I've come to the conclusion that the locking nuts are a waste of time and shall be getting 4 wheels nuts to replace mine.

Totally agree - there appears to be very few reports of wheels being 'stolen' nowadays (even here in Liverpool before anyone else comments!!) - you are more likely to lose your locking wheel nut adaptor which creates endless expensive problems.

I use a strip of white insulating tape on each wheel, and a marker pen. Maybe not gucci F1 stylee but it works very well.

£10 donation to the tyre fitter's tea fund and yellow marker on each tyre - job done.

Yup same here.

I use a local independent.

They charged my £15 to change from summer wheels.

I noticed, when cleaning them, that some of the balance weights had fallen off and some had partially slipped round the wheel.

The wheels have never been balanced before so I think it ight be a consequence of rough roads and potholes.

Not noticeable when driving though so it might be worth checking yours?

Changing from winter wheels back to summers, they again charged me only £15 total and that was for the balancing and fitting

Result.

Kwik-fit was £40 to change the lot and before he understood what I had meant it was £25 a corner to swap rubber... So having ordered tyres via Mytyres and not having a local tyre man I have to resort to doing the changing myself. The balancing will happen as and when.

Yup same here.

I use a local independent.

They charged my £15 to change from summer wheels.

I noticed, when cleaning them, that some of the balance weights had fallen off and some had partially slipped round the wheel.

The wheels have never been balanced before so I think it ight be a consequence of rough roads and potholes.

Not noticeable when driving though so it might be worth checking yours?

Changing from winter wheels back to summers, they again charged me only £15 total and that was for the balancing and fitting

Result.

Cheers CFB, I do check, but thanks for the thought.

The garage always sticks the balance weights on so it is easy to see if any are missing when the wheels are removed. I just about go fast enough to feel vibrations if any fell off during the winter.

Modern tyres seem to me to need less weight in balancing than was needed years ago - or is that another sign of slowly advancing memory loss!

Kwik-fit was £40 to change the lot and before he understood what I had meant it was £25 a corner to swap rubber... So having ordered tyres via Mytyres and not having a local tyre man I have to resort to doing the changing myself. The balancing will happen as and when.

Cheeky beggars! They told me they wouldn't do the swap for me unless I had bought the tyres from them. Still not interested when told it was a straight wheel swap.

Cheers CFB, I do check, but thanks for the thought.

The garage always sticks the balance weights on so it is easy to see if any are missing when the wheels are removed. I just about go fast enough to feel vibrations if any fell off during the winter.

Modern tyres seem to me to need less weight in balancing than was needed years ago - or is that another sign of slowly advancing memory loss!

Not sure but if car tyres are like motorcycle tyres these days, they have a mark on the sidewall, at the lightest point of the tyre and this should be level with the valve when fitted.

That might be responsible for less weights being needed ?

I don't have a spare set of wheels yet but my local tyre fitter near work swapped the winters for summers even though I did not get the winters from them. £50 all done. The place where I got the winters wanted £60 to swap.

Not sure but if car tyres are like motorcycle tyres these days, they have a mark on the sidewall, at the lightest point of the tyre and this should be level with the valve when fitted.

That might be responsible for less weights being needed ?

Correct (in theory) but remarkably few tyre fitters seem to take any notice of the dot on the tyre when fitting them to the rims. If tyres are fitted correctly, fewer balance weights should be needed.

All Kumho's (road or motorsport) certainly have the dot, usually a pinkish colour? I can testify that when correctly fitted, i.e. by Tony Mekwinski(sp?) of South Shore Tyres (who used to be "Mr Kumho" in rallying), then virtually no additional balancing is needed.

Call me cynical, but I also get the impression most regular tyre fitters don't pay any attention to the dot, as the clever electronics of the modern balancing machines tell them exactly where to put the weights anyway and the more they have to do, the more it makes the job look necessary? - Now stands back to be shot down in flames by the proper professional tyre fitters out there.....?

All Kumho's (road or motorsport) certainly have the dot, usually a pinkish colour? I can testify that when correctly fitted, i.e. by Tony Mekwinski(sp?) of South Shore Tyres (who used to be "Mr Kumho" in rallying), then virtually no additional balancing is needed.

