I actually had to work on a car!

[KenL]

The tire pressure display on my Honda Ridgeline warned me on Thursday that one of my tires was low. Sure enough, I found a nail right in the middle of the tread; slow leak.

As luck would have it, I was planning to go down to Colorado Springs on a Costco run the following day. I bought these tires at Discount Tires in CS just a few months ago, so I decided to pull the tire off and take it with me and drop it off for a free repair.

So there I was, Thursday evening, jacking up the truck and removing the tire. I got to thinking about the last time I pulled a tire.... Maybe on my Miata about 15 years ago? Can't recall. It's been a long time, for sure.

I got it done. The lug nuts were perfectly torqued, and loosened up easily enough. Popped the donut spare on, and threw the leaky tire in the other Honda. Got it fixed the next day, and back on the truck as planned.

The one thing I noticed is that tires must be way heavier than they used to be. I could hardly lift the thing!

Anyway, it's done. Can't tell you the last time I worked on a car, other than washing/waxing and air filters. Also can't tell you that I've missed it.

[Brucebubs]

I put new wiper blades on our 10 year old Subaru a couple of months ago - that's it!

[EZYPIKINS]

Car parts are getting lighter by the day. How you think they get the MPG so high.

Last Wheel you pulled was on a Miata? 15 years ago?

If 15 years means 35 yrs to 50. Your problem is age, and perspective.

A wheel from a Ridgeline has always been heavier than that of a Miata.

As you get older, everything seems heavier.

[KenL]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

I put new wiper blades on our 10 year old Subaru a couple of months ago - that's it!

I bought new wiper blade refills while at the Honda dealer yesterday for a recall repair.

Once I've recovered from putting that tire back on, I'll tackle the those.

[catndahats]

Had a similar tire experience last week.
Wife and I arranged to buy an upright bass and were to meet the seller about 100 miles from home...took off, got about 60 miles down the interstate and the tire pressure light comes on at 65mph...thought "hmmm?"
Luckily, an exit with a gas station was right there...pulled in, find the tire leaking/gash/separation...optimistic I tried fix-a-flat that I carry...ha, ha, it just oozed out.
Haven't changed tire in years, and never on this huge Tundra. Mind you, I am old, and it's 102 degrees...
Had to read the manual on the side of the road.
Get the spare out, never looked at it before---it's flat, and weather/age worn bad. I was somewhat proud that I still remembered how to change a tire and was still strong enough to loosen the lug nuts.
By this time, it's getting dark, the bass seller agrees to meet us on the side of the road, we do the transaction, but all the tire stores are closed.
Ended up at a hotel, wasn't going to even try to drive home on that funky spare.
Did get the bass--mission accomplished!
Made the best of a bad situation----got a bass, night out with dinner out/hotel mini vacay, and a new tire the next morning...add $500 to the new bass price ...lol
Lessons:
Be prepared, and better yet know your limitations. Adrenaline probably helped getting us to a safe spot, and a lifetime of experience working on/repairing cars helped.
Also, know when you can't do it yourself and call for help. Those 20" Tundra wheels are heavy!

[Mr. Paul]

I was reminiscing the other day about the time the oil light came on in my '67 Impala and my first instinct was not to check the oil but how to disconnect the annoying light. I've gotten better since then, but not much.

I've pulled lots of tires though. We live at the end of a 5 mile dirt road and when we replaced the last set of tires on the 4Runner the old ones had a total of 15 plugs.

[brad4d8]

I used to do general maintenance, oil change, tune-up, once changed a starter motor. Then we got a SAAB and when I looked under the hood, I didn't recognize a whole lot. Still changed oil for a while, but haven't done a thing in years. Don't miss it, especially crawling under the car to change the oil.

[RJVB]

Originally Posted by KenL

The one thing I noticed is that tires must be way heavier than they used to be. I could hardly lift the thing!

Tyres themselves probably didn't become much heavier over the last 15 years, but fashion has changed to cars not just having bigger wheels but also "lower" tyres. Said tyres are more rigid and thus probably have a higher unit weight, but it's the wheels that are much heavier. Those "light alloy" wheels aren't lighter than simple steel rims at all in my experience. My set of summer wheels with the stock, wide, 16" alloy rims have the same circumference as my winter wheels with simple, narrower 14" steel rims, and are a lot heavier.
(They're also a lot more expensive to buy and every workshop asks more to replace tyres on those than on steel rims which really makes you wonder what their advantage is for the average driver.)

[Gitfiddlemann]

The only major chore I ever did was to swap out summer and winter wheels on my car, so jacking the car up 4 times to get it done.
The last time I did that, I hurt myself. The jack slipped when I was pulling the back left wheel off and in attempt to prop the car up I sliced the tip of my left hand middle finger on the (very sharp) rotor. It was bleeding quite a bit but the fact that it had/has pretty thick skin (from all that playing) saved me in a sense from having to make a trip to the ER. If it had been my right hand, I might not have been so lucky.
Still, it was enough of a scare to have me consider: "Why am I doing this?"
So, that was it for car repair. I only do the light stuff now like checking the oil, filling fluids, replacing wiper blades etc...

