Severe Winter Weather: ESSENTIAL PREPARATIONS, TRAVEL ADVICE, DRIVING TIPS & CLOSURES

actaphobia · 04-03-2018 6:20pm

bucketybuck wrote: »

So you think people that can change a tyre or drive on a bit of snow all drive landrovers? Because thats just silly.

Not as silly as thinking people need Youtube to figure out how to swap a tyre, but silly all the same.

Well, how does one learn how to change a Tyre?

sdanseo · 04-03-2018 6:22pm

Irish Steve wrote: »

RWD. FWD, yes it makes a difference, but not that much. RWD needs some sensible weight in the boot/rear to help hold it down during snow, we used to have a Talbot Sunbeam a long time ago, and in icy conditions without some weight in the back, it was very easy to have the rear wheels going down the road first. 2 bags of sand or similar made the difference, but the real answer is to change driving style.

I lost a clutch to the early part of the first bad spell in 2010. Was 19, only driving a year or two at the time and just hadn't a clue what to do, the car was redlining in first gear and fried it that way. Between the rest of that spell and then the second wave at the end of the year I pretty much learnt how to master it.

In 2015 there was snow for a day or two and of course muggins here went for a spin in a 3 series. Not literally, but I think if I hadn't had a few (very) dodgy moments in 2010-11 I wouldn't have been able to recover and would have ended up in the ditch.

Kaisr Sose · 04-03-2018 7:39pm

An Ri rua wrote: »

Biggest problem I've found, with winter tyres, is that you can along and you get muppets keeping pace!! But you can stop and they cannot !!

Ha ha...agreed, but that’s not a problem with winter tyres. More symptomatic of some motorists thinking it’s ok to drive up the rear of anything ahead of them, irrespective of road condition. They won’t learn until they rear end someone or worse

acronym Chilli · 04-03-2018 8:52pm

actaphobia wrote: »

Well, how does one learn how to change a Tyre?

It will usually be covered in the handbook that came with the car. For example, there's the handbook for an A6 here:
https://ownersmanuals2.com/get/audi-a6-s6-2016-owners-manual-65204
It goes through the whole process in lots of detail. A YouTube video is also a good place to start to make it more visual. However your car handbook will cover any oddities of the jack etc., that come with the car.

Caveats/Notes:

This is a good thing to practice once on a nice day when you don't need to, so if you do need to do it in dark/rain/etc., it won't be first time.
You should check can you actually open the wheel-nuts. I've memories as a child of being at side of the road with my mam and little brother, car broken down with a flat. My mam was very practical, and in fact when she got her first car, the first thing she did when getting it home was verify she could change a tyre. However she was stumped this night as the wheel-nuts were crazily over-tightened and she couldn't budge them. A guy from a nearby house came to help, and could do nothing either, even jumping up and down on the wrench.
Flip side to point 2 is, you're generally advised to check tightness of wheel nuts after 50km or so of driving when you take car back from garage/tyre shop. Mostly it'll be fine if you don't, but they've disclaimers warning you to do so as it's possible for things to shift/settle a little in use under power and vehicle weight and loosen. Ideally you'd have a torque wrench for that...

acronym Chilli · 04-03-2018 9:16pm

Pwindedd wrote: »

Would these all climate tyres be a good investment for someone with a very low annual mileage but reliant on car in all weathers. Thinking that if I did buy some they'd last me a good while (less than 3k miles a year at present)

Absolutely. I've found the Michelins at least to be pretty good for wear. I had them on a SAAB 93 (front wheel drive, 2.0 turbo 154 bhp), and got good wear out of them. Just checked and when I sold the car last September I had 35k miles driven. Much of that was dual-carriageway/motorway. All 4 tyres were still legal, back pair very fresh, however the front two were more worn and I'd have planned to get 2 fresh tyres before the winter.

