Hot answers tagged wheels
15
My wife had a similar problem on her car and it turned out the problem was the wheel, not the tire. We'd had enough sand and salt on the road this winter that she had corrosion / gunk building up right at the bead. The tire shop dismounted the tires, cleaned up the seating area on the wheel and then remounted the tire. The problem now seems to be solved.
14
I had a similar problem with my car a while back. The trick I used was as follows. Loosen the nuts right off, but don't remove them (leaving three or four threads on), so they restrain the wheel when it comes free. Jack the car up and support it solidly on stands - I also put the spare wheel under the sill on the side I am working on.
Take a 2-3lb club ...
9
It's always been my understanding that it eliminates the water vapor making the heat have less and more predictable effect on tire pressure.
Unless you are driving a race car or an airplane I don't think it's worth the trouble IMO
I found some more information I have listed and sourced below
It's not about the nitrogen. It's about reducing oxygen, ...
8
Most lug nuts should be torqued between 75-100 ft-lbs. So applying the appropriate amount of body weight (lean into it really good) should be adequate until you get to somewhere with a proper torque wrench.
One thing to note, is that you should always tighten the lug nuts in a star pattern so that you do not damage anything.
7
The 'offset' is the distance between the mounting face of the wheel (i.e. the bit that sits against the hub) and the centreline of the wheel. A positive offset is where the mounting face is towards the outside of the wheel, and negative is set towards the inside.
Therefore, if you get wheels that are more positive than the current ones, they will sit ...
7
There are major benefits on a track: you have much lower tire deformation with a low profile tire so you can corner harder. You can also accelerate and brake harder, and your tires get to temperature much faster as there is less rubber to warm up.
On a normal road having very low profile tires can be a negative - they don't soak up bumps as well as a higher ...
6
Naturally, the number of pros that I
have available to ask is limited so
I'm wondering what a wider audience
will say.
The nice thing about a question like this is that it isn't up for opinions. The cost / benefit ratios can be measured. Grassroots Motorsports routinely does this sort of analysis. For example, in Speed Holes by Per Schroeder ...
5
As pointed out by DXM, the 15,16,17 isn't an interchangeable number.
None of the first 3 numbers can just be changed individually.
With your 205/55R16 example:
205 is the width of the tire in millimeters
55 is the percentage of the width that equals the height of the sidewall (so 205 x .55 = 112.75mm)
16 is the wheel diameter in inches the tire fits on
...
5
I would say that it is most likely a balancing issue. In order to find out, I would:
Use the car's jack to clear each front wheel from the ground. Give the wheel a spin and check to see that the spinning tire does not vibrate (sideways and/or up-and-down). This could indicate a damaged rim or a damaged tire.
If pt. 1 does not give any indication, unmount ...
5
You probably have a wheel out of balance and it's difficult to determine that without putting the tires on a balancer. One thing you could try would be to jack up the car and put pencil on a stationary object like a brick or a board move the pencil so it almost touches the wheel, spin the tire and look for the rim moving in and out in reference with the ...
5
Another way is to jack up (and support) the car, then attempt to shake the wheel. Hold it at top and bottom and try and shake it vertically, then repeat horizontally. There should be very little, if any, play in it.
As Dude318is says, a grainy feeling when rotating is another way to tell.
5
Easy way to check is remove each wheel, and rotate the disc. If you can remove the disc as well to get closer to the hub that would be even better. If the bearing rotates but not smoothly (i.e. having a sandy/grainy feeling) then that is likely the culprit. This is how I was able to track down a worn rear wheel bearing on my car.
5
Had a similar problem on an '07 Toyota Tundra, while changing a tire yesterday. Solution we used was to just beat the crap out of it with a rubber mallet, with the wheel in the air after the nuts were removed. And by "beat the crap out of it", I mean exactly that - a "gentle tapping" won't do.
Good luck.
5
You could probably try spraying some PB blaster around where the wheel meets the drum. If you come back every hour (three to four applications should do the trick) to respray the area I bet you that stuff will probably works its way through whatever is keeping it seized on...more than likely rust.
Just make sure to let it sit overnight!
5
Unfortunately wheels will get dirty first - they are closest to the ground so will pick up everything; they also pick up brake dust, which is very sticky.
This means there is no silver bullet here - you need to wash frequently, and apply a wax if you want to slow down the build up of crud.
Use a wheel cleaner solution to dissolve the worst grime and combat ...
5
I think you threw a wheel weight.
