Check your wheel brace!

[phil1968]

After pulling over to deal with a puncture 80 miles from home on Sunday afternoon I found this wheel brace (on the left of the pic) in the toolkit. Luckily we had recovery, but I was more annoyed that someone had put that wheel brace back in the tool kit. I checked that the spare tyre & the toolkit were present when I bought the car, but I didn't think to check the condition of the wheel brace. It's interesting to note that the new replacement from the dealers (on the right of the pic) is beefed up where the original one failed ...hmm.

22007463_10214350892030662_3397374725304727941_n.jpg

[canis]

It would help if people would realise that they don't need to be so tight. I did someone's brakes the other day, and even with a bar 30" long (actually my jack handle) it still took all my strength to undo.

That isn't safe. The wheel alloy isn't strong enough for that. Garages in these tyre fitting places of the Kwik Fit nature employing the use of air impact drivers at maximum pressure and holding the button in for as long as it takes for the nut to really be unable to move any further - they are not doing any favours.

110 Newton meters on our V40. That's all. It's about the same effort as closing the boot lid. It's really not very much. Any more is wearing your alloys, straining your alloy bolts, in particular it's wearing the alloy threads on the bolts against the threads of the steel hubs. That wear is dangerous.

Overtightning wheel nuts is NOT safe.

[arctan]

And then there are warped brake disks from nut-cases using air tools.
Just use a torque wrench next time!

[niggly]

Those wheel braces are pretty useless in my experience. I've just bought one of these from Screwfix to keep in the boot. Bargain.

RAC Telescopic Wheel Wrench 17/19mm (7182R) - £6.99 inc VAT
½" drive, fully-treated carbon steel wrench with telescopic handle.
Supplied with 17/19mm double-ended reversible socket, which covers most vehicle wheel nuts.
Soft-grip handle for comfort.

[domhart10]

Yeh the one I had in the back of mine was pretty rubbish as well really, its almost like it was made out of rubber. As soon as I turned a wheel nut it would start rounding off inside. so just got a proper one similar to what Niggly got

[LizardOfBodom]

I threw away the OEM brace and got myself proper X-type wheel brace. I have zero faith in those telescopic or angled ones, simple cross-type and whole force goes at the direct angle. Plus takes much less time to undo/do bolts as it spins easier and not in awkward position.
Just my 2 eurocents

[Petey80]

Mine did the exact same thing as yours and I also bent it whilst it was extended.

Binned that and got one of these instead.

wrench by Pete, on Flickr

The free gloves aren't too bad either.

I too find tyre places put bolts/nuts on far too tight with the impact guns. I've watched them gun them on, then use a torque wrench and it just clicks straight away. Far too tight.

[dme123]

I bet my (wheel) nuts that these ****ty weak wheel braces are a FoMoCo part. Hopefully no more of this sort of crap from Volvo in the future.

[arctan]

If your wheel nut is too tight at the roadside, put the wheel brace horizontal, pointing to the right (3 o'clock). Put the jack under the tip of the brace, and wind up the jack.

[poiuytre111]

Originally Posted by niggly

Those wheel braces are pretty useless in my experience. I've just bought one of these from Screwfix to keep in the boot. Bargain.

RAC Telescopic Wheel Wrench 17/19mm (7182R) - £6.99 inc VAT
½" drive, fully-treated carbon steel wrench with telescopic handle.
Supplied with 17/19mm double-ended reversible socket, which covers most vehicle wheel nuts.
Soft-grip handle for comfort.

I have one of those jacks but I don't like them. The fact that the applied force is not perpendicular to the bolt axis tends to encourage the socket to be prised off the wheel nut, probably rounding it off in the process. The better approach is the spider jack since you are applying force in a balanced way and at a right angle to the wheel bolt. Just my 2 cents