At your mileage, you'd get years out of a set. You may even want to keep an eye on date-mark as no matter how few miles tyres should be replaced past a certain age (e.g. RSA says 10 years, but sometimes less: http://www.rsa.ie/en/RSA/Your-Vehicle/About-your-Vehicle/Example-of-non-Dup/Your-Vehicles-Tyres-/Tyre-Upkeep/). You won't fail an NCT for old tyres, but they will give you an advisory if they see old tyres (don't know threshold) but without any damage that justifies a fail.

If you're looking for reliability, you shouldn't run old tyres anyway (so maybe change after 6 or 7 years absolute max even if no noticeable wear). My full set of 4 was EUR460 incl VAT (supplied and fitted, 205/55R16), so if you got 6 years out of that set you'd only be spending EUR75 or so a year on tyres.

Charles Babbage · 04-03-2018 9:25pm

Pwindedd wrote: »

Would these all climate tyres be a good investment for someone with a very low annual mileage but reliant on car in all weathers. Thinking that if I did buy some they'd last me a good while (less than 3k miles a year at present)

I think so. Sometimes people say they don't last as long, although on my previous car this was not my experience. But if you are doing a small mileage then this is not a problem any way.

Have a look here http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre-Tests/#allseason

up for anything · 05-03-2018 12:03am

The snow socks that I was so proud of ordering for myself in the first post on this thread turned me into a malignant termagant this morning. I'd say the neighbours were wondering whether a naval ship had docked outside my house from the state of my language trying to remove the feckers from the tyres. Jesus, they were welded on. :mad::mad: The instructions that came with them and the lying YouTube videos showing them being tugged off were thrown onto an imaginary pyre in my mind and burned to cinders.

I wouldn't be running to put them on for the next snow unless I was going to be doing some serious mileage on ****e roads.

cnocbui · 05-03-2018 12:25pm

All the same, probably easier and cheaper to get off than repairing damaged suspensions and bodywork.

Conor Bourke · 05-03-2018 12:59pm

up for anything wrote: »

The snow socks that I was so proud of ordering for myself in the first post on this thread turned me into a malignant termagant this morning. I'd say the neighbours were wondering whether a naval ship had docked outside my house from the state of my language trying to remove the feckers from the tyres. Jesus, they were welded on. :mad::mad: The instructions that came with them and the lying YouTube videos showing them being tugged off were thrown onto an imaginary pyre in my mind and burned to cinders.

I wouldn't be running to put them on for the next snow unless I was going to be doing some serious mileage on ****e roads.

AFAIK you’re not supposed to leave them on, they’re a short term solution to aid driving on heavy snow and you take them off once you hit a gritted road, you put them back on then as required. It makes sense that they have probably become frozen and embedded with grit etc.

up for anything · 05-03-2018 2:21pm

Cornelius Crow wrote: »

AFAIK you’re not supposed to leave them on, they’re a short term solution to aid driving on heavy snow and you take them off once you hit a gritted road, you put them back on then as required. It makes sense that they have probably become frozen and embedded with grit etc.

Oh, I get you and that first morning that I struggled to get them on and then once I was out of the estate realised that all the town roads were pretty much clear and gritted I tried taking them off. Not a chance! So when I got home I made the decision to leave them on while I needed them to get up and down the hill out of the estate. I wasn't doing miles anyhow... just to the local supermarket and back a couple of times. When I went to take them off I rang a few hot kettles over them to take care of any ice and there was hardly any grit on them. Apparently, they tighten on the first use and pulling at the straps doesn't work. My son ended up getting them off in the end but it took brute force and a decent grip. Left to myself I'd have hacked them off with a bread knife.

The Nal · 05-03-2018 3:00pm

Anyone know where I could get kerosene delivered this week? Tried all the usual places, M50 Oil, Supersaver, Emo etc. All cant deliver until next week.

