Thankfully Britannia Rescue have never taken more than 20 minutes to reach me, but I know how dangerous doing any work on the hard shoulder of a motorway is, so I would NEVER contemplate working on the off-side of a vehicle there, and am dubious about working the other side, especially supporting a car on a wobbly jack with the buffeting a 44 tonne truck causes.

On any other road, ditto, unless I can get the car well off the road to do it.

How about this "more likely" scenario then (polite comments please). Get up and notice car has puncture on driveway (not motorway or any other road), and you have to get to work. What would you do? 1) fix it yourself or, 2) wait for home-help rescue. If the answer is 2), then under what circumstances would you ever need to change a wheel yourself? If the answer to that is when changing over to/from winter tyres, then this is where this topic started (I think), and I (and others) think the wheel alignment tool is a good idea. How did we get so much off topic

Edited 28 October, 201213 yr by Truthseeker

If it was at home and in a safe place I'd do it my self, which is exactly what I have said previously. The importance is my personal SAFETY!!

And personally I think the alignment tool is a good idea, but I shall probably hunt through my box of spare bolts and cut the head off a suitable one.

And that is the nature of a discussion.

If it was at home and in a safe place I'd do it my self, which is exactly what I have said previously. The importance is my personal SAFETY!!

And personally I think the alignment tool is a good idea, but I shall probably hunt through my box of spare bolts and cut the head off a suitable one.

And that is the nature of a discussion.

We will call that a draw then.

Some years ago I used then National Breakdown now Green Flag to remove a seized wheel in the office car park. Mentioned that I had changed a wheel on the motorway a few months earlier and was told in no uncertain terms that changing wheels by the driver on motorways was a no no!!

Thinking back I can still feel the delayed action shock that I got after driving about 15 mins. Not done it since!!

I once stopped on the hard shoulder of a motorway because the sheet over the load on my roofrack was flapping to the extent that it sounded as though it needed sorting....(my mistake - I realise that).

The wife stayed in the car whilst I attended to it....(another mistake...I also realise).

Nothing actually happened and I tightened the sheet and got back in and carried on...........

.......BUT whilst at the back of the car I saw - with my own two eyes - a lorry, the driver of which was clearly not looking where he was going, heading towards the back of my car in the hard shoulder at speed. My Mrs was in the car and I was frozen to the spot with no time to get her out. I then watched the lorry correct his course enough to JUST miss my car.

Lesson learned.

Look, I personally agree, and would rather limp at a snail's pace to the next exit on the hard shoulder and ruin an alloy rim & tyre than risk changing a wheel on a motorway. Even waiting for the rescue services on the hard shoulder poses a severe risk of being struck by an errant/tired/on-phone driver of HGV, or indeed any vehicle (as pointed out in the previous post). The point I was making in #46 in quoting #45, is that for £10 - make life easy. The wheel alignment tool is much easier than struggling with a heavy wheel & tyre, if you ever were in the position when you needed/wanted to change a wheel yourself in any location. I was just illustrating a worse case situation to emphasise a point. However, and with hindsight, wish I would have used the "puncture at home on driveway" scenario, but no doubt someone would have disagreed - "ce la vie!"

You may have just found the truth you sought...

Maybe - maybe not!

Why don't VAG just use studs?

Because they don't, like many other manufacturers.

Because they don't, like many other manufacturers.

I was hoping for an informative answer.

Even waiting for the rescue services on the hard shoulder poses a severe risk of being struck by an errant/tired/on-phone driver of HGV,

When I hit a piece of Lorry on the M25 in January 2011, which dented 2 of my wheels and flattened one of the tyres, I rang Skoda Assist. They told me to exit the car and stand behind the barrier, which is a much safer place to be, much less chance of being hit by an errant or tired lorry driver.

I do see many people behind the barriers beside their broken down vehicles on the motorway.

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I was hoping for an informative answer.

I'll have a go. My belief is that it is quicker, easier and therefore cheaper to make a hub with holes to take wheel bolts than it is to make a hub that you have to then insert studs into. Many such decisions are driven by cost and efficiency rather than customer experience. As Graham says though, it is becoming quite common practice across many OEMs.

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I'll have a go. My belief is that it is quicker, easier and therefore cheaper to make a hub with holes to take wheel bolts than it is to make a hub that you have to then insert studs into. Many such decisions are driven by cost and efficiency rather than customer experience. As Graham says though, it is becoming quite common practice across many OEMs.

It appears to be only a euro thing and it's not new. There is a fiat here which is over 30 which also runs bolts instead of studs. Cheaper quite possibly.Do VAG run bolts across the range or do they run studs on heavier vehicles (vans etc)?

A quick Google Images search reveals the VW Crafter using bolts (not studs and nuts).

Do I need steel wheel bolts for my new steel wheels, or can I use the bolts that hold my Alloys in place?

I would guess that your bolts are steel already. I'd assume you can use the same bolts.

Do I need steel wheel bolts for my new steel wheels, or can I use the bolts that hold my Alloys in place?

The bolts are compatible.