How to Install a Car Wheel

How to Install a Car Wheel
Hi! My name is Nate McCullough on behalf of expertvillage.com. In this clip we are going to talk about the proper way to reinstall your tire and torque lug nuts. It's pretty cut and dry. Inspect the rotor top hat surface for any large chunks of rust. If there are any, go ahead and take a screwdriver or chisel and scrape them off. You also want to inspect the mating on the rim. This is going to be okay but if there is any large pieces thicker than say human hair, you are going to wire brush them off or you use a file or chisel to get them off of there. Once you've made sure the surfaces are good, clean and flat, what I like to do is line up the bottom lug stud. Once you get the bottom one on, it makes it pretty easy to do the others. Line up the bottom lug stud, right there. Slide it tight and start a couple of lug nuts. I like to use my foot right there to hold the wheel in position that way it leaves both of my hands free to get the acorn nuts started. Again you are always going to want to start these nuts a couple threads by hand. It's not something that you can just drop in your 4-way and aim for the hole and try to put them on. If you cross thread the stud, it is going to be no good and you require the services of a professional mechanic to change that stud. Well we've got them all started. I liked to use a 4-way when I am removing and installing tires. It seems to be the best tool out there. Go ahead and give it a spin. You are going to want to torque these in a star pattern. You are going to start here and from there you are going to go directly across. It's pretty much the next furtherest away bolt. This is going to be the furtherest away bolt. This is going to be the furtherest one away. You are just going to spin them down hand tight. Once the wheel turns, they are pretty good. The next furtherest away bolt is down here; as you can see one from here to here and the next furtherest one away, and the next furtherest one away and the next furtherest one away. When you tighten them in that pattern, that ensures that the wheel hasn't bound on the hub is actually seating flat and true to the mating surface of the bearing hub and that's how you properly snug the wheel down.