Topic: Cost of Tire Changeover

[ktm525]

I use a bike pump. Typically the unused set is only down 3-4psi. The exercise doesn't hurt.

[Careener]

No..not wheel related but it was on ice. Made no sense to me.

[dr_spock]

How about one of these babies?   Fits in the glove compartment or snaps to your bicycle frame.

[audi]

how often you have to re-balance tire/wheels?  i was thinking about doing the winter swap myself. i had no idea a tireswap is $190 at canadian tire!!

[dguthmann]

how often you have to re-balance tire/wheels?  i was thinking about doing the winter swap myself. i had no idea a tireswap is $190 at canadian tire!!

I've never rebalanced.  I bought a second-hand set of steel rims at the Auto-Recycler in Fallowfield.  I think they were $30 each.  Put my winters on and had them balanced once.  Now I do the changeover myself every spring/fall.

[barrie1]

Unless you have lost one of the weights then you should never have to rebalance any of the wheels ever on the vehicle. I at times when I have done this use my 5hp aircompressor with my 1/2'' Ingersol Rand Airgun to remove the nuts and then I torque then on with my 1/2" torque wrench to 100lbs. Just about all GM's use this torque figure but your individual vehicle may diiffer. Check with the service advisor at your dealership as they will give you the correct torque spec for your wheels. When I have used Snowtires I would go to the wreckers and grab a set of used rims as they are much cheaper this way then buying new ones unless you have to have the matched custom rims like the summers your car came with. The steelies also give you a wee bit more weight on the wheels as well which sometimes is a good idea especially in the winter. I do like getting up close and persoanl with my vehicles as then I know thew work is done right as well the overall condition of the vehicle as I do a complete inspection on the brakes and suspension when the wheels are off. I also put fresh anti-seize on the threads as well at these times. What goes on must come off sometime and without too much hassle as well.   

[articsteve]

how often you have to re-balance tire/wheels?  i was thinking about doing the winter swap myself. i had no idea a tireswap is $190 at canadian tire!!

how often you have to re-balance tire/wheels?

It really depends on the vehicle and how sensitive/sophisticated the suspension is.  An Audi A4 has 8 front control arms.    Many GM clunkers and Japanese econo boxes have 2.  I invested in a static balancer a.k.a known as a "bubble balancer" for a $100 or so.  That gives you an idea if the tire and wheel are still in the ball park.

[Winklovic]

My dealer charged me $19.99 to put the winter rims/tires on.

[barrie1]

Yes Steve would know all about the Japanese clunkers for sure as his used carlot is full of high milage ones at a high price. He uses a lot of Irontite at his shop as a permanent fix or until it leaves the lot. 

[safristi]

..heard the ONE about the TWO off Balanced BUBBLE BOYS meeting in a BAR...and the Monkey says........................and the NUN replies.........................." well neither have I.........

[wing]

15min to swap them out for me, it takes me longer to find my tools than to do the job (messy garage due to just moving and haven't organized yet).

Turn on air compressor and connect impact gun and socket.  Drive car into garage, slide jack under and pump 3-5 times.  bam bam bam bam bam (5 nuts off), bam bam bam bam bam (5 more off).  Grab wheels throw to side (NASCAR style), take new wheels put on -- whir whir whir whir whir (5 nuts on loosely) whir whir whir whir whir (5 more on).  Drop car, move jack to other side, bam bam bam bam bam (5 nuts off), bam bam bam bam bam (5 more off).  Grab wheels throw to side (NASCAR style), take new wheels put on -- whir whir whir whir whir (5 nuts on loosely) whir whir whir whir whir (5 more on) -- drop car.

Take torque wrench set to 90ft-lbs, walk around to every wheel (click click it's torqued).  Get out pressure gauge check tires (all of them were at 24 PSI this year), remove impact gun from hose and quick connect filler nozzle, WHOOOOSH fill tires with air.  Shut off compressor, pile tires in corner, take car out of garage and go inside.

[UmroAyyar]

Thanks for the visual story. Good job. 

[Trainman]

how often you have to re-balance tire/wheels? 

So far, only when new tires have gone on or a flat has been repaired.  So on the Sienna, no re-balance has been done on either the summer (factory balance) or winters; on the Pathfinder, a couple of the summers have been done due to flats.


Am I still the only one who is not paying for change-overs (other than those folks doing it themselves)?

[Winklovic]

bam bam bam bam bam (5 nuts off), bam bam bam bam bam (5 more off). 

Just wait until Saffy sees this. 

[safristi]

..AW NUTS !!! i prefer KNOCK_OFFS................ thank U Maam....

[mp3butt]

In GTA areas, usually it's about $20-$25 tax in from Chinese shops. Quick service too. $60 without rims.

My wife and I used to do the changover ourselves. It's no quite possible anymore as we have moved to a condo.

Just one thing though: if the guy overtorqued the wheels in the previous over, you may have a hard time undoing the nuts. Air compressor would come in handy.

I talked to guys when I bought my torque wrench. It may not be necessary to spend close to $100 just for tire changover. A $25 cheapo from Taiwan is more than adquate.

[dr_spock]

Also a good thing to do is to check the torque on your nuts again after the first 100 km.  I had my little daughter to do it for me and also check the tire pressure.  She's only 50 lbs but can extert 87 lb-ft with the torque wrench.  She picked up the star tightening pattern pretty quick. 

[Leviathan]

15min to swap them out for me, it takes me longer to find my tools than to do the job (messy garage due to just moving and haven't organized yet).

Turn on air compressor and connect impact gun and socket.  Drive car into garage, slide jack under and pump 3-5 times.  bam bam bam bam bam (5 nuts off), bam bam bam bam bam (5 more off).  Grab wheels throw to side (NASCAR style), take new wheels put on -- whir whir whir whir whir (5 nuts on loosely) whir whir whir whir whir (5 more on).  Drop car, move jack to other side, bam bam bam bam bam (5 nuts off), bam bam bam bam bam (5 more off).  Grab wheels throw to side (NASCAR style), take new wheels put on -- whir whir whir whir whir (5 nuts on loosely) whir whir whir whir whir (5 more on) -- drop car.

Take torque wrench set to 90ft-lbs, walk around to every wheel (click click it's torqued).  Get out pressure gauge check tires (all of them were at 24 PSI this year), remove impact gun from hose and quick connect filler nozzle, WHOOOOSH fill tires with air.  Shut off compressor, pile tires in corner, take car out of garage and go inside.

Where's the part about going to the beer fridge & locating a tasty beverage? 

[safristi]

  MIA...........................Martinis In Action............   good one Leipheimer...........