Can you change a wheel??

Tokyo

Might sounds like a stupid question, but, do you know how to change a wheel on your car?

Never really thought about it much until now, but coming down from the local village, I hit a pothole that had opened up in the road due to the recent weather and did the passenger side wheel in. I pulled in to find no less than four other cars with their hazards on, who had just done the same thing.

The first car contained two girls heading up to Sligo for their RAG week, who had no idea how to use anything they had just pulled out of the boot, so they asked if I could help, which I was happy to.

Second car contained a couple in their 50's on the way into Galway. They didn't have a spare, but one of those cans of foam that hooks up to an air compressor and lines the inside of the wheel. Helped him out and got him on his way.

Third car was a guy in how 20's who couldn't figure out where the wheelbrace went, and was in serious danger of killing himself, handbrake off, car teetering up on top of the jack. Changed his wheel and sent him on his way.

Then I got round to changing my own wheel, and here I am now.

All kidding aside, why don't people know the very basics of car maintenance? I grew up in the countryside, where repairs were part and parcel of farm machinery. And I'm only in my early 30's, but I still grew up in a generation where you couldn't just pick up a mobile and call for help, there was a certain expectation of being able to take care of yourself. After all, if you get a puncture in the middle of nowhere, you should be able to get yourself out of trouble pretty easily? I assumed everyone was this way. Apparently not.

So, can you change a wheel? And if not, why not?

geckovision

Yes.

Never thought about until I got a flat shortly after learning to drive. Just applied some common sense. It's very straight forward.

7ofBrian

There is NO excuse for not knowing how. If you cant do it... you shouldn't have a licence. Unless there's a physical reason of course.

Car, yes. Bike, yes. Never had to change a car tyre on the side of the road but I've taken them off a few times to do work on the suspension/brakes etc.

Mickey H

Yes. Like a Boss.

keith16

mike_ie wrote: »

The first car contained two girls heading up to Sligo for their RAG week, who had no idea how to use anything they had just pulled out of the boot, so they asked if I could help, which I was happy to.

Niice.

ElleEm

I feel like such a princess saying this but I don't know how to change a tyre. I have been told how but have never done it. If I was alone and got a puncture, I would probably just phone my da to rescue me.

Tokyo

7ofBrian wrote: »

There is NO excuse for not knowing how. If you cant do it... you shouldn't have a licence. Unless there's a physical reason of course.

See, that's my take on it too. I would have assumed it was common knowledge, but if not, it whould be a requirement of the driving test.

SEPT 23 1989

yes i can

but some older people and women might not have the physical strenght to do it

My name is URL

I can change a wheel. Changing a tyre is worth paying someone else a tenner to do.

Tilly

I know how to but never had to.

shopaholic01

Wouldn't have a clue, but I have 24 breakdown assistance on my insurance. Or I'd just flash some boob.

phasers

yes, it was the first thing my Dad taught me when I started driving.

He also gives out to me when I call it changing a tyre because you're actually changing the wheel...

Ronin247

7ofBrian wrote: »

There is NO excuse for not knowing how. If you cant do it... you shouldn't have a licence. Unless there's a physical reason of course.

Or you are a wimmins.....they just have to look pretty and groom the ould lady bits and all will be well with the world.

DoozerT6

Technically yes I can, but I get flat tyres so infrequently, as in every two or three years (touch wood), that I completely forget the process and how to do it properly. So the lovely men from AXA Rescue come out and do it for me. And as I watch them, I think "Jesus, that's so simple, I'm an awful eejit for not doing it myself. I really must remember how it's done for next time".

And when next time comes along, three years later....tumbleweeds in my brain. Out comes the phone......"Hello, AXA?"

I do, however know how to check the oil, water, tyre pressure. I know people who have no idea how to check these.

Karl Stein

Add a poll OP.

Tilly

SEPT 23 1989 wrote: »

yes i can

but some older people and women might not have the physical strenght to do it

We'll just ask the big strong man to help us. And make him a sandwich while he does it.

Hello Lady!

Before I was ever allowed put my bum in a drivers seat my mother insisted that I know how to change a tyre, check oil and water, change the oil, be able to identify the basic parts of the engine, how to change the battery, how to jump start a car. Then once I started driving typical lessons included learning how to tow a car and be towed.

