How to Change a tire on a camping trailer

Age 55....Change it myself.

Age 65....Make one try at changing it then call Good Sam ERS.

Now (age 75)....Call Good Sam ERS immediately and open a cold one!

Grit dog wrote:

Tvov wrote:

Grit dog wrote:

Mortimer Brewster wrote:
I would avoid using WD-40 (torque issues). Instead keep a long breaker bar on hand. It would be a good idea to re-torque after 50 miles as well.
How many here would replace the "good" tire that's adjacent to the flat as well?

You should expound on what the torque issue might be. Takes less torque to loosen a rusted lug nut if it's WD40'd?
If you mean torque when re installing, there is absolutely no issue. In fact proper bolt tension is more accurate with lubricated threads. It's a requirement in other applications where bolt tension is critical.
Or don't ever have to worry about frozen lugs and anti seize your wheel lugs pre-emptively.

I love this site. One person says one thing, the next say the opposite. I've always put some WD-40 or similar on lug nuts and have never had an issue. I've also read that doing that will cause an over tightening of the bolt and possibly break them.

So I then I just go camping...

:)

I don't know about overtightening, seems to me 90ft lbs is 90ft lbs. if you're cranking on a rusty bolt, some of that torque is getting lost in added friction that isn't quantifiable when engineering the proper torque value for a certain tension.
BTW, you don't torque bolts. You use torque to tension bolts. Just structural steel terminology like people who pour cement.....
Plenty of myths or fears about lubricating threads on things such as tire lugs. If you're relying on the rust holding your lug nuts on, something is wrong!
I'm not the smartest person but I learned at an early age, growing up in the rust belt, that spending 10 sec to ensure a bolt or nut won't rust on is waaaay easier than replacing a snapped wheel stud, brake caliper bolt, etc.
cheers!

X2 but do you mean pouring concrete? Sorry couldn't help it. :) I heard about that when my son was a cement plant engineer/production manager and the other son was a civil engineer rebuilding the Bay St Louis bridge after Katrina.

I always lube the threads too. I dont put it on the nut flange but lightly coat the threads. I also grew up in the rust belt and have seen plenty of lugs snapped off or galled studs and drums or rotors that dont come off. I also lightly lube the area where the drum or rotor sits so it doesn't rust on. Not globs but just enough to keep it from rusting yet not migrating to where it will cause problems.

Tvov wrote:

Grit dog wrote:

Mortimer Brewster wrote:
I would avoid using WD-40 (torque issues). Instead keep a long breaker bar on hand. It would be a good idea to re-torque after 50 miles as well.
How many here would replace the "good" tire that's adjacent to the flat as well?

You should expound on what the torque issue might be. Takes less torque to loosen a rusted lug nut if it's WD40'd?
If you mean torque when re installing, there is absolutely no issue. In fact proper bolt tension is more accurate with lubricated threads. It's a requirement in other applications where bolt tension is critical.
Or don't ever have to worry about frozen lugs and anti seize your wheel lugs pre-emptively.

I love this site. One person says one thing, the next say the opposite. I've always put some WD-40 or similar on lug nuts and have never had an issue. I've also read that doing that will cause an over tightening of the bolt and possibly break them.

So I then I just go camping...

:)

I don't know about overtightening, seems to me 90ft lbs is 90ft lbs. if you're cranking on a rusty bolt, some of that torque is getting lost in added friction that isn't quantifiable when engineering the proper torque value for a certain tension.
BTW, you don't torque bolts. You use torque to tension bolts. Just structural steel terminology like people who pour cement.....
Plenty of myths or fears about lubricating threads on things such as tire lugs. If you're relying on the rust holding your lug nuts on, something is wrong!
I'm not the smartest person but I learned at an early age, growing up in the rust belt, that spending 10 sec to ensure a bolt or nut won't rust on is waaaay easier than replacing a snapped wheel stud, brake caliper bolt, etc.
cheers!

I use the Trailer Aid ramp to change a tire. Pull up on the Trailer Aid and the flat tire will get about 3+ inches off the ground.

austinjenna wrote:
Same here

Could have sure used a Trailer Aid this weekend ... came home from a trip, parked the trailer on the driveway as usual, no issues, came out maybe an hour later to find the front curb side tire totally flat. :M My driveway is significantly sloped so although I did manage to get the wheel off and spare installed using a hydraulic jack the process sure would have been a lot easier (and safer!) using a Trailer Aid. Why this didn't happen on the side of the highway is still a mystery - talk about horseshoes! :W These tires are 4 yrs old, lots of tread left, but this particular failure wasn't caused by a nail, etc - it simply failed, the inner plies and steel belt having split open. :E Time to ditch the bunch of them so I'm replacing all four (keeping the unused spare as a spare) with a set of the new 8 ply Goodyear Endurance tires. So - even though I'll hopefully never need it my next purchase will be a Trailer Aid, my question being whether the extra height offered by the Trailer Aid Plus is necessary or whether the lower height Trailer Aid will suffice. :h Trailer is just 4700 lbs loaded, 22' 6" coupler to bumper, tires are ST205/75 R14.

Grit dog wrote:

Mortimer Brewster wrote:
I would avoid using WD-40 (torque issues). Instead keep a long breaker bar on hand. It would be a good idea to re-torque after 50 miles as well.
How many here would replace the "good" tire that's adjacent to the flat as well?

You should expound on what the torque issue might be. Takes less torque to loosen a rusted lug nut if it's WD40'd?
If you mean torque when re installing, there is absolutely no issue. In fact proper bolt tension is more accurate with lubricated threads. It's a requirement in other applications where bolt tension is critical.
Or don't ever have to worry about frozen lugs and anti seize your wheel lugs pre-emptively.

I love this site. One person says one thing, the next say the opposite. I've always put some WD-40 or similar on lug nuts and have never had an issue. I've also read that doing that will cause an over tightening of the bolt and possibly break them.

So I then I just go camping...

:)

I use the Trailer Aid ramp to change a tire. Pull up on the Trailer Aid and the flat tire will get about 3+ inches off the ground.

Same here

I use the Trailer Aid ramp to change a tire. Pull up on the Trailer Aid and the flat tire will get about 3+ inches off the ground.

Mortimer Brewster wrote:
I would avoid using WD-40 (torque issues). Instead keep a long breaker bar on hand. It would be a good idea to re-torque after 50 miles as well.
How many here would replace the "good" tire that's adjacent to the flat as well?

You should expound on what the torque issue might be. Takes less torque to loosen a rusted lug nut if it's WD40'd?
If you mean torque when re installing, there is absolutely no issue. In fact proper bolt tension is more accurate with lubricated threads. It's a requirement in other applications where bolt tension is critical.
Or don't ever have to worry about frozen lugs and anti seize your wheel lugs pre-emptively.

mileshuff wrote:

wa8yxm wrote:
You loosen the nuts BEFORE you jack it up, Or at least I did.

Sometimes one tire is completely flat. The remaining tire on a dual axle now supports the weight on that side. The flat tire spins when trying to loosen the nuts.

Insert a chock in a way that it is pulled into the tire while turning the lug nuts.

wa8yxm wrote:
You loosen the nuts BEFORE you jack it up, Or at least I did.

Sometimes one tire is completely flat. The remaining tire on a dual axle now supports the weight on that side. The flat tire spins when trying to loosen the nuts.