don’t. One year I put the summers on over the rings (forgot they were there) and realized once I started driving they were “wobbly”. Had to take them all off, remove the plastic rings, and put them back on.

Also, an electric impact wrench is great time and work saver, and you can get some good sales on them at Canadian tire.

[ZedMan]

I've never had an issue using just the jack on each corner at a time. Keep in mind, if you aren't using an impact wrench, always break the nuts loose on the ground. Then lift just enough that the wheel clears the ground (unless you're putting larger wheels on, then enough to clear). Then I just tighten the nuts enough to make sure the wheel is fully seated (no reefing needed). Then lower final torque on the ground.


Note that all the times when you may really be reefing on things, the vehicle is safely on the ground. Between that and never having to go under the vehicle, I think it's a reasonably safe procedure.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by ZedMan

I've never had an issue using just the jack on each corner at a time. Keep in mind, if you aren't using an impact wrench, always break the nuts loose on the ground. Then lift just enough that the wheel clears the ground (unless you're putting larger wheels on, then enough to clear). Then I just tighten the nuts enough to make sure the wheel is fully seated (no reefing needed). Then lower final torque on the ground.


Note that all the times when you may really be reefing on things, the vehicle is safely on the ground. Between that and never having to go under the vehicle, I think it's a reasonably safe procedure.

Also note - loosen the lug nuts and swap one wheel at a time. I made the mistake once, thinking it would save me time to just take off every lug nut before I began. I am not sure what happened but when I made it to the other side of the car after finishing swapping one side, the wheels were all askew.

[mrkajz44]

Pulled the winter tires off yesterday and ran into a few hitches that I'm not sure how to approach:

1) Jack appears to have a slow oil leak - seems like it was coming out where the piston extends. It worked fine for the change (I always use jack stands), but not sure I'd want to use it again. Is this something that can be fixed? My handy level is like a 4/10 so keep that in mind. Wondering if I just buy a new jack and avoid having to worry about a bad repair

2) Had a hell of a time getting lug nuts on and off this time. I use an impact driver attachment on my drill (https://www.amazon.ca/DECKER-BDCMTI-...009V5C58U?th=1), so I know it's not the ideal tool, but it's always worked before. This time, it didn't have enough juice so I had to hand screw most of the lug nuts on and off with the breaker bar. Is this an issue with the lug nuts themselves? Or should I just slurge and get a real impact gun?

[Fuzz]

1) Is it slowly dropping(assuming floor jack?)? Mine had me confused for awhile when it did this. My handle can be removed from the jack. What happens is if you put it back in in the wrong rotation, it is then limited, and can't be twisted to fully lock it out. I think I wound it all the way on, then pulled the handle, untwisted it half a turn, re-insert, then could twist all the way, if that makes sense.


2)Ya, I think your drill attachment is too weak. It claims to do 1300 inch lbs, which is ~ 108 ft lbs. That's probably an ideal number, and even if you only torque wheel nuts to 80 ft lbs, you need more force than that to break it loose.

[mrkajz44]

The jack wasn't slowly dropping - just noticed some oil drips on the bottom side after each time I jacked the car up. I don't think it was a handle problem and I did the air purge as well. I'm pretty sure it's some seal inside the jack that has a small leak, so not sure if it's worth trying to fix that or just buy a new one.

Makes sense that I might need a little more power. Any recommendations on a torque gun?

[kevman]

Hand screw with a breaker bar the whole way after you broke them free? They shouldn't be that tight. Sometimes the threads on lug nuts can gall up which can make them tough to remove and damage the threads on the studs. After a lug nut is loose it should spin the rest of the way off easily and any impact driver (or drill) has more than enough torque for that part.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by mrkajz44

The jack wasn't slowly dropping - just noticed some oil drips on the bottom side after each time I jacked the car up. I don't think it was a handle problem and I did the air purge as well. I'm pretty sure it's some seal inside the jack that has a small leak, so not sure if it's worth trying to fix that or just buy a new one.

Makes sense that I might need a little more power. Any recommendations on a torque gun?

I bought one of these years ago:


https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/m...?rq=impact#srp


They go on sale for like $50 or so fairly often.

[mrkajz44]

Originally Posted by kevman

Hand screw with a breaker bar the whole way after you broke them free? They shouldn't be that tight. Sometimes the threads on lug nuts can gall up which can make them tough to remove and damage the threads on the studs. After a lug nut is loose it should spin the rest of the way off easily and any impact driver (or drill) has more than enough torque for that part.

Yes, this was the issue. Breaking them free was easy as usual, but the drill attachment that I used wasn't strong enough to take the lug nuts off and I need to use the breaker bar the whole way (some did okay until the end of the threads). So this is maybe a lug nut problem?

