Thread: beware men with rattle guns

Don't use a rattle gun. Give the tyre fitter what you will be using to undo the nuts and tell him to do them up with that.

I would not expect any of the tyre fitters to be qualified in anything mechanical.

I have never seen a course in tyre fitting. Has anyone else seen one that gives a recognised national qualification?


oops, just did a google search an there are some. Only cert 2 level so very basic.

Certificate II in Automotive Mechanical. http://www.apprenticeships.training....asp&print=true

unfortunately the spare carrier stud is the least of your concerns if all the wheelnuts were done the same way..

You should probably get it fixed and bill the tyre fitter... or send the repair quote to his boss.


-- Just a thought

i hope the tyre fitter is picking up the bill for the broken stud

when i had my new tyres fitted to the defender the tyre fitter used a tension wrench, the guy running the shop indicated they pretty much have to do it to cover themselfs

i liked the idea of the wheel brace for my old rangie when undoing the nuts it folded out to give your double the leverage but the best bit was you could never over tighten them cause the handle folded in hafl when doing up the nut

We always use a torque wrench when doing up wheel nuts. It is the only correct way to do up wheel nuts.

They should pay for the fix - their fault!

I was changing some wheels a while back at the local garage and requested the rattle gun;

'crusty', the mechanic yelled: "DON'T USE THAT, IT'LL BREAK THE STUDS!!!"

GQ

When a tyre fitter broke a wheel stud on dad's commodore with the rattle gun, they paid for it to be fixed (well after all, they broke it!!!).

I too have seen tyre fitters use a rattle gun on the minimum torque setting, followed by a torque wrench.

Personally, I usually take the rims in off the car, then fit them myself at home.

i beleive there is a tyre technicians course - or at leat a qualification is defined by NATA. places like Grahams (closed down i think) rema tip top, and some other specialst employment agencises train staff to that level. but alas to get a tyre fitters job the minimum qual is a drivers license (sometimes). unfortunately good fitters are hard to find.

ASK the manager / sales person to make sure that the fitters dont use the rattle gun. I know that some tyre places dont use them - Jax Penrith used to only do them by hand... with practice and a good weighted wheel brace the fitters there could put them on as quick as a rattle gun done properly.