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Almost nothing worse than trying to Change the Tyre on a Ride on Lawn Mower or Car Trailer especially if you need it out of the way, as I did to get some Photos of my XJS and while I'm about it Cut the Grass, that seems to grow like Crazy at this time of Year
Changing the Tyre on a Mower, seemed to be a bit of a 'Walk in the Park' except the reality is, that this is a PIA Job as the last time that I did this, it took me nearly all day!
So since the Battery was flat on my Car, with time on my hands I thought I would make a Lawn Mower and Trailer Tyre Changer
I mean how hard can it be?
The answer being dead easy, as it only took me a Couple of Hours made from Scraps that I had in my Garage/Shop and no real need to describe it, as the Pictures tell the Story well enough
Except to say its Adjustable, to suit any Size of Lawn Mower Wheel or Car Trailer Tyre although I'll leave the Tyres for my Car to the Garage!
The First thing you need is a 12in Length of Studding, to Bolt the Wheel Securely to a Base, that could be a piece of Wood although I had a big round piece of very heavy metal, so I used that instead
The Lever is made from 2 Pieces of Box, that can slide into each other to adjust the Length to the Width of the Wheel you are Changing, plus a few pieces of Tube to use as Spacers and what they Call a Connector, that Plumbers use for Joining two Pieces of Pipe
The Connector doesn't have to Turn, as you can Lubricate it with some Dish Soap and in my Case this was a Hammer Fit, on the end of the Outer piece of Box Section
Where the only thing you have to make is the 'Thingy' that goes round the Tube that's in the Middle and a Couple of Tyre Levers for taking the Tyre off the Wheel, that is used in conjunction with the Tyre Changer
Then once you've put it together then that's it!
Counter Torquing the Levers round the Central Pole had the Tyre off in less than 5 Minutes!
Putting it Back on the Wheel was just as easy!
Nearly There! Putting the Tyre Back on the Wheel only took 10 Minutes!
The Mk II version could have an enhanced version of that join tube which then has a "foot" that can first break the tyre seal bead, then go under the edge of tyre to lift it off the rim replacing the use of the tyre levers!
Very good, Alex!
I see that among other things you are also an Experienced Collector of "I might be able to use that someday" stuff.
I'll still take my tires to Schwab though, and sit with a cool drink, glad for the break while they do all that hard work.
(';')
Yes! you are right I am a bit of a hoarder and what you see is only a small fraction, as I am the only person I know who goes to the Dumpster and then returns with far more than I took
Where my best Pick up so far, was a beautiful Gas Rangemaster Cooker worth about £500 that Someone took there to Dump and asked me if I would help him get it off his Truck because its got 6 Burners and 2 Ovens and weighs a Ton
It was one of those things that I always wanted and was only Dumping it because he thought of taking it to his Chateau in France, then changed his mind and decided to buy a New one, so he gave it to me and we lifted it off with my Crane that I had at 'Orange Blossom Towers'
I also picked up an Original GEC Fridge Circa 1950 in Blue Enamel that sent the GF into a Spin as She absolutely Worships this piece of Kitchenalia however you spell it and an Apple 11 Computer! I could go on but you get the idea!
On mans trash is another mans treasure. I have a 24 x 56 ft shop full of I might need that someday. I told my son some of the stuff in there is way over 50 years old. He was almost speechless. It's probably closer to 100 years as some of it was my Grandfathers.
The Mk II version could have an enhanced version of that join tube which then has a "foot" that can first break the tyre seal bead, then go under the edge of tyre to lift it off the rim replacing the use of the tyre levers!
Paul
Hi Paul
Great idea!
But what I need more is a Foot that goes under the Rim of the Wheel to Help to ease the Tyre going over the Rim of the Wheel and this is a 'Mod' I am Working on at the moment, or at least I would be if I didn't have to get New Windscreen Wipers!
The Pain of XJS Ownership Continues, as I need to get myself Two New Windscreen Wipers and I dare not think about how much they will cost but having thought about it, I wouldn't be Surprised if they were not in the region of £20 each or something Crazy like that
And so I'll have to have a look around to see, as the way they hook onto the Wiper Arms looks a little bit different to those that I have seen on other Cars
Ok She didn't Catch Fire but what happened had me running to get my Fire Extinguisher, on what was up to now the Hottest Day Of The Year! and perfect for taking more photos of my XJS 4.0L Celebration Convertible
At the time in question She was Parked outside the Garage, inside the Perimeter Fence at 'Orange Blossom Towers' and so I though I would move her into the Sunshine, where I'm very pleased to say, that after all the Fault Finding that I'd been doing recently She Started on the Button!
Where having lowered the Soft Top to make sure that it worked, I thought I'd go for a little drive around our little estate, as She wasn't Taxed or Insured to go out on the Road
At which point I saw smoke as well as the unmistakable smell of something that was Burning! and so it was all hands on Deck as Panic Stricken me, raced to go and get a Fire Extinguisher!