Cantona's Collars · 05-03-2018 4:59pm

Gonzo wrote: »

our local SuperValu still has alot of stock not available. Still extremely busy for a Monday with people stocking up again. it will probably take a few more days for the Supermarkets to be back to normal with supplies and neat shelves.

My local Aldi is fully stocked again and Lidl the same,artics delivered yesterday and today. German efficiency. I'd say the hardest bit for drivers was getting through the town as people had to walk on roads as paths were piled up with snow off the roads which were a couple of feet narrower than normal too.

MJohnston · 05-03-2018 5:16pm

Honestly I've already ordered a new snow shovel and more snow treads for shoes - I'm hoping we're all thaw from now on, but these items can sit in storage for years and I'll be happy they're there.

Steve F · 05-03-2018 5:28pm

MJohnston wrote: »

Honestly I've already ordered a new snow shovel and more snow treads for shoes - I'm hoping we're all thaw from now on, but these items can sit in storage for years and I'll be happy they're there.

Well...the next time you need them could be 2054.Better safe than sorry

errlloyd · 05-03-2018 5:35pm

Steve F wrote: »

Well...the next time you need them could be 2054.Better safe than sorry

My old man bought toboggans back in 1996, I was 5 years old and super keen to use them, but it never snowed enough. They have sat in the garage for 23 years. On Tuesday he drove to my sisters in Roscommon to baby sit my niece. Took both of them.

On Tuesday night, for the first time in ages, the snow began falling hard at our family home. Its the first night in 22 years there were no Toboggans in the garage. I felt like I'd been waiting every day of my life to use them.

Lepidoptera · 05-03-2018 7:28pm

MJohnston wrote: »

Honestly I've already ordered a new snow shovel and more snow treads for shoes - I'm hoping we're all thaw from now on, but these items can sit in storage for years and I'll be happy they're there.

Yeah someone linked some yak trak on clearance and I've ordered some. Going to get a proper snow shovel as well; the garden shovel worked but wasn't quite ideal.

Hopefully won't be gathering dust for too long

greasepalm · 05-03-2018 9:22pm

people dont see other uses for a snow shovel as i do its great in the garden / patio if you have plenty of weeds and rubbish its very wide to gather up stuff for putting into wheelie bin,super great with leaves in the autumn.
very surprised of how often i use it.

An Ri rua · 05-03-2018 10:19pm

The Nal wrote: »

Anyone know where I could get kerosene delivered this week? Tried all the usual places, M50 Oil, Supersaver, Emo etc. All cant deliver until next week.

Presuming your location is M50 region as there's no real way of advising. But locate kerosene drums and fill 60-100 litres at the pump and fill it yourself until oil comes next week. Plus you'll need to prime the burner if its airlocked. Then we're getting OT enough to head over to the Heating forum I would think.

listermint · 05-03-2018 10:50pm

up for anything wrote: »

The snow socks that I was so proud of ordering for myself in the first post on this thread turned me into a malignant termagant this morning. I'd say the neighbours were wondering whether a naval ship had docked outside my house from the state of my language trying to remove the feckers from the tyres. Jesus, they were welded on. :mad::mad: The instructions that came with them and the lying YouTube videos showing them being tugged off were thrown onto an imaginary pyre in my mind and burned to cinders.

I wouldn't be running to put them on for the next snow unless I was going to be doing some serious mileage on ****e roads.

They're easy to get off . I'd to take mine off twice today . It's simple two tugs at the top straps.

It does however require some strength and to be frank and not sexist most women would struggle with it .

But they're great as far as I'm concerned.

BabysCoffee · 05-03-2018 10:56pm

MJohnston wrote: »

Honestly I've already ordered a new snow shovel and more snow treads for shoes - I'm hoping we're all thaw from now on, but these items can sit in storage for years and I'll be happy they're there.

My snow shovel was the business!

Severe Winter Weather: ESSENTIAL PREPARATIONS, TRAVEL ADVICE, DRIVING TIPS & CLOSURES

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