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by mrkajz44

The jack wasn't slowly dropping - just noticed some oil drips on the bottom side after each time I jacked the car up. I don't think it was a handle problem and I did the air purge as well. I'm pretty sure it's some seal inside the jack that has a small leak, so not sure if it's worth trying to fix that or just buy a new one.

Makes sense that I might need a little more power. Any recommendations on a torque gun?

I use one of these for my tire changes

https://www.homedepot.ca/product/ryo...ly-/1001693104

You can buy more powerful and more expensive versions, but that one has always done the job for me

[kevman]

Originally Posted by mrkajz44

Yes, this was the issue. Breaking them free was easy as usual, but the drill attachment that I used wasn't strong enough to take the lug nuts off and I need to use the breaker bar the whole way (some did okay until the end of the threads). So this is maybe a lug nut problem?

Yup, sounds like a lug nut problem to me. And depending on how much damage the lug nuts have done to the studs, it could now be a stud problem too.

I had this happen last season to me on a set of splined lug nuts. My impact would still take them off, but you heard it impacting instead of just spinning. (If I had to guess torque, it would take around 30 ft. lbs to remove a lug nut that was already loose the rest of the way off the stud.) I bought a new set of lug nuts and they spin freely on and off again. In my case, only the top of the threads on the studs had some slight indication of wear and new studs were not required.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I bought one of these years ago:


https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/m...?rq=impact#srp


They go on sale for like $50 or so fairly often.

I got the upgraded version of that one and preference wise, I stopped using it after two seasons. It was overkill and I hated the power cable management aspect. It's still sitting in my garage collecting dust.

I am a lot happier with a breaker bar/cordless impact wrench and manual torque wrench combo than the powerful corded impact wrench and manual torque wrench combo. The lug nuts were getting scuffed from the excess power. I was also worried I'd end up almost "stripping" a lug nut after a while.

I added an inexpensive creeper stool with tool tray to my set up and I've been super happy with that addition. Easy place to toss lug nuts without them rolling around.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

I got the upgraded version of that one and preference wise, I stopped using it after two seasons. It was overkill and I hated the power cable management aspect. It's still sitting in my garage collecting dust.

I am a lot happier with a breaker bar/cordless impact wrench and manual torque wrench combo than the powerful corded impact wrench and manual torque wrench combo. The lug nuts were getting scuffed from the excess power. I was also worried I'd end up almost "stripping" a lug nut after a while.

I added an inexpensive creeper stool with tool tray to my set up and I've been super happy with that addition. Easy place to toss lug nuts without them rolling around.

I need to get a creeper stool.

I do use the electric impact gun from Canadian Tire, for me it's been a game changer. Not sure why by a couple of years ago I broke 3 studs taking lug nuts off and the CP consensus was it may have been due to side loading using the breaker bar. Zero issues since then and the power cord is a minor issue for me. Still thread them on by hand however and use a manual torque wrench.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

I need to get a creeper stool.

I do use the electric impact gun from Canadian Tire, for me it's been a game changer. Not sure why by a couple of years ago I broke 3 studs taking lug nuts off and the CP consensus was it may have been due to side loading using the breaker bar. Zero issues since then and the power cord is a minor issue for me. Still thread them on by hand however and use a manual torque wrench.

Perhaps it was the layout of my garage. Of course I could do the Tiktok method and stick a tennis ball in the tire gap so that the cord doesn't get snagged, but nah. Nothing against the corded ones. I was just happier with the cordless. Plus it fits in the tool tray of the creeper stool quite nicely.

For me, I like loosening with the breaker bar because I can kinda feel if something has seized. It didn't feel right and feels a little concerning to me if the impact wrench is clicking and clacking for half a dozen times before the lug nut comes off, especially when I can start to see the edges of the lug nut start to wear off from the socket after only a few times using that method. Of course that's also an indicator that my lug nuts are properly tightened, but still, I couldn't find that right balance of comfort, convenience and "this is normal" if I was potentially turning the lug nuts into cylinders by using that overpowered impact wrench long term.

[Fuzz]

Something just doesn't sound right with what you are doing, because the impact gun shouldn't have any bearing on damaging wheel nuts. Shops use more powerful air impact tools all the time. Perhaps your socket is worn? An impact gun is also less likely to break bolts. The clicking and clacking on loosening is normal, even if it makes you feel like it is doing damage. When you put them on, you just go until the first impact noise and then switch tools, or use a torque bar and don't worry about it.

[Shazam]

Originally Posted by Lubicon

Not sure why by a couple of years ago I broke 3 studs taking lug nuts off and the CP consensus was it may have been due to side loading using the breaker bar.

Somebody previously overtightened your lug nuts and stretched the bolts.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Shazam

Somebody previously overtightened your lug nuts and stretched the bolts.

Or you drive a Subaru.

[81MC]

Toyota went through a period where you could break a stud if you looked at the damn thing wrong.