Thread: New tyres = stuffed wheel winch

RTFM...

how does the instruction manual tell you to operate it?

do they have a service document that authorises the use of a rattle gun?

Good point re. checking the manual - just fished it out, and lo and behold (p. 231): "Fit the wheel nut brace ... to lower the spare wheel. The mechanism has been designed for use with the wheel nut brace. Do not use power tools". And again on p. 240 re. raising the wheel.

(though the manual also proceeds to say to lower the wheel until the cable's slack... You know, if I had more time I'd be talking to LR and Consumer Affairs - this flawed design and is NOT fit for purpose.)

Will discuss with the manager tomorrow, and Fair Trading thereafter if necessary.

Originally Posted by af3556

(though the manual also proceeds to say to lower the wheel until the cable's slack... You know, if I had more time I'd be talking to LR and Consumer Affairs - this flawed design and is NOT fit for purpose.)

While I agree it is not the greatest design, to say it is not fit for purpose is a bit much. If used in accordance with the instructions it works fine.

Garry

Bob Jane broke your winch, they need to replace it.

I agree. They stuffed it, they need to fix it.

Just off the phone with the manager; he seemed very reasonable - "if we broke it, of course we'll fix it". If this turns out to be fair dinkum then they've gained themselves a customer for life (I feel confident that the previous tyre place I'd used wouldn't have been so forthright!).

Re. fit for purpose: I expect we'd all agree it's engineered poorly especially in comparison with (most of) the rest of the car. In any event, I'm going to make up some kind of "no power tools / RTFM or it'll cost you $$" label to stick on/around the winch winder.

Your first problem is you went to Bob Janes, they are useless and the people that work there are brainless monkeys, second is they used a rattle gun to do that and I would assume the wheel nuts up, bad practice.

A rattle gun should only be used for removing bolts/nuts, and the not on the spare wheel winch at all, as someone quoted from the handbook, wheel nuts should be spun on with a speed brace and then tightened with a torque wrench to manufacturer specs, to avoid any damage to from cross-threads, or over tightening.

Give Blairs Tyres a try next time, they're Landy people and have an outlet in Corrimal, amazing customer service and it's all family run, not franchises.

Cheers
Will

For the record, Ive been to two Bob Jane shops and been very happy with both. I guess there are good franchisees and bad ones. Admittedly I was in the Defender and it's not a complicated car/rim set to work on. But yeah I was totally happy.

Expanding on that last point I have to say there has been nothing Ive ever read on this forum or the UK one that has told me a flat is anything other than a much bigger PITA than it should be on these vehicles. Here is a summary of what I've learnt:

1: The jack is crap and owners have gone to some lengths & expense to find a relacement bottle jack that fits in the space provided.

2. Get the placement wrong and the results can be so catastrophic with suspension compressors etc that owners of felt the need to get out the paint tin to mark the jacking points.

3. Get the spare out using the winch very carefully or you will be in a world of pain.

4. Either go through the preposterous process of jacking up the stuffed wheel back into the well (again with great care or world of pain) or, if you want to do the normal thing like chuck it in the back and head off to a repair shop, you need to abduct a Grade 1 kid and get it to crawl underneath and hang on to the chain because if you wind it up without any load you will be in a world of pain.

Yes, I apreciate that if I read the manual and carefully follow the information given therein I will be fine, in the long run after a lot of stuffing around, but .

I hate to be a wuss but I'm inclined to just call LR assist if i get a flat in the metro area. It's not worth the hassle.