Call me cynical, but I also get the impression most regular tyre fitters don't pay any attention to the dot, as the clever electronics of the modern balancing machines tell them exactly where to put the weights anyway and the more they have to do, the more it makes the job look necessary? - Now stands back to be shot down in flames by the proper professional tyre fitters out there.....?

I agree totally! And it's not just Kumho that put the dot on.. As far as I know all manufacturers do (except maybe the cheapest of the cheap Chinese & Indian "unknown brands".

Edited 1 May, 201313 yr by speedsport

I shall be checking my Kumho's!!

Not sure but if car tyres are like motorcycle tyres these days, they have a mark on the sidewall, at the lightest point of the tyre and this should be level with the valve when fitted.

That might be responsible for less weights being needed ?

Tyres have had that dot on them for at least 50 years!

I've applied a dollop of copper slip to each of the wheel nut threads for years.

Being able to slightly rock the car when in gear is a sure sign they are tight enough.

And then get it recalibrated every 12 months as my work torque wrenches go out of true ver quickly when we are working on engines alot.

Surely you jest!

Unless you are using your torque wrench as a hammer, it's not going to move enough in 12 months to ever endanger a wheel-nut. These aren't fragile helicopter blades, the allowable torque range between "tight enough to not come loose" and "not tight enough to stretch the threads" is quite large.

All Kumho's (road or motorsport) certainly have the dot, usually a pinkish colour? I can testify that when correctly fitted, i.e. by Tony Mekwinski(sp?) of South Shore Tyres (who used to be "Mr Kumho" in rallying), then virtually no additional balancing is needed.

Call me cynical, but I also get the impression most regular tyre fitters don't pay any attention to the dot, as the clever electronics of the modern balancing machines tell them exactly where to put the weights anyway and the more they have to do, the more it makes the job look necessary? - Now stands back to be shot down in flames by the proper professional tyre fitters out there.....?

I have to say - every day is a school day on this forum! I never knew about the dot on tyres but very interesting to know, thanks.

Surely you jest!

Unless you are using your torque wrench as a hammer, it's not going to move enough in 12 months to ever endanger a wheel-nut. These aren't fragile helicopter blades, the allowable torque range between "tight enough to not come loose" and "not tight enough to stretch the threads" is quite large.

No jesting.

http://www.acs-calibration.co.uk/torque-wrench-calibration.asp

No jesting.

http://www.acs-calib...calibration.asp

Suggest you re-read the original post.

I had the same problem with one of the locking nuts when I changed back to the summer tyres.

The problem is that the splines aren't deep enough and the key just slips off.

Now changed them for the earlier types with twice the depth of spline.

£15 from ebay genuine Skoda.

I did my Mother's winters to summers at the weekend.

Quite easy with the right kit -

1. Costco 3T trolley jack (about £80) with rubber ice hockey puck to spread load on sill(under £5 on ebay). You can get a perfectly serviceable trolley jack for £50.

2. Torque wrench from Lidl (£15.99) - TUV calibrated and tested.

3. Alignment tool to put in bolt hole for putting wheel on which makes things very easy (£7.99 on ebay).

I found that the locking wheel nuts are simply not as tight as the other 4 and can't easily be tightened to 120.

Locking nuts eh, shades of Muffin the Mule?

That's a criminal offence these days.

is that 50 shades of mule then?

i'll get my coat and head to corner

is that 50 shades of mule then?

i'll get my coat and head to corner

Shut the door on the way in. We don't want bob escaping, it's his round :beer:

Back on topic......

I found time to change my wheels today. The weather down in not so sunny Croydon has improved to the extent that it doesn't appear to be dropping below 7 degrees now. Hurray. At long last.

All the bolts came off easily and so did the wheels. For my sins, I copper slipped them last time. I torqued all bolts up using my trusty Britool torque wrench (about 25 years old, but as good as the day I bought it.

Is it me, but it took me ages to do. The wheel changing bit using the standard jack was quick. What took the time was checking every wheel and removing all the flint and stones from the tread of the summer wheels first, and then washing them, as I was so busy last year that I never got round to doing it therm, and then I had to do the same with the winter tyres, going round them taking out all the tiny stones etc from all the sipes and then washing them and putting them away.

Am I the only one who removes all the bits of debris from their tyres?

I always take the stones out. Also checks them over for nails etc.

Back on topic......

All the bolts came off easily and so did the wheels. For my sins, I copper slipped them last time. I torqued all bolts up using my trusty Britool torque wrench (about 25 years old, but as good as the day I bought it.

