RE: PH Blog: right wheels, wrong wheels

[ssuh]

Mr Whippy said:

Are my eyes a bit dicky today, or is the door a different shade to the rest of the car?

Dave

+1 for certain!

[kpelise]

This is exciting stuff, you've changed the wheels on a Golf. Wow! Are you running out of stuff to write about?

[va1o]

Looks so much better on the proper alloys!

[dandarez]

offendi said:

Were Halfords having a sale ?

[nickfrog]

Finding an aesthetic improvement with the bigger wheels is like saying that Ann Widdecombe would look sexy in suspenders.

[David87]

Right wheels:

[dandarez]

johnpeat said:

Oddball RS said:

Buy a proper wheel spanner or spider and do it properly before you damage something / hurt someone. Standing on it, i ask you.

Props to anyone who actually changes their own wheels - the desire to overpay a tyrefitter or even use the rescue services (for flats) is strong in those who should know better!!

I once found myself stranded by the 'company hack' Ford KA and a flat tyre. "NO problemo" I thought, there's a jack and, amazingly, a spare with air in it.

Problem is - standard manufacturer-supplied jacks and spanners are, of course, dangerous, useless st. The nuts were locked-solid and no amount of force was shifting them (with the tiny pointless wrench and a car balanced on a half-scissor jack made of paper).

So I took to stamping on the bar and got the nuts off - put the spare on - put the nuts back on and as I went to tighten them, the car fell-off the jack!! Now THAT is what I call timing - any earlier and it would have landed on me!!

Had pretty-much the same experience with a Vectra a few years later except the jack collapsed when I was putting the spare on (leaving it jammed under the hub at 45 degrees and me lacking a lot of skin from my hand).

I'm amazed no manufacturers have been sued for the utter st which is the supplied jack and spanners - problem is, carrying a prybar extension or a proper trolley jack isn't very practical.

Has anyone given-in and tried those 'big plastic bag you inflate from the exhaust' jacks??

Extension bar?
Take one scaffold pipe, cut in 2 lengths. (long one will crack 200lb/ft hub nuts - been there: see the slight bend.)
Carry short length in boot - can be used in emergencies other than wheel changing

Edited by dandarez on Monday 23 January 22:31

[George H]

David87 said:

Right wheels:

Those wheels look awful on their own, on a white car they would be even worse.

[dek999]

Thought this was a 'serious' motoring journal..

Are we REALLY discussing the size of your ...... rims?

They're just 2 blocks of aluminium.. Have they increased or decreased the un-sprung weight?

http://www.wrxtuners.com/forums/f53/unsprung-weigh...

Come on boys.. stop admiring each others and do some jouro

[205007]

Most boring article I've read on here

Changing the winter wheels over on a Golf, somebody had to help do it, it looks better with the standard wheels

Really?

[Beefmeister]

Oh calm down you two ^^^ this is a PH Blog piece - they're meant to be slightly offbeat, not real articles.

More of a look into the lives of the PH team and what they get up to, their ramblings spewed forth onto the internet.

The articles on PH are still head and shoulders above most other websites, apart from one i can think of...

[Dave Hedgehog]

David87 said:

Right wheels:

defiantly!! look amazing on a white GTi

and these on the R

Edited by Dave Hedgehog on Tuesday 24th January 06:47

[New Scot]

12gauge said:

Beefmeister said:

Looks infinitely better. Though IMO the 5dr Golf looks nicer than the 3dr...

Edited by Beefmeister on Monday 23 January 11:57

I see what you mean, the rear window corner just looks a little 'sharper'

I agree (biased as I find my red Mk5 5dr both fun and practical)!

[Howrare]

Riggers, what has happened to the winter set? I could do with them. Its puking down with sonw outside my window and my current set of Blizzaks are finished.

Seen the current copy of CAR with the 911 test?.... thats were I live

[infernal]

johnpeat said:

Props to anyone who actually changes their own wheels - the desire to overpay a tyrefitter or even use the rescue services (for flats) is strong in those who should know better!!

I once found myself stranded by the 'company hack' Ford KA and a flat tyre. "NO problemo" I thought, there's a jack and, amazingly, a spare with air in it.

Problem is - standard manufacturer-supplied jacks and spanners are, of course, dangerous, useless st. The nuts were locked-solid and no amount of force was shifting them (with the tiny pointless wrench and a car balanced on a half-scissor jack made of paper).

So I took to stamping on the bar and got the nuts off - put the spare on - put the nuts back on and as I went to tighten them, the car fell-off the jack!! Now THAT is what I call timing - any earlier and it would have landed on me!!

Had pretty-much the same experience with a Vectra a few years later except the jack collapsed when I was putting the spare on (leaving it jammed under the hub at 45 degrees and me lacking a lot of skin from my hand).

I'm amazed no manufacturers have been sued for the utter st which is the supplied jack and spanners - problem is, carrying a prybar extension or a proper trolley jack isn't very practical.

Has anyone given-in and tried those 'big plastic bag you inflate from the exhaust' jacks??

Edited by johnpeat on Monday 23 January 15:40

you were doing it wrong

loosen the nuts while it's on the ground
lift the car
remove wheel
put on spare
HAND TIGHTEN
lower car
stamp on bar again to tighten
keep fingers + brake lines from being severed

[toppstuff]

George H said:

Those wheels look awful on their own, on a white car they would be even worse.

Methinks some people here have evolved from the Max Power school of car design.

They are 'orrible I tell yee, orrible.

[Minimin]

I hope the road noise is better than my 118TSi with VW's factory sport pack on the 17" Bridgestones. Noisy as all hell.....The original tyres where probably capable of handling more than you could muster on a hot day. I'll have the old wheels if you are throwing them away. Keep on keeping on.

[Riggers]

Beefmeister said:

Oh calm down you two ^^^ this is a PH Blog piece - they're meant to be slightly offbeat, not real articles.

More of a look into the lives of the PH team and what they get up to, their ramblings spewed forth onto the internet.

The articles on PH are still head and shoulders above most other websites, apart from one i can think of...

Danke, Herr Beef. Cheque's in the post


Proper report on merits or otherwise of new tyres and rubber rather than silly vanity nonsense will be coming in the VW's next PH fleet update

[LuS1fer]

infernal said:

you were doing it wrong

loosen the nuts while it's on the ground
lift the car
remove wheel
put on spare
HAND TIGHTEN
lower car
stamp on bar again to tighten
keep fingers + brake lines from being severed

Heading for the Darwin awards that one....

[infernal]

LuS1fer said:

Heading for the Darwin awards that one....

surely doing what i said is better than trying to change a wheel on a car which is basically balanced on a glorified twig?