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robhawley

Changing tires

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Talked to the dealer today. They suggested due to a many week delay in getting my Smart into them that I use someone else to change from my winter to summer tires.I do not have a second set of rims.Can someone suggest someone in Ottawa or a national chain that would be good?Any tips?

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I used OK Tire to swap over my winter tires onto my summer rims. They were really good, and fairly reasonable. I think it was less than $100 to have it done. But doing that twice a year, you'll quickly rack up the price of a set of steel wheels. You may want to consider shelling out for a set of wheels if you can swing the cash.

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Any decent tire shop can do that work.Pick up a set of steel rims by next fall and get your winters mounted & balanced on them and you can do the swap over yourself. It's ridiculous fast to do because you only jack the car twice, once for each side.I bought a deep 16mm (or 15??) 1/2" socket and a long wrench (not a ratchet but it has a swivel on it, I'm sure it has a name that I don't know) and an el-cheapo 1/2" torque wrench and I use the jack from my fiancee's mazda to do the jacking.DDR

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I bought a deep 16mm (or 15??) 1/2" socket and a long wrench (not a ratchet but it has a swivel on it, I'm sure it has a name that I don't know) DDR

Breaker bar or Power bar or just a socket driver are the names I know of. Swapping the tires on the rims not only adds up in cost, but wear and tear on the alloy rims. MG

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I bought a deep 16mm (or 15??) 1/2" socket and a long wrench (not a ratchet but it has a swivel on it, I'm sure it has a name that I don't know) DDR

Breaker bar or Power bar or just a socket driver are the names I know of. Swapping the tires on the rims not only adds up in cost, but wear and tear on the alloy rims. MG
... as well as wear & tear on the beads.

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jack the car twice, once for each side

Interesting - where do you site your jack for the lift?

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There are 2 jack points on each side. If you look just in front of the rear wheel, you can see where the plastic ridge ends, and there is a metal spot. Same near the front. If you jack up on the rear point, it will lift the whole side of the car.MG

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jack the car twice, once for each side

Interesting - where do you site your jack for the lift?
You didn't get the answer I was looking for.DDR - what do you use for a jacking point to get both tires off the ground at once?RCAF

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When i jacked my car up to change the wheels over, i jacked each corner up just enough so the rubber wasn't touching the ground. And at no time did the other tire on that side leave the pavement. I don't like the idea of jacking it up any higher than necessary without using jack stands.

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I've done at least 4 swaps, using the jack in the rear position with no problems.As soon as the front tire is raised off the ground I change that one. Then the car is raised to a higher position until the rear tire clears the ground. At this point you could use an axle stand for added safety. Change the tire, remove the axle stand, lower the car and you're done. Far quicker and totally safe.

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Glenn: Are you sure that you explained that right? When I jack at the rear position, the rear wheel lifts off the ground first.

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Yes, the rear wheel does leave the ground first. All the wheel bolts need to be loosened with the wheels on the ground.With the wheels properly blocked, and on a reasonably level surface, it is quite safe. You don't really have the car too high. The front wheel is just off the ground. Once the wheel is on and lightly tightened, the car can be lowered and the correct torque applied and checked. My winter wheels and summer wheels are stock sizes; wider front wheels or different aspect ratios might affect fitting the wheels in relation to the lifting heights.The electric jack moves up and down in a very controlled fashion and you can easily stop it to check the blocks as the car lifts. I also spray a little Krown on the surface of the jacking point after I'm done.It is fun to clean the wheels thoroughly and make sure the mating surfaces are in good condition. I love my smart car,Ian

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Swapping the tires on the rims not only adds up in cost, but wear and tear on the alloy rims. MG

MG,I gather you mean that it is better to buy a "set of tires with rims" and switch both out when the season calls for it? So you are storing a set of rims with tires mounted on them. Correct?Thanks,Regina

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Assuming the following:Cost of new Winter Tires on Rims. $900Cost of new Winter Tires no Rims. $300Now say you want someone else to change your tires for you:Cost to swap Tires with Rims. $50Cost to swap Tires without Rims. $100Two Changes per year.Time to recoup costs of Tires with Rims vs. Without. 6 Years. Time to recoup costs of Tires if you change them yourself, 3 years.Plus satisfaction of job well done.YMMV.

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Hammer,Thanks for clarifying. So once I get my 2008 Passion, it's going to come with alloys. But from what everyone has pretty much said on the forum, I'll need wider tires. Therefore it looks like I'll have to sell the stock alloys or ask the dealer to down grade my wheels to the stock pure (hopefully this will result in a purchase price discount). Then I can purchase wider tires with chromed out rims for summer and then put winter tires on my stock pure tires?? Help me understand. Go slow and speak in small words. :tongue3: Regina

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Yes, you could do that, or keep whichever rims come with the car and use those with winter tires (and buy new, wider rims & tires for summer). I have two sets of Passion rims, one for winter & one for summer - that way my car always looks good (or looks like crap according to Duck, who hates Passion rims with a passion).

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Danno - Thanks.Say, are wider rims better for winter or summer? [For those of you who aready know, sorry to take up space but I'm planning out my future mods].

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Wider tires are better for the summer.I bought a set of wider Brabus wheels last fall, and swapped my winter tires onto my stock Pulse 'sportline' alloys. Then i sold my steel wheels and old summer tires, which helped offset the cost of the new summer rubber.

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keep in mind regina that the '08 smart cars will have wider tires stock then what we get stock on our smarties here now. my suggestion is to drive the car first, and worry about the wider tire stuff later. :doublethumb::doublethumb::doublethumb:

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keep in mind regina that the '08 smart cars will have wider tires stock then what we get stock on our smarties here now. my suggestion is to drive the car first, and worry about the wider tire stuff later. :doublethumb::doublethumb::doublethumb:

Sponge,See...I wouldn't have known the tires were wider unless you would have told me. By the way, how do you know they are going to be wider?? Are you getting the info from smart.com under the international site?Regina

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155/60-15 front, as opposed to 145/65-15. That's the only 451 difference for tire width (pulse excepted, assuming we even get the pulse).

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yup, that would be my error. i didn't read all of the brochure, just the stuff on the '08 pulse (which is suppose to have 175 fronts and 195 rears (the brabus has even wider rear wheels)). i thought all the new cars where going to be equiped like that. here's a link to the smart uk brochure if you want to read more about next years cars.

:doublethumb::doublethumb::doublethumb:

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Our generation pulses should have had wider tires, too - they do in Europe. It's supposed to be the sportier model of the three, but the wider tires are part of that equation and they omitted them from our market. That just left the paddle shifters to differentiate it as the sporty model.

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