As it turned out the problem was caused by either a Stuck Brake Pad or Stuck Caliper, so once the Rotor had Cooled down, She Limped back to the Garage to find out what had happened
And so the first Job was to Jack her up and remove the Road Wheel, using my Amazing Cordless Impact Wrench and Free Trolley Jack!
Hang on a 'mo' did you say that Trolley Jack was FREE!
Yes I did!
No! No! No! you're just not getting it are you!
I'm talking about your 3 Ton Top of the Range Professional 'North of £200 Trolley Jack'
The Trolley Jack that you dream about, the one you want for Christmas! if you've got a Trolley Jack Fetish!
Yes! that's the one, it was Free!
How come so?
Someone threw it in the 'Dumpster/Skip' because there were a Couple of Bolts missing, as well as the Handle and I had a Spare one of those!
And you've managed to get it working?
Yes! it easily lifts my 3 Ton XJS or whatever it weighs
Yes! but what about.........
Your asking a lot of Questions, 'is this some sort of a Quiz!' and here's the Photo to prove it!
My Amazing Trolley Jack picked up my Car with ease
Removing the Road Wheel with my Impact Driver
Oh No! wrong side of the Car! by the looks of this Rotor but then I may as well do both of them, while I am about it
Its already looking just a little Complicated, how the Heck do you get this thing off!
More Fun and Games Tomorrow if I can manage to figure it out!
I've never found the rear calipers and discs too difficult on an outboard XJS. The bolts can be a little tight on the caliper mount and also on the mount bracket mount, so get some fluid on. Also use some nice tight-fitting tools as the caliper slide bolts are fairly small.
The one thing that you absolutely will have to do (IME) is slacken off the internal handbrake show ratchet wheel to enable you to get the disc off. This can be a bit fiddly. Try and align up the hole by rolling the car to the correct position, before you jack up the car and remove the wheel. (Otherwise the LSD will preclude you from turning the wheel once in the air) Then get a torch (light) in the hole so you can what you're dealing with before you poke your screwdriver in there). Even once slackened off, it may well require some wiggling or knocking evenly with a hide mallet.
This job is turning into a bit of a Self Inflicted 'Nightmare' as removing those Caliper Bolts which are inside those Rubber Tubes, either requires an Allen Key with the long end around about 7ft Long to give you enough leverage to undo them
Or my Chinesium Ratchet that can hold an Allen Key Bit and is the only one I've got that is Slim enough to get in between the Trailing Arm and the Caliper, though best of all can take a Bashing from the Biggest FBH as that's exactly what it needs to-day, except that I have been unable to find it
So had to resort to other means that I won't describe, as it may affect those who have a Sensitive Nature
If I take the Brake Pipe off the Caliper should I undo the Tube from the Side as per normal, or unscrew the Bolt that is holding the 'Thingy' on the Top?
- As mentioned, you really need a good quality allen bit on which you can attach a ratchet and carefully undo it. You really don't want to round off the head, so a good quality well-fitting bit is essential. Those pins can get easily get jammed in, so once removed, use lots of copperslip before reassembly
- You may be lucky and avoid removing that caliper from the hydraulics. Take out the pads and insert a thin piece of wood and then carefully exercise the caliper piston with gentle foot pedal pressure, lubricate the piston surface, push it back, exercise it again, repeat etc. You may get it working ok with the caliper still attached to the flexi-pipe.
The Pain of XJS Ownership Continues, as I need to get myself Two New Windscreen Wipers and I dare not think about how much they will cost but having thought about it, I wouldn't be Surprised if they were not in the region of £20 each or something Crazy like that
And so I'll have to have a look around to see, as the way they hook onto the Wiper Arms looks a little bit different to those that I have seen on other Cars
there's nothing special about the wipers. just finding the 14/15 inch sizes can be tricky. they are your typical snap in ones.
I did the Job exactly how you told me, as I found my Special Slim Ratchet and I've also got a Socket Allen Key Holder and a Case Hardened Allen Key Bit, so although Outboard Brakes are a bit new to me, although it wasn't 'A Walk In The Park' it all went according to Plan
Although it probably took me Twice as long as it would have taken you but at least I've had some practice for when I do the other side Tomorrow
Having removed the Road Wheel the Caliper was ready to unbolt although I first had to remove the Spring
Removing the Spring was easy but getting it back was a 'Nightmare' until I managed to find an easy way (more on that later)
Allen Key Head For Ratchet
A very Slim Ratchet is better For doing this Job, which is really down to lack of space
Two Allen Key Pins hold the Caliper in place and you will find these hidden inside Capped Off Rubber Tubes and in case I forget to mention it, they are in there really tight and as such very Hard to undo, so as Paul (ptjs) says, use Copper Grease when you put them back
Those two little Pins were really hard to undo!