Is it me, but it took me ages to do.

Am I the only one who removes all the bits of debris from their tyres?

No, I don't think it's just yourself who levers the flints out. I certainly do - it seems a good opportunity to check the tyres at close quarters.

Yes, it does takes longer to do the job than you might think it should - as you say the cleaning and drying takes a good while...and I, personally, usually use Collinite 845 Insulator Wax on the wheels by way of some protection. I use a trolley jack with the hockey puck but not a torque wrench as i don't have one (perhaps I should?). By the time I've wrapped them up in their blankets and stacked them on the rack and cleaned up and put everything away it's taken me half a day....although I admit that this time the two year service coincided withe tyre swap so I got the garage to swap them (as the wheels were coming off anyway - apparently) and made a voluntary payment by way of thanks.

I also use copper grease - rightly or wrongly: a smidge on the threads as well as the wheel/hub mating surfaces. Haven't lost a wheel yet but I guess this is something of an arguable topic about which there is no shortage of online debate to refer to.

I have tried my best to remove everything from the tires for the first time this year, when we changed to the summer tires on our Toyota, then I have washed the steel rims and rim caps and stored the winter tyres in the garage using the tyre stander (for the Yeti we did not buy winter tyres yet, since she came in mid-March). Before that, we were usually storing our tyres at specialist garage, but I was quite schocked, when I have descovered the way that they were storing our tyres and handling with them, so from now on, I prefer to make everyting on my own - just to be "on the safe side".

Best regards!

Edited 7 May, 201313 yr by horn3t

My local Quick Fit used to swap a pair of tyres onto rims for a £20 contribution to the tea and biscuits fund - until the manager changed and the new guy wouldn't contemplate it unless I had bought the tyres from them. That'll be his loss then! I'm now a Nat Tyres crew Tea Fund contributor instead!

For the winter tyres on the Beemer (110% useful and essential as mentioned before, especially as my summers are 35% profile "rubber band" jobs, hard compound and stupidly wide), I bought a second hand set of 17" alloys (OEM) off a popular auction site. Then had the Yokohama W-Drives fitted to those. 1" less diameter than the summer wheels, so I could run narrower but taller winter tyres and still keep the original rolling circumference. The effect was so wonderful on the Yoko's, I've now bought a third set of 17" alloys off flea bay to fit a fresh set of summer tyres to when the original 18" are worn enough. That means I've got the original 255/35 wide jobs to use for track days, etc. (If I ever get time to go to one of those?) All the extra wheels means at least I don't have to keep swapping tyres round on rims, with all the problems that entails. The good thing about driving around in a car as common as a 10-year old 3-series is there dozens of suitable OEM wheels on offer on Fleabay at any given time, so you don't have to wait too long to find some within collection distance.

Yes, I also spend time digging bits of flint and grit out of the sipes before I wash, dry and put away my winter/summer wheels for the duration! That's the thing about a lot of DIY maintenance - at least you can be sure of the job being done right! Also gives me the perfect chance to check the condition and monitor wear rates on pads and disks, etc. I suspect from reading other posts there are a number of like minded fastidious so and so's in here? Or should I just say - we're all keen on attention to detail? "Freaks" compared to the rest of the motoring nation?

Haven't decided what to do about Winter boots for the Yeti yet(!). Postponed that descision till October. Just bought it some roof bars, chrome tail pipes, and sill protectors instead. Oh - and a head rest for the centre rear seat.

What is it with Yeti locking wheel nuts though? Are they made from soft metal ore something? Haven't tried mine yet, but never had a problem with locking nuts on my Beemer(s), nor on the RS2000s I used to have alloys on. But then I've always used either a cross brace or a 17mm socket and T-bar to remove. So you can keep the torque sqauare on to the wheel. Very seldom indeed the cheap wheel brace supplied with the car, except in emergencies. Those always seem to be prone to twist off-line and apply torque to the nut at an angle? Or is it just me? Same with the jack - used a mini trolley jack at home for years. Wheel ramps, etc for for oil changes. Seldom trust the cheap, flimsy emergency jacks cars come with. Cars I've had for the last 20 years those never come out of their OEM wrapping. (You'll gather I haven't had a puncture that needed a roadside wheel change for that length of time either - touch wood!)