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ericvv

Member Since: 02 Jun 2011
Location: Near the Jet d'Eau
Posts: 5816

2009 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 SVX Station Wagon Santorini Black

It is that time of the year again to think about winter wheels and tires. Temperatures here are still quite benign and mild, but later this week they are going to drop, a first taste of the coming winter. So today not too many people are thinking about their winter wheels/tires yet, but I know that once the first cold days will be here later this week, the phone at the car dealerships and the tire centers will be going bananas with people who want their winter wheels installed preferably still yesterday.
So staying ahead of the curve, I called our local Pneus Claude yesterday to bring my Wolfs and Nokians out of their storage, and got an appointment already for today.

The SVX ready for a change of rubbers.

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The Wolfs with Nokians waiting for the rebalancing

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Fresh coat of ceramic grease on the hubs

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The four Dual Tone with summer Grabber TR ready to be machine washed, labelled and transferred to the storage

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Ceramic grease detail

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Not bad looking chassis I think

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Wolf/Nokian installed on well greased hub

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Last, but not least..... Steel nuts torqued up to 170 Nm

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The tire pressure was put at 2.3 bar front and 2.9 bar rear. The Nokians were measured to still have 10 mm thread now that they are entering their 7th winter, probably have now done in total about 30.000 km from new. I also asked if after 7 years the rubber compound is not hardening up too much for winter use, answer was start thinking about that after the 10th year, but not now. And that is from a tire dealer whose job is to sell new tires.
Ready for the cold season.

Eric You never actually own a Defender. You merely look after it for the next generation.
http://youtu.be/yVRlSsJwD0o
https://youtu.be/vmPr3oTHndg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GtzTT9Pdl0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABqKPz28e6A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLZ49Jce_n0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvAsz_ilQYU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8tMHiX9lSw
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dxwjPuHIV7I
https://vimeo.com/201482507
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSixqL0iyHw

13th Oct 2015 6:46pm

ericvv

Member Since: 02 Jun 2011
Location: Near the Jet d'Eau
Posts: 5816

Summer has arrived.....

Went through the semi-annual ritual earlier this week now that summer seems to be installing in earnest. Time for the Wolf/Nokian combos to retire for 6 months and for the Dual Tone/Grabber combos to resurface. As always our local Pneus Claude did a great job, but it took them a bit more than a full hour to complete. The same job this week on the Mrs. Beetle took them 30 minutes. Handling, balancing, washing these big wheels is more work than more standard sizes.

All ready for Nokians to come off

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Good looking chassis after almost 8 years I think

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Old ceramic grease and some even older traces of copper slip removed by brush and a rag with what smelled like brake cleaner

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Ceramic grease which is totally metals free in my opinion ideal for isolating alloys from steel wheel hubs

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Fresh ceramic grease

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All ready for receiving the summer boots

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The four tires were first rebalanced with new weights, then went still in the laundry machine before installing

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All is ready to go on, fronts inflated to 2.1 bar, rears to 3.3 bar

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Getting there, all Dual Tones getting torqued to exactly the prescribed 133Nm

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Done, ready for summer

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And this is where the winter wheels/tires combos will go in fully insured storage. A dedicated warehouse, aerated, sprinkler system installed, just for professional storing our not in use summer/winter wheel combos.

Click image to enlarge

Eric You never actually own a Defender. You merely look after it for the next generation.
http://youtu.be/yVRlSsJwD0o
https://youtu.be/vmPr3oTHndg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GtzTT9Pdl0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABqKPz28e6A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLZ49Jce_n0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvAsz_ilQYU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8tMHiX9lSw
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dxwjPuHIV7I
https://vimeo.com/201482507
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSixqL0iyHw

Last edited by ericvv on 24th Oct 2016 5:06am. Edited 1 time in total

5th May 2016 5:14am

RED-DOT

Member Since: 29 Jun 2009
Location: stirling
Posts: 2363

Looks like it has never been driven between wheel changes to me? 2008 RS4 gone, 123d M Sport, and a Puma 90 XS..