Once you have taken those Pins out you can then Lever the Caliper out of its Holder, where breaking with Tradition I used a Proper Steel Wedge, instead of my Best Screw Driver!
Once the Caliper was out, I gave it a really good Clean up with a Can of Brake Cleaner, then putting a strip of Wood between the Jaws, gently pressed the Foot Pedal as per Paul's instructions and then once having done so with the Brake Shoes Removed, used a 'G' Clamp to very Carefully Squeeze it back
Not Forgetting to undo the Bleed Nipple First! so that Microscopic Crud, doesn't get pushed back up into the System, where it could damage the Valves and this also gave me the Perfect opportunity to go and change the Brake Fluid at the Same time
All done and dusted apart from the Spring to go back, where I found that using one of the Studs as a lever made this easy
Hidden inside that Rotor are the Hand Brake Pads, which I decided not to remove, as I was able to Rock the Rotor back and forth enough to know that the Hand Brake Pads had not got Stuck, it was just the Stuck Caliper that had been causing the problem
So having decided to leave that alone, I'm planning to do the Other Side Tomorrow
Clean the caliper sliding pins to remove any corrosion and coat them with a thin layer of grease designed for use on braking system components.
The caliper should be able to easily slide back and forth on the pins to ensure even pad wear inside and out. Also apply a small amount of grease to the lip of the caliper piston and to the top and bottom of the brake pad areas that touch the caliper support bracket.
The caliper sliding pins can be torqued to the correct spec without the need for a BFH.
Great work, Well Done! Never a need to rush, slow and steady works just as well!
As NBCat has mentioned, getting that caliper sliding nicely is very important to keeping everything working nicely and pads wearing evenly. I loosen off and exercise the pins every 2 years just to to try and keep on top of things.
Also give the flange seat (where the wheel centre sits) a really good wire brush as even minor build-up of corrosion there can cause wheel imbalance after you refit the wheel.
It should have been 'A Walk in The Park' a veritable Breeze!
As To-day I was Planning to do the 'Stuck Caliper' on the Passenger Side of the Car
So what I ask could possibly go wrong! as after all the day before (or Yesterday in Old Money) I did the other Caliper on the Drivers Side of the Car and although it was a little bit of a Learning Curve for me, as for getting some practice in I'd sort of read the book and got the 'T' Shirt
So when it came to doing the Passenger Side, I kind of thought I knew what I was doing which with the Benefit of Hindsight, only shows you how wrong you can be!
So wrong that I very nearly Chartered a Private Jet for Paul (ptjs) to come and show me what to do and get me out of the mess I had got myself in! so why don't we Start with the Two Hours it took to put the Road Wheel back on the Drivers side! as not being built like 'Arnie' I couldn't lift it up!
Even though I'd had my Three Shredded Wheat that I had Toasted under the Grill, don't knock it till you've tried it as it's epic! with the only upside being that I wasted even more time in making myself a Gadget that Jaguar must have forgotten to put in their Tool Box
That makes putting Wheels back on, so easy to do, that I could not believe how easy it was! (Video on that coming soon, when I have fixed this Car!)
Then to make matters worse if they could get worse, not only could I not manage to find the Ratchet I lost Yesterday but I also couldn't find the Number7 Allen Key Bit that I was using in it
Except that when I found it, in terms of everything else going wrong, I was only on the Nursery Slopes as guess what happened next!
I couldn't get the Allen Key Bit in its Conical Ratchet Holder, to go in the bottom Tube of the Caliper (to undo the piston and remove it) because someone had put the Flexy Brake Pipe on the wrong way round, so that it was pointing Down instead of Up! which prevented access to the piston slider guide
Or whatever its called and in doing so had somehow managed to round off the Nut on Top so that I couldn't undo it to get this Brake Pipe out of the way!
Quote!'Don't you just hate it when that happens' Lnr B
So in view of this I am now faced with a massive dilemma!
Should I cut the Flexy Pipe, or else think it over another Cup of Tea! and if I were to cut that Pipe, could it leave me with an ever bigger problem to sort out! Except I then remembered a Gadget that I bought at the Ideal Home Exhibition many years ago, that I never ever found a use for
Up until Now!
Sort of like a miniature pair of Stilsons that I didn't really need but somehow Gullible me got sort of Sucked into the hype, where looking back now I am so glad I did! and what is more I even managed to find them! and then to Top it all they did the Job!
So having now got the Caliper off, I could finally managed to see the Cause of the Problem! that Thankfully wasn't the Caliper but the Brake Pad, that had somehow Rusted itself in its holder!
Big Clean up Job Tomorrow and hopefully more Fun and Games, if it doesn't Rain! although I've still got that Private Jet on Stand by for 'Paul' just in case!
06-01-2023, 07:39 AM
