Do you drive a modern high end vehicle? Read this!

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

First thing I do when I buy a brand new Porsche is wake up from the dream I'm having and remember that I don't have the means to get a new Porsche!

LOL. +1

As my sig shows, I have 2 Porsches. But even adding together their purchase prices wouldn't pay for one new entry level Porsche today.

[Cairo94507]

One of the first things I do on new cars that come with wheel locks is order 4 new factory lug nuts and remove the locks and never re-install them. Our cars are all garaged and we live in a nice area. I will gamble if they can remove the wheels when my wife is shopping in her Macan GTS.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by porsche tech

Since the advent of the 996 and 986 Porsche has used lug bolts instead of lug nuts. Audi and VW use them too. And you’re correct…major pain in the backside with no studs to hang the wheel on. Like Glen was saying, can’t imagine what a pain it is to do on the side of the road (with your suit on)…especially when you don’t have the key!!!

Doesn't the toolkit include a thing that screws into the hub that can act as an alignment tool? I thought I'd seen something about that. Screw the thing in, start a couple of studs, then take the thing out and replace with a regular stud.

[GH85Carrera]

Yea, the tool kit does have a little stalk that threads into the lug hole and you can hang the tire on it.

My biggest concern now is, with 118 pound feet of torque as normal, just a tiny bit of corrosion will ramp that up to 150+ and with the wimpy lug wrench the factory includes it would take Mongo to remove the lug bolts.

I ordered a 18 inch breaker bar (just 1/2 inch drive) and a 19 mm deep socket and a 3 inch extension to carry in the car. At least I can jump up and down on that and get the lug bolts off. No way can my wife ever change those monster wheels and tires. She is not strong enough to lift the old wheel up off the ground.

I will also order a tire plug kit like I carry in the 911. Plugs are not the ideal fix, but it sure beats getting stuck on the side of the road waiting many hours for a tow truck.

One more item to go next to the spare is a set of disposable Tyvek painter's overalls to wear while changing the tire and some mechanics gloves. With luck, I will never need them for a tire change. I carry those in the 911 on my road trips, might as well for the Macan.

[Jeff Higgins]

How many new cars don't even come with a spare of any kind? Are there Porsches that do not, like new GT3's and GT4's?

Many years ago on one of our yearly "Can/Am" runs, where we either head to B.C. to drive with some Canadian friends or they come down here to drive with us, a guy showed up in a McLaren. Sure enough, in central Oregon, well outside of any cell service, he manage to shred a sidewall. The car was delivered with no more than a can of fix a flat.

That made for a long, long day for the entire group. Fortunately, the rim was ok, but once we got him and his car to a local tire shop, they obviously were not going to have what he needed. He wound up getting a hotel for a day or two while the rest of us drove on.

[GH85Carrera]

Most all the "performance oriented" cars have no spare. It is heavy, and space required is huge in something like a 911 or Corvette. SUVs are big enough that a spare is no big deal.

Of course if they include a spare, you have to have a jack, lug wrench, air pump and so on. My old El Camino has a full size spare behind the passenger seat. It is a real struggle to get it in or out.

There was a time road construction near my office was going on, and I had a flat in the Elky about once per month. We had a air compressor at work, so I could air it up to get home. Most of the time, as I was going to work, I saw I had a flat. Easy to jack it up with a floor jack, swap tires and dropit off at the tire shop.

It got so regular that I went to a local salvage yard, bought a $15 spare wheel, and put a tire on it as a "spare, spare" so I did not have to wiggle the spare from the cubby hole behind the seat. The construction finished, and so did my constant flats.

I had over a dozen flats, and all of them were in the convenience of my own garage.

[Jeff Alton]

My late model Porsches, My mini etc have been converted to studs....

Cheers

[island911]

Originally Posted by porsche tech

Cayenne came with a chrome shaft with a threaded end to screw in one of the lug holes so you could hang the wheel/tire on it. Still a PITA. Ever try to pick up a Cayenne wheel and tire?

hmmm... I manage both my and my wife's Cayennes.
Have a spare set of wheels to swap out for winter.
Just saying, doesn't seem to be any big deal to deal with.
Just lift it on to the center hub and rotate any little bit needed for lug alignment.

I suppose the type of wheel can make a difference. All of mine are easily grabbed/handled by the fat spokes. - A meshy wheel might be a PITA.

[porsche tech]

You may not have as many miles on you as I have on me! But I considered any of them with no lug studs a PITA…even my old Passat with 16 inch wheels!

[cstreit]

Every simple job is just one problem away from being an all-day ordeal.

[hcoles]

Originally Posted by cstreit

Every simple job is just one problem away from being an all-day ordeal.