I'm only 35 but learned to drive in a time with no mobile phones and not as many motorways. My mother reckoned that any woman driving alone needs to know these things rather than rely on a stranger.

My husband knows none of these things bar changing a tyre. I look after all the basic car maintenence in our house!!

jane82

When I change a wheel I do it superfast just incase some F1 pit scouts are watching.

MarkR

I can, but i've been caught out by wheels getting stuck on.

Del2005

Title is wrong. Changing a wheel is relatively easy, changing a tyre is a pain without proper equipment.

Yeah I can change a wheel. Only time I've had to call for help was years ago in a Renault 19, stupid wheel brace supplied with the car was a POS and no matter what way I jumped on it it wouldn't open the lug nuts. Since then the 1st thing that goes into all my cars is a proper cross brace.

Only issue now is with the rush to reduce CO2 manufacturers are removing the spare wheels. There are some punctures that no amount of tyre weld will solve.

They should also shoot people who drive with the space saver on the front.

5p9arw38djv2b4

I think that it is difficult now, I had no one to teach me as neither of my parents can change a tyre (or do much DIY) however I finally found a 'car maintenance for women' course - it took me nearly 2 years to find a course though! There is a real gap in the market for this kind of thing - same for idiots guide to bike maintenance, and maybe plumbing too!

Mr Cumulonimbus

One might know how to, but if you've got alloy wheels:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=61204574

keith16

shopaholic01 wrote: »

Wouldn't have a clue, but I have 24 breakdown assistance on my insurance. Or I'd just flash some boob.

Niice.

c_man

I'd consult the internet tbh.

whatsthetime

mike_ie wrote: »

Might sounds like a stupid question, but, do you know how to change a tyre on your car?

Never really thought about it much until now, but coming down from the local village, I hit a pothole that had opened up in the road due to the recent weather and did the passenger side wheel in. I pulled in to find no less than four other cars with their hazards on, who had just done the same thing.

The first car contained two girls heading up to Sligo for their RAG week, who had no idea how to use anything they had just pulled out of the boot, so they asked if I could help, which I was happy to.

Second car contained a couple in their 50's on the way into Galway. They didn't have a spare, but one of those cans of foam that hooks up to an air compressor and lines the inside of the tyre. Helped him out and got him on his way.

Third car was a guy in how 20's who couldn't figure out where the wheelbrace went, and was in serious danger of killing himself, handbrake off, car teetering up on top of the jack. Changed his wheel and sent him on his way.

Then I got round to changing my own wheel, and here I am now.

All kidding aside, why don't people know the very basics of car maintenance? I grew up in the countryside, where repairs were part and parcel of farm machinery. And I'm only in my early 30's, but I still grew up in a generation where you couldn't just pick up a mobile and call for help, there was a certain expectation of being able to take care of yourself. After all, if you get a puncture in the middle of nowhere, you should be able to get yourself out of trouble pretty easily? I assumed everyone was this way. Apparently not.

So, can you change a tyre? And if not, why not?

I would not be able to change the tyre at the side of the road, but I certainly could change the wheel!!

Hello Lady!

Never mind how many people can change a wheel, there are any awful amount of stupid people out there who wouldn't even know if they had a puncture. I have seen many a driver - male and female - driving along on a flat.

The Backwards Man

VAG wheels are a **** to change. I say this as a proper bonafide man with my own lift and everything.

lollsangel

I can change them, wasn't allowed behind the wheel until I knew a few basic things sbout msintainance checks etc...howevet if I can get someone else to change it I will

Tokyo

Charles Rocher wrote: »

Add a poll OP.

Good idea. Done.

Tilly

The Backwards Man wrote: »

VAG wheels are a **** to change. I say this as a proper bonafide man with my own lift and everything.

Really? I've never had to change mine. How are they hard to change? Please tell me I wouldn't need a lift?

My name is URL

My name is URL wrote: »

I can change a wheel. Changing a tyre is worth paying someone else a tenner to do.

Beat me to it!

Tokyo

Deleted User wrote: »

Beat me to it!

Right, change the bloody title then!

Lived in the outback, where being able to do both was pretty much a requirement

mike_ie

mike_ie wrote: »

Right, change the bloody title then!

