Too soon for winter tyres...?

Gloomendoom

I've been reading this thread with interest as I have been considering buying some winter tyres for my wife's car. Several people have suggested that winter tyres should be narrower and fitted to smaller diameter wheels than standard. However, when I checked the car's handbook it says...

WARNING - Snow tyre size. Snow tyres should be equivalent in size and type as the vehicle's standard tyres. Otherwise the safety and handling of your vehicle may be adversely affected.

I'm not sure exactly what "equivalent" in size and type means in this context. Is it exactly the same size and aspect ratio etc. (235/55R18) or any suitable combination of tyre and wheel as long as it is the same diameter and width?

mikey72

Mine lists the size, same as the corsa mentioned on here. Even tells you which tyres can use snow chains.

eg
http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/content/dam/Vauxhall/Europe/united_kingdom/nscwebsite/uk/00_Home/Owner_Services/owners_manuals/corsa/CorsaOwnersManual_Jan09.pdf


page 159, chains on 162 and general sizes on page 198 onwards.

Gloomendoom

Trebor16 wrote: »

Would a jointing compound such as Duralac applied in small quantities on the hub be potentially dangerous? It would prevent the galvanic corrosion that occurs when two different metals are joined together.

Copper grease will be fine as long as you apply it sparingly around the just the spigot on the hub and inside the centre bore of the wheel itself. Smothering the mating faces in the stuff is unnecessary, and has been said, probably not conducive to good friction between wheel and hub. That said, I've never actually heard of any wheel studs shearing as a result of over overenthusiastic copper greasing.

Gloomendoom

mikey72 wrote: »

Mine lists the size, same as the corsa mentioned on here. Even tells you which tyres can use snow chains.

page 159, chains on 162 and general sizes on page 198 onwards.

I love this bit...

Tyres of size 185/65 R 15 are only
approved as winter tyres on vehicles
with a sports chassis. We recommend
that you contact a workshop in order
to find out whether your vehicle is
equipped with a sports chassis

Any workshop?

k9387

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Assumptions aren't what I asked for.

It's just not as simple as that, many winter spec tyres due to the reduced width needed to perform also fall below the diameter speced by the manf.

Loved the earlier crossply/radial ref, dind't think there wher many folks that remembered that old bit of legislation.

PM me for an old joke on that topic that can't be published here

'Assume' was a little disclaimer, but not really necessary, let me try again:

As long as the narrowness is still within manufacturers spec for your particular vehicle, you will be ok.

The with of the tyre isn't so much a choice but dictate by the width of the wheel allowed which of course is dictated by the manufacturer.

For example not only can my vehicle take 17R to 20R as standard, in 17R it can also take 7J to 8J but this is all covered by the same tyre - it is just pinched or stretched (can't remember the exact terms) to a certain extent.

Changing the width of the tyre would only really come into play if the manufacture specifies some crazy range (unlikely as this would alter handling characteristics massivly) or if you have gone 'custom' in which case you should have already informed your insurance campany and would henace be covered and legal at the expense of some £££.

Of course there will probably be some exceptions but this is talking generally...

k9387

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Any workshop?

Sounds like it, I can recommend one down the road from me, makes great wooden furniture...

k9387

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Copper grease will be fine as long as you apply it sparingly around the just the spigot on the hub and inside the centre bore of the wheel itself. Smothering the mating faces in the stuff is unnecessary, and has been said, probably not conducive to good friction between wheel and hub. That said, I've never actually heard of any wheel studs shearing as a result of over overenthusiastic copper greasing.

No, neither have I. Probably because the bolts, being such a critial part, are substancially higher rated than they need to be.

Bottom line is people should do what the manual says - that way they are covered - I know some do and some don't - some even specify to grease bolts, but then they supply torque values for greased bolts.

cyclonebri1

Talking of stuck wheels and studs.

The wifes car was due for an mot last week, it's exactly 5 years old and I know for a fact the rearwheels hadn't been off in that time, but the rear brakes where binding so off we go.

It took all I've got with a 3ft Britool breaker bar to remove the studs plus lavish applications of penetrating oil, backwards/forwards with the bar etc Thet came out and left piles off corrosion dust behind.

That was the easy bit, the alloys were well and trully "welded" the ther location boss, no amount off hammering, (and I've got some big hammers), would shift them. Eventually it was 2 angled crow bars through the spokes and bearing against the rear of the aluminium that eventually got them moving.

No one's ever going to convince me not to use copaslip, I always have amd always do.:mad::mad: ;)

System

mikey72 wrote: »

I tried that. Well loosened quite a bit, three point turns, islands, and emergency stops. And then a big hammer again. And a lot of kicking.

A long crowbar behind the wheel to lever against the lower suspension joint is better than using a hammer if possible.

A small amount of vaseline or basic axle grease on the hub to reduce corrosion between the different metal types has always worked for me.

sunshinetours

Mine are now one purely as car had to go in for MOT so seemed sensible. Probably a bit earlier than normally required "down here" but most driving is done during week early in morning and early evening when temps are generally (and shortly I would imagine will be again) lower than they have been for past weeks

Word is certainly getting out there now about winter tyres, my dealer said they have had huge enquiries already about them this year.

If you can afford them they are a no brainer once you've tried them especially if you drive a large heavy RWD car with lots of power and large diameter wheels with wide rubber band tyres on. Its not just about snow as many still don't seem to realise