5th May 2016 5:28am

ericvv

Member Since: 02 Jun 2011
Location: Near the Jet d'Eau
Posts: 5816

Oh yes, it has been driven this winter, only not when there was salt on the roads. And keeping it very clean.

5th May 2016 5:43am

RED-DOT

Member Since: 29 Jun 2009
Location: stirling
Posts: 2363

I swap my Boosts/BFG mud terrains over to my dual finish SVX/ GG all-terrains (new pattern) 4+ times a year and still can't make my mind up which is best all round. I have used copper grease once sparingly and it is still just enough to keep everything free without over doing it on the studs. My next crazy move might be a tyre swap as i think the SVX alloys and BFG muds may be the best combination. 2008 RS4 gone, 123d M Sport, and a Puma 90 XS..

5th May 2016 6:01am

jimbob7

Member Since: 06 Jul 2013
Location: uk
Posts: 2055

Re: Summer has arrived.....

ericvv wrote:

Good looking chassis after almost 8 years I think

Click image to enlarge
Eric

Goes to show you don't necessarily need a galvanised chassis for your Defender to last.Just a bit of preventative maintenance (compulsory,basic maintenance for a Defender,lol).

Also,I guess they didn't apply the grease to the wheel coz it was inna spray can and would of ended up making a mess of the wheel.fyi,Ceramic grease also comes in a tube/tub.
Copper grease is also very good for pretty much all applications ,but for some applications there is better stuff. Pov.spec,ftw. 2006, 110,TD5.

5th May 2016 8:50am

ericvv

Member Since: 02 Jun 2011
Location: Near the Jet d'Eau
Posts: 5816

So made the appointment with Pneus Claude to bring out of their storage the four winter Wolf/Nokian combos and put them back on for the winter. Will be done next saturday morning, already dug out my can of ceramic grease and the 20 steel nuts which I store at home. Must not forget to ask them to torque the Wolf steels up to exactly 170Nm...
Eric You never actually own a Defender. You merely look after it for the next generation.
http://youtu.be/yVRlSsJwD0o
https://youtu.be/vmPr3oTHndg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GtzTT9Pdl0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABqKPz28e6A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLZ49Jce_n0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvAsz_ilQYU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8tMHiX9lSw
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dxwjPuHIV7I
https://vimeo.com/201482507
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSixqL0iyHw

23rd Oct 2016 5:44am

ericvv

Member Since: 02 Jun 2011
Location: Near the Jet d'Eau
Posts: 5816

History repeating itself

This morning 07.30 hrs it was already very busy at Pneus Claude. Winter Wolfs with their Nokians had been retrieved from their storage, went first one by one in the wheel/tire washing machine, fresh ceramic grease put on the hubs, tires inflated to 2.2kg front and 3.0 kg rear, wheels freshly balanced, then installed and nuts torqued up to 170Nm. Ready for winter now.

Eric

Fresh grease

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Dual tones with Grabbers ready to move to the storage warehouse

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Winter Wolfs after the washing machine

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End result

Click image to enlarge You never actually own a Defender. You merely look after it for the next generation.
http://youtu.be/yVRlSsJwD0o
https://youtu.be/vmPr3oTHndg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GtzTT9Pdl0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABqKPz28e6A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLZ49Jce_n0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvAsz_ilQYU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8tMHiX9lSw
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dxwjPuHIV7I
https://vimeo.com/201482507
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSixqL0iyHw

29th Oct 2016 8:45am

ericvv

Member Since: 02 Jun 2011
Location: Near the Jet d'Eau
Posts: 5816

With this early spring it was high time for the semi-annual tire change routine.
Just back from my Pneus Claude appointment who brought my Dual Tones out of their central winter storage unit, which now are replacing the HD Wolfs and the Nokians for the next 6 months who disappear back in their storage.
As usual the four summer wheel/tire combos first were freshly balanced, then one by one went into their machine wash (water and pellets), they used my can of ceramic grease on the wheel hubs, torqued the Dual Tones up to exactly 133Nm, and put as pressure front 2.2 bar and rear 3.0 bar. Ready for summer.