Let's consider this quote from the great Wikipedia:
When the wheel rotates, asymmetries of mass may cause it to hop or
wobble, which can cause ride disturbances, usually vertical and
lateral vibrations. It can also result in a wobbling of the steering
wheel or of the entire vehicle. The ride disturbance, due to
...
5
In an ideal world where time plays no issue you would torque all the lug nuts to 1/3 of the reccomended torque in a crisscross pattern. Reset the torque wrench to 2/3 of the torque spec and tighten again in a crisscross pattern. Finally set the wrench to 100% of the torque spec and do the final tightening. After 50 miles recheck the lugs with the wrench set ...
5
Sly's technique is a good one for diagnosing leaks, but you may find it difficult to spot if the leak is too small.
If you have a persistent leak on one particular wheel, it may be that there is some corrosion or foreign particle contamination on the inside of the wheel rim - this prevents the tyre from sealing properly against the rim and allows the air to ...
4
That sounds like a job for a torch to heat up the drum and see if you can get it to loosen up.
Maybe a piece of wood against the back side of tire/wheel and hitting it with sledge hammer? Of course, do this while taking proper safety measures, jack stands, and restraints. Be very careful and prepare for that moment of the wheel breaking free and the truck ...
4
You'll need some sort of a tank where you can submerge the entire wheel/tire - a small pool will do, although if you're in the northern hemisphere that might be a bit of a challenge this time of the year.
Put the whole wheel underwater, and see if you can spot any bubbles.
I have seen some shops that have a tank they can put part of the wheel/tire into, ...
4
To measure offset, you really need to know two numbers (illustrated here):
The inner to outer edge distance: this is effectively the track width of the wheel if you were to drive around without a tire mounted.
The inner edge to the hub or outer edge to the hub: either will give you the basic number, though you'll need to apply the appropriate minus sign to ...
4
The choice depends on what you are trying to achieve with new tires and what's important to you. handling? ride comfort? looks?
These are the reasons people buy higher size rims:
Since you want wheel diameter to stay the same, higher rim size, means tire side wall is thinner. This improves cornering as there's less flex in the tire. At the same time, ...
4
Word of advice: Never ever replace one tyre on the same axis! Always replace both the left and the right tyres. Replacing one tyre increases wear-and-tear on the differential, worses the handling and last but not least: It can be very dangerous! With a AWD, replace all 4 tyres at the same time. When the other tyres are only a few thousand (less than 3000) ...
4
Try to remove as much rust as possible with either a die grinder or other rotary device with a wire wheel. Then just use some rust paint to spray over them. You don't even have to take them off the car if you don't want to. Honestly you could even skip the wire wheel if you are feeling really lazy but you may have to respray them every 6 months depending on ...
4
You can get "in the ballpark" counting threads (if that's what you are referring to), but the computerized way is vastly more efficient.
It can be done more precisely with levels, protractors, measuring tape, string, etc. If you buy a couple specialty tools (like a caster/camber gauge) it gets a little easier. HotRod.com has a decent article.
In brief:
...
3
The material of the lugs are not the import thing. Lugs come in various materials such as steel, forged aluminum, or even titanium. The important thing is to make sure you get lugs with the correct thread pitch, thread size, and seat. The seat is very important so the lugs sit properly against the wheel and don't come loose. There are 3 different types of ...
3
Well, after some further experience with tire changing, I've come to find that using a proper lubricant was the way to solve things. While bearing grease worked to seat the tire, there are some reasons that it isn't ideal. Ruglyde has since worked very well for me, and being a proper tire lubricant will dry, thus not leaving the same risk of spinning the rim ...
3
It is possible that the bead may have been damaged.The wire in the bead may have been kinked in shipping,storage or manufacture.Back in the day we used to take tire that weren't damaged but may have a deformity from storage and let it sit around for a couple of days with an overinflated inner tube in it.The tube would reshape the tire.Then the tire could be ...
3
The short answer is "yes, the gear ratio is larger than you think."
The longer answer is that you're getting confused and thinking that only one number applies. Let's think about some of the major components used to turn engine speed into road speed:
Engine revs (you can see this on the tachometer).
Transmission gearing (the gear ratios that you've seen ...
3
Definitely try isolating the wheel. I spent quite a long time with a previous car trying tires and valve stems and mounting issues. Eventually I replaced the tires and still had the same problem on the same wheel, and replaced the wheel, and it was fine after that. In my case it would take 2 to 3 weeks to get low, so it was a fairly small leak.
My tire ...
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