[KenL]

I've had two cars that I enjoyed working on. A 1977 BMW 320i and the aforementioned 1990 Miata.

On both, I could change the oil/filter and replace the spark plugs in an hour or less. On the BMW, that included points and plugs. I found the chore to be rewarding.


Mr. Paul, that's a lot of plugs! And I live at the end of 1.5 miles of dirt road. I used to be a clean car guy, but had to get over that when we moved up here.

[RJVB]

Originally Posted by AndreF

The only major chore I ever did was to swap out summer and winter wheels on my car, so jacking the car up 4 times to get it done.

I do that too, twice a year for our 2 cars. Saves me between 15 and 20 euros per swap, plus loading and unloading the new/old tyres from the trunk. I've got a hydraulic jack with a long arm so the jacking is effortless - and I use an additional "stand" (tourelle in French) to support the weight of the car while I'm working. Loosen the bolt and finish tightening them (to 11Nm) when the car has (most of) its weight on the wheels. The most tiresome bit was screwing the lugs out and back in, but I now have an adapter that allows me to use car sockets on my battery-operated drill.

But since the RWT operator told me many people here keep their winter tyres on all year (which is perfectly legal) I haven't bothered swapping mine this summer. They'll turn 6 this winter, have plenty of tread left but may no longer be as efficient in cold temps so using them up in summer isn't the worst idea (esp. as they're higher and this more comfortable AND give me somewhat better mileage because narrower).

[imwjl]

My guess is it is the Ridgeline having a combo of not so light vehicle and not very low profile tires.

Our "swagger wagon" version of Sienna has performance tires and wheels but you notice the weight over our VW that also has performance wheels and tires just from size and vehicle carry weight.

FYI on swapping wheels and tires. Consider the somewhat new class of year round tires that have the "3 peaks" snow rating. Having done the two sets of wheels and tires routine, no way am I doing that again. Especially now that we have two sets of this class of tires and dirt road experience too.

State of the art dedicated snow tires will still have an advantage in the worst winter can dish out, but I've had those for decades and am satisfied with the new breed. My pleasant surprise with the CrossClimate®2 is performance on dirt and just no compromises for other driving.

The first set of CrossClimate®2 we got are almost 18 months old now and they do not get noisy like well regarded Nokian do or lose the advantage Blizzaks start out with. An interesting and strange thing is they are slightly louder up to 12-15 MPH. That might be why they're far superior when I drive the ski area service roads.

I hear ya. I actually soldered for the first time ~30 years. I added a jack to my National/Krivo reso pickup. It turned out great!

[Gitfiddlemann]

Originally Posted by RJVB

....I've got a hydraulic jack with a long arm so the jacking is effortless - and I use an additional "stand" (tourelle in French) to support the weight of the car while I'm working....
But since the RWT operator told me many people here keep their winter tyres on all year (which is perfectly legal) I haven't bothered swapping mine this summer. They'll turn 6 this winter, have plenty of tread left but may no longer be as efficient in cold temps so using them up in summer isn't the worst idea (esp. as they're higher and this more comfortable AND give me somewhat better mileage because narrower).

I sure could have used a "tourelle" that day!
After that episode I just decided to put 4 "All season" tires on my summer wheels. That way I don't even have to go through swapping any longer. The car isn't the best handler in snow anyway, so I usually don't drive it as much during the cold season.

[Birdbrain]

Originally Posted by RJVB

Tyres themselves probably didn't become much heavier over the last 15 years, but fashion has changed to cars not just having bigger wheels but also "lower" tyres. Said tyres are more rigid and thus probably have a higher unit weight, but it's the wheels that are much heavier. Those "light alloy" wheels aren't lighter than simple steel rims at all in my experience. My set of summer wheels with the stock, wide, 16" alloy rims have the same circumference as my winter wheels with simple, narrower 14" steel rims, and are a lot heavier.
(They're also a lot more expensive to buy and every workshop asks more to replace tyres on those than on steel rims which really makes you wonder what their advantage is for the average driver.)

This is real difference! (If we had a "Like" button, I'd just press it instead of quoting lengthy copy.)

I've watched this transition to bigger and bigger wheels from the start. Common cars like my VW Golf would have 14" wheels. When I stepped up to the GTI model, I was proud to get 15 wheels. At the time (the '80s), this was called the "Plus One" modification, and it really did improve handling significantly, because the tires were thinner but wider. Now even my hybrid hatchback is up to Plus Three level, with 17" wheels. One of our cars, a Tiguan, came with 19" wheels and "sports suspension." The tire sidewalls were about two inches tall. That car's ride was truly punishing! I'll never forget driving my kid home after all her wisdom teeth were pulled, and the novocain was wearing off. It was unintentional child abuse! Soon I went "Minus Two" and bought 17" wheels and tires for it, and all was well.

The Big Wheels movement began with valid lessons from racing cars. Like all good things, it was taken too far. BTW, Formula One cars now use 13-inch tires.