240 General: New (to me) 1980 Volvo 244

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Errrrr, yeah - me!

My word, that is very impressive!

I change my own bike wheels (and have a bead breaker for that), but I haven't changed a car wheel in 40 years (... and it would have been a very skinny cross-ply in those days).

:-)

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Alloy wheels are a lot lighter than their steel counterparts Alan, i'll try and get out (without being blown away) later to weigh a steel rim and a corresponding alloy.

The other thing with very wide tyres is that they can "tramline" along ridges in the road easier than narrower tyres and are more susceptible to road camber changes.

It must be the wider tyre that is heavier then. I'll compare the skinny/steel and fat/alloy combinations when I swap them on the Skoda.

I'd certainly agree with wider tyres being more sensitive to surface changes.

[Clifford Pope]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Alloy wheels are a lot lighter than their steel counterparts Alan,

I used to assume that was true, until a few years ago I compared the weights of two bare Volvo wheels - alloy and steel. They were identical.

I had just been thinking "alloy is light". So it is, but the material is at least twice as thick.

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Clifford Pope

I used to assume that was true, until a few years ago I compared the weights of two bare Volvo wheels - alloy and steel. They were identical.

I had just been thinking "alloy is light". So it is, but the material is at least twice as thick.

Interesting! Can i ask if the alloy and steel wheels were the same rim diameter and width?

While refurbing the 15" Omega wheel pictured above, i went to moveit but picked up a steel 15" Rover rim instead - i was alerted by the extra weight. The Volvo was 15 x 6.5J (width) and the Rover steel wheel was 15 x 6J so the Volvo wheel was (and still is) wider but felt lighter or more to the point, the steel wheel felt a lot heavier when i grabbed it without looking.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Clifford Pope

I used to assume that was true, until a few years ago I compared the weights of two bare Volvo wheels - alloy and steel. They were identical.

I had just been thinking "alloy is light". So it is, but the material is at least twice as thick.

I don't know (because I've never weighed either) but I think you may be right. I didn't compare them directly, but the weight of the 225+18" alloy seemed to be at least as much as the 205+16" steel wheel.

When I get the Škoda's alloy wheels back I'll compare them more accurately.

Alan

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Interesting! Can i ask if the alloy and steel wheels were the same rim diameter and width?

While refurbing the 15" Omega wheel pictured above, i went to moveit but picked up a steel 15" Rover rim instead - i was alerted by the extra weight. The Volvo was 15 x 6.5J (width) and the Rover steel wheel was 15 x 6J so the Volvo wheel was (and still is) wider but felt lighter or more to the point, the steel wheel felt a lot heavier when i grabbed it without looking.

I don't know Dave. I don't have any bare wheels here, but I will compare the alloy and steel wheels for the Škoda with tyres fitted (which is of course what matters).

Alan

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Errrrr, yeah - me!

... this is what is missing in my life Dave:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/24-SEMI-A...AAAOSw9r1WC73W

:-)

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

... this is what is missing in my life Dave:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/24-SEMI-A...AAAOSw9r1WC73W

:-)

Alan

Would love one of those Alan but i don't have the space or funds for it!

As you probably noticed, i took a basic manual tyre changer and have added to it to improve it and reduce the effort i need to put in.

Ultimate goal is motorise it so i don't have to swing on the duck-head to remove the tyre. The duck head is the bright shiny thing with a couple of bits of yellow nylon (to prevent scuffs on the alloy) that can be seen on the arm i have welded on to a piece of exhust tubing slipped over the locking collar on the original post.

[Othen]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Would love one of those Alan but i don't have the space or funds for it!

As you probably noticed, i took a basic manual tyre changer and have added to it to improve it and reduce the effort i need to put in.

Ultimate goal is motorise it so i don't have to swing on the duck-head to remove the tyre. The duck head is the bright shiny thing with a couple of bits of yellow nylon (to prevent scuffs on the alloy) that can be seen on the arm i have welded on to a piece of exhust tubing slipped over the locking collar on the original post.

If I had the space I'd get one of those machines Dave; it would make no financial sense, but wouldn't it be the coolest thing to have one in the garage?

:-)

Alan

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by Othen

If I had the space I'd get one of those machines Dave; it would make no financial sense, but wouldn't it be the coolest thing to have one in the garage?

:-)

Alan

Yes, and if you learned how to use it to save yourself having to get your tyres fitted at a generic tyre bay, it might eventually make financial sense.

Mine paid for itself the first time i used it, even in its basic "out of the box" form. I bought 4 Falken tyres for £57 each at the time and used the tyre machine to fit them. I can't remember the cost of the machine but it was ~£50 delivered. Therefore total cost for tyres and the machine was ~£280. I had valves and i already had a manual wheel balancer and weights which had previously cost me about £50 total.

The same tyres supplied, fitted and balanced at a generic high street chain of tyre fitters worked out ~£110 each at the cheapest so ~£440 so the worst case scenario was i was already ~£110 in profit (or savings) the first time i used it.

So far, it's worked out about £120 on a cheap set of tyres and about £220 on a "middle of the road" (no pun intended!) set of tyres for the saving. On that basis, it would take you 7 sets of tyres to recoup the cost on cheap tyres or about 3.5 sets on a mid-range set of tyres. Arguably you could extend it to premium tyres and would probably be more like ~£300/set saving.