This was a bit sudden, I was planning on doing it next weekend, but I saw snow forcast and didn’t want to risk having to use my thrashed summer tires on snow.

This was the last season that I could use those summer tires, the tread was almost used up and there was some dry cracking of the rubber, so I am ordering new Pirelli’s for the next season.

  • Crostro@lemmy.world
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    8 hours ago

    Good for you. There’s plenty of things most people overlook or don’t think about when it comes to doing this.

    1. Clean the mating surfaces. Make sure to use a flat block and reasonably aggressive sandpaper on the rims as to not change the plane. Use a die grinder to clean around the hub on the car side, a stud cleaner with an abrasive disc gets where the grinder can’t reach.
    2. Apply a ring of grease around the hub, nothing on the studs or wheels, this can affect the torque on the wheel nuts. This helps with removal.
    3. Use a torque wrench. Guessing on the clamping force can cause wheel separations and if overdone, make removal extremely difficult and can snap studs.
    4. Recheck the torque after 100kms. And again after 500.
    5. Check the age of the tires. There’s a 4 digit code on the sidewall like 2322. That’s the build date of the tire. It represents when the tire is made. First 2 digits are the week, last 2 are the year. If you can, don’t exceed 7 years (industry standard). Transport Canada recommends not exceeding 10 years regardless of tire condition.
    6. Torque your wheels in the appropriate pattern, remove your wheel nuts in the same pattern. Loosening wheel nuts in a circle pattern (especially with hot brake components) can cause deformation to the rotor and cause a pulsation when braking.
    7. Rotate your tires. Mark them where they come off. Mark them from where they came off and rotate them accordingly. If they’re directional tires, make sure they’re on the right way. Mark the location on the tread, not the inside. Gets confusing as the years go by. On the tread, that gets rubbed off as you drive.
    8. Don’t do vehicle repair for a career, do it as a hobby to save you money.