That's for sure. Happened to me the other day. Attempted replacing the idler arm assembly and pitman arm on my 2006 Tahoe. I bought all the Harbor Freight tools along with tools from a friend and all my tools. How hard could it be? All the HF tools folded, tried heat, after about 4 hours nothing doing. Embarrassed to say it is going to the shop. They have Snap-On.

[Arizona_928]

I got rid of the lug bolt locks on a vw when it was fairly new. The parts guy at the dealership let me use their key when i bought 4 new lug bolts from them. Swapped them out in the dealership parking lot. They probably don't do that much anymore.

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by cstreit

Every simple job is just one problem away from being an all-day ordeal.

My ex wife ALWAYS used to ask me: "How long will it take you to fix your car?" - I ALWAYS replied "It depends".

My GF doesn't ask.

[David]

A co-worker had his wheels stolen while it was at a repair shop this year. They broke into his truck to get the lock socket. No locks on any of my cars since I figure it’s bad enough to deal with losing the wheels and I don’t want to add a broken window or door lock to the issue.

I just bought a new Tundra and now I constantly worry about getting the cats stolen even with an aluminum shield bolted over them. If they do get stolen, I’ll be tempted to replace with cat bypass pipes.

[gsxrken]

Along the same lines, check that your pickup or SUV’s spare tire under the vehicle is full, and that the lowering gear mechanism isn’t rusted so badly that it doesn’t work. Remove it during a planned maintenance session under ideal conditions, and address any corrosion . Also, my 2011 Ram 1500 has a small jack and lug wrench fastened under the passenger seat… that hold down stud was also flash rusted and the wing nut was a huge PITA to twist off by hand. Wire wheel and oil and it’s ready for the next time. Basic dude / dad stuff.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by gsxrken

Along the same lines, check that your pickup or SUV’s spare tire under the vehicle is full, and that the lowering gear mechanism isn’t rusted so badly that it doesn’t work. Remove it during a planned maintenance session under ideal conditions, and address any corrosion . Also, my 2011 Ram 1500 has a small jack and lug wrench fastened under the passenger seat… that hold down stud was also flash rusted and the wing nut was a huge PITA to twist off by hand. Wire wheel and oil and it’s ready for the next time. Basic dude / dad stuff.

This!

My biggest shock was the high torque setting for the lug bolts. Getting those off with the wimpy lug wrench the car comes with would be a challenge.

I did the same type of thing for my 911. I made 100% certain I could change the fan belt on the side of the road with the tools I have in the car. I replace it pretty much every time it comes off, so it is never old. I also carry a 24 inch piece of string trimmer line to open the gas filler lid if the cable breaks.

A few years back I stopped at the local gas station and some 20 something male was on the phone screaming at his dad to come change the flat tire for him. My dad would have just laughed and told me to fix it myself. I looked at is car and the small inflatable spare was on the ground and it was worn down to the cords. From the screaming I heard him say he just did not ever have the time to get his normal tire fixed. What an idiot. I just giggled to myself, got my gas and left. His did can deal with him.

[sc_rufctr]

The classic for me is looking at the aftermath of some young people filling and engine with oil, literally!

They weren't checking the dip stick... They just kept buying more oil and pouring it in until it came up to the base of the filler hole.

(Not surprisingly the engine wouldn't start after "the fill" so it was towed to my friends garage)

[gsxrken]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

The classic for me is looking at the aftermath of some young people filling and engine with oil, literally!

They weren't checking the dip stick... They just kept buying more oil and pouring it in until it came up to the base of the filler hole.

That’s comical, but as I think of it, “fill” usually means continue until it’s topped off, like refueling at a gas station. We’re all accustomed to dipsticks or filling until trickling out of the fill plug threads. But to the helpless x-box player whose parent might never have shown them even rudimentary how-to basics, it’s almost understandable that adding oils entails “filling” it. Maybe this is why manufacturers have removed dipsticks in some transmissions… they can’t trust their customers. “See Dealer”…

[porsche tech]

My younger daughter brought her Audi over to the dealership where I worked, telling me it sounded like the engine was making a funny noise and that she had added some oil. First thing, I checked the oil and it was maybe half qt low so I began to add some at which time she said, “That’s where it goes??” In a panic I said, “where’d you put it?” She points at the dip stick tube!

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

How many new cars don't even come with a spare of any kind? Are there Porsches that do not, like new GT3's and GT4's?

Many years ago on one of our yearly "Can/Am" runs, where we either head to B.C. to drive with some Canadian friends or they come down here to drive with us, a guy showed up in a McLaren. Sure enough, in central Oregon, well outside of any cell service, he manage to shred a sidewall. The car was delivered with no more than a can of fix a flat.

That made for a long, long day for the entire group. Fortunately, the rim was ok, but once we got him and his car to a local tire shop, they obviously were not going to have what he needed. He wound up getting a hotel for a day or two while the rest of us drove on.

Boxsters and cayman haven't come with spares in a long time.