Just been out trying to change a wheel on a friends 4 year old Saab after the front n/s tyre blew out on a dual carriageway at 70mph in the rain.
I discovered 2 things:
1) The locking wheel nut key on Saabs might as well be made of plastic. I hardly applied any pressure at all to the wheel brace, and the insides of the key snapped in half! Does anybody know a good brand of lock nuts they can be replaced with? Won't even bother using their own brand again.
2) The piece of metal with the loop on the end, which you are supposed to insert into the jack and wind to jack the car up, is completely and utterly USELESS if the majority of your tyre is in bits along the hard shoulder. There isnt enough clearance to turn it round without a tyre on the rim. Also, the small hoop at the end that you insert into the jack isn't bent round enough like most jacks i've seen in the past so it keeps falling out of the hole on the jack, and the shape of it is all wrong so its very difficult to turn- impossible without a tyre on the wheel!
I notice that the kit in the 500 is the same as the Saab, so thats something to be wary of in the future.
Sods law, it was raining and my friend wasn't a member of the AA... although that has changed now of course! AA man had the lock nut off with about 2 hammer blows in 30 seconds. Hardly instills confidence in locking wheel nuts does it?
I've lost count of the number of times i've seen people at the roadside with a flat tyre waiting for the AA and thought "oh what a wimp can't change their own wheel" but now I know just how difficult it can be!
I discovered 2 things:
1) The locking wheel nut key on Saabs might as well be made of plastic. I hardly applied any pressure at all to the wheel brace, and the insides of the key snapped in half! Does anybody know a good brand of lock nuts they can be replaced with? Won't even bother using their own brand again.
2) The piece of metal with the loop on the end, which you are supposed to insert into the jack and wind to jack the car up, is completely and utterly USELESS if the majority of your tyre is in bits along the hard shoulder. There isnt enough clearance to turn it round without a tyre on the rim. Also, the small hoop at the end that you insert into the jack isn't bent round enough like most jacks i've seen in the past so it keeps falling out of the hole on the jack, and the shape of it is all wrong so its very difficult to turn- impossible without a tyre on the wheel!
I notice that the kit in the 500 is the same as the Saab, so thats something to be wary of in the future.
Sods law, it was raining and my friend wasn't a member of the AA... although that has changed now of course! AA man had the lock nut off with about 2 hammer blows in 30 seconds. Hardly instills confidence in locking wheel nuts does it?
I've lost count of the number of times i've seen people at the roadside with a flat tyre waiting for the AA and thought "oh what a wimp can't change their own wheel" but now I know just how difficult it can be!
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