6th Apr 2017 11:39am

ericvv

Member Since: 02 Jun 2011
Location: Near the Jet d'Eau
Posts: 5816

Almost 7 months further again...
Went thru the semi-annual routine yesterday at our local tire specialists Pneus Claude. Dual Tones with their GG TR came off and were prepared for their storage, and Wolfs with Nokians were installed. Not that we really need winter tires yet now because we still have Indian summer like weather, but if you wait until it gets really cold, suddenly the entire crowd will wake up to reality and you won't be getting an appointment before weeks.

The usual routine yesterday, winterwheels came out of storage, were first rebalanced, then machine washed, ample fresh ceramic grease on the hubs, and then the Wolfs torqued up to 170Nm, and tire pressure put at 2.1 bar front and 2.8 bar rear. My Nokians are just 8 years old now, production code 2409, but I still have 10mm thread depth, so plenty. Will use them probably another 2 years until they turn 10 years and then replace by new.
Eric

28th Oct 2017 1:43pm

mk1collector

Member Since: 17 Sep 2009
Location: West Yorkshire
Posts: 6769

How much does this tyre storage, cleaning, balancing and fitting service cost each year? Ray
My build thread
http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic17615.html

28th Oct 2017 2:05pm

ericvv

Member Since: 02 Jun 2011
Location: Near the Jet d'Eau
Posts: 5816

Not too much.
Eric You never actually own a Defender. You merely look after it for the next generation.
http://youtu.be/yVRlSsJwD0o
https://youtu.be/vmPr3oTHndg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GtzTT9Pdl0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABqKPz28e6A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLZ49Jce_n0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvAsz_ilQYU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8tMHiX9lSw
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dxwjPuHIV7I
https://vimeo.com/201482507
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSixqL0iyHw

28th Oct 2017 2:51pm

mk1collector

Member Since: 17 Sep 2009
Location: West Yorkshire
Posts: 6769

I'm guessing that means a lot! Ray
My build thread
http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic17615.html

28th Oct 2017 4:06pm

ericvv

Member Since: 02 Jun 2011
Location: Near the Jet d'Eau
Posts: 5816

Come April... yes, it is that time of the year again.

Yesterday our dear Pneus Claude changed my winter wheels to the summer wheels. This time they put me in a spot where the hydraulic lift has only 2.5T capacity, so they preferred to lift it with 2 x 3T garage jacks. The usual operations, wheels being machine washed, summer wheels rebalanced, removing old ceramic grease from the hubs and replace by new, front wheels pressured to 2.2bar, the rear to 2.9bar (the 3.3 bar for the rear as prescribed by LR give a much too harsh ride with no or light loads), all wheels torqued up to 133Nm.
Only thing new is that my winter Nokians on the HD Wolf wheels still have 9mm profile and virtually zero cracking between the blocks, but they are from 2009, so 9 years old now and probably have the rubber a bit hardened. As next winter we will be in the new house higher up in the mountains with more snow than down here by the lake, it will be better to buy new tires come October. That will then be the Nokian Hakkapeliitta LT2, successor to my LT's. Most likely I will by then also order from my dealer 4 new gloss black Wolf HD VPLDW0095PVT to put them on.
Disposing of the old sets which are rust free and tires still very usable, we will see, probably I can find someone interested here in continental Europe. Few pics below.
Eric

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My two personal vehicles all sparkling for summer.

19th Apr 2018 7:55am

VVS210

Member Since: 12 Nov 2016
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 953

Hi Eric - why the number plate on the back of the bicycle?

19th Apr 2018 9:06am

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