I can't, just like the sheriff from the next county says, "I'm outa mah juristtiction!"

whupdedo

Anyone who can't change a tyre should be left to die at the side of the road to be eaten by the dingoes and wolves and their still warm corpse to be defiled by necrophilic monsters

MJ23

I can change a wheel. Have never tried changing a tyre, don't have the gear to do it.

crosstownk

Massive flaw in the thread title.

Satriale

i can change both a tyre and a wheel.

dockleaf

My first car was a bit of an old banger and I used to have loads of flat tyres- I knew how to change the wheel myself and in fact was really good at it as I had so much practice.:rolleyes:

But if I tried to change the wheel on the side of the road or anywhere public, invariably a man would stop to change it for me. ( Even though I would mostly have been much quicker as I was so familiar with it:p)

Bloody thing only started when it felt like it too, so had to get jump start loads of times.

Gave me faith in the men living in this country, for sure, had so many great experiences with being given help free of charge, with no ulterior motives from just really decent men.

whupdedo

The Backwards Man wrote: »

VAG wheels are a **** to change. I say this as a proper bonafide man with my own lift and everything.

crosstownk wrote: »

Massive flaw in the thread title.

Ya, but no point putting on the wheel without the tyre being attached to it, so your changing the tyre as well

crosstownk

whupdedo wrote: »

Ya, but no point putting on the wheel without the tyre being attached to it, so your changing the tyre as well

Only you're not. You're fitting the wheel that just happens to have a different tyre attached.

Changing a tyre is monumentally different to changing a wheel. Try it sometime.

Amprodude

Yes can do both, i can change tyre if i have a few useful tools at hand and i can change wheel no bother. I can do this on both car and bike. Im just great!

whupdedo

crosstownk wrote: »

Only you're not. You're fitting the wheel that just happens to have a different tyre attached.

Changing a tyre is monumentally different to changing a wheel. Try it sometime.

No need, i know what's involved, my pedantic metre is reading off the chart tonight:rolleyes:

crosstownk

whupdedo wrote: »

No need, i know what's involved, my pedantic metre is reading off the chart tonight:rolleyes:

My pedantic meter goes to infinity :pac:

whatsthetime

whupdedo wrote: »

No need, i know what's involved, my pedantic metre is reading off the chart tonight:rolleyes:

Can you change a pedantic metre?

Amirani

I've never owned a car, so no. I can change tyres on my bike though.

catallus

OP, what if the tyre doesn't want to change?

whupdedo

whatsthetime wrote: »

Can you change a pedantic metre?

No need to, but I do need to calibrate it from time to time:D

scudzilla

Yeah, changed many a tyre in my day, but the last time i had to change one, when i had a flat at home, had to call the AA, the idiots in the garage had used one of those pneumatic nut turny yokes, not a hope in hell i could get it off, tried a larger bar, the works, nothing was shifting it.

Pretty embarrassing having to call the AA out

cazzer22

No idea how to change one, I need to learn!

Dtp1979

mike_ie wrote: »

Might sounds like a stupid question, but, do you know how to change a wheel on your car?

Never really thought about it much until now, but coming down from the local village, I hit a pothole that had opened up in the road due to the recent weather and did the passenger side wheel in. I pulled in to find no less than four other cars with their hazards on, who had just done the same thing.

The first car contained two girls heading up to Sligo for their RAG week, who had no idea how to use anything they had just pulled out of the boot, so they asked if I could help, which I was happy to.

Second car contained a couple in their 50's on the way into Galway. They didn't have a spare, but one of those cans of foam that hooks up to an air compressor and lines the inside of the wheel. Helped him out and got him on his way.

Third car was a guy in how 20's who couldn't figure out where the wheelbrace went, and was in serious danger of killing himself, handbrake off, car teetering up on top of the jack. Changed his wheel and sent him on his way.

Then I got round to changing my own wheel, and here I am now.

All kidding aside, why don't people know the very basics of car maintenance? I grew up in the countryside, where repairs were part and parcel of farm machinery. And I'm only in my early 30's, but I still grew up in a generation where you couldn't just pick up a mobile and call for help, there was a certain expectation of being able to take care of yourself. After all, if you get a puncture in the middle of nowhere, you should be able to get yourself out of trouble pretty easily? I assumed everyone was this way. Apparently not.

So, can you change a wheel? And if not, why not?

Paddy Englishman, paddy Irishman and paddy Scotsman.....