2016 F3 Limited Rear Tyre Replacement

[Peteoz]

OK.....the Chosen One and I exceed the weight limit of the F3-L (due to my 320lbs), and for any number of reasons it is prudent to move to a Yokohama or similar rear tyre.

I am competent at farkles etc, but not qualified, so the thought of r&r the rear wheel and ensuring I end up with a balanced, aligned wheel and belt with working brakes is a little daunting. I have watched the excellent videos from Finless Bob and Lamont, but they are now fairly old, and there is a new "integrated" wheel. From all the posts I have reviewed, I think I have a reasonable handle on the steps involved, but I would just like to run my understanding of the steps past those more experienced to see if anything here is obviously wrong. Any advice/comments gratefully accepted before I make the final call on whether I feel I am capable enough to take this on.

F3 in neutral, park brake on.
Break axle nuts
Break brake caliper nuts
Break rear suspension nuts
Lift Spyder slightly
Ignition on, park brake off, ignition off.
Tape up axle adjusters so they don't move (how exactly, and does this prevent all the fiddling you hear about re getting the axle alignment right when remounting wheel?)
Make sure you keep track of where each spacer goes
Remove rear suspension nuts / bolt.
Slide belt off
Remove ABS connector
Remove brake caliper bolts and caliper and tie to frame.
Remove axle nuts
Adjust lift up/down to remove axle
Jack up and remove wheel
Remove disc from wheel and take to tyre guy.
Tyre dot to align to valve, balance if possible with new fixed hub.


Reinstall - (taking care with spacer positions and torque)
Reinstall disc (blue locktite) Wheel back in, lower F3 to allow axle to slide in.
Reinstall axle nuts (loctite?)
Reinstall brake caliper (loctite?)
Reinstall ABS
Slide belt back on
Untape adjusters
Lower Spyder, ignition on, park brake on, ignition off,
Check tyre pressure,
Test ride.

Regards,
Pete

 

[jcthorne]

You pretty much have it. Your tire shop will not likely be able to balance the Spyder rear wheel/tire as it will not fit on most balance machines. We have manually balance using a static horizontal balancing tool and weights. The Yoko, if installed with the red dot to the valve stem will likely balance with less than 1 oz of weight.

 

[Firefly]

You can balance the tire using Ride-On. Been doing that for a long time on my first two Spyders.


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[SpyderF3]

You could also use Dyna beads to balance the tire, they self balance as the tire wearshyea:

 

[Roadster Renovations]

We have a few dealers that will let us carry the wheel in and they will mount and balance for a reasonable fee. That might be a problem where you are at though.

 

[Highwayman2013]

Yep, you pretty much have it. To balance the rear wheel you can always get stick on weights and use the axle and two jack stands. Tightly tape those adjusters from the top to bottom and that should keep the fiddling to a minimum.

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

TIRE BALANCE - FOR REAR !!!!

Pete all of the above except my preference if you can get it would be the General Altimax RT 43 .... it will last longer than the Yoko ( by a lot ) and imo will provide better traction ...... On rear wheel balance ( using car tires ) I DIDN'T balance my last three and never noticed that from riding or wear ....... the axel is supported on both ends and I think makes a difference PLUS it's not a Kenda :roflblack:....... Mike

 

[jcthorne]

Pete all of the above except my preference if you can get it would be the General Altimax RT 43 .... it will last longer than the Yoko ( by a lot ) and imo will provide better traction ...... On rear wheel balance ( using car tires ) I DIDN'T balance my last three and never noticed that from riding or wear ....... the axel is supported on both ends and I think makes a difference PLUS it's not a Kenda :roflblack:....... Mike

Mike I know you like the General and it is a pretty good general passenger car tire.

I can tell you first hand having ridden an F3 with each of them the Yoko is FAR better traction and handling. Its better traction is the reason it does not last quite as long as the General. It handles better due to its lower aspect ratio, stiffer side walls and its engineered as a sports car tire, not for the family station wagon. The RT-43 will wear longer if that is what you are looking for. We see 15 to 18k from the Yokos where the OEM Kendas see about 10.

 

[Peteoz]

We have a few dealers that will let us carry the wheel in and they will mount and balance for a reasonable fee. That might be a problem where you are at though.

Thanks Doc......there's only one dealer close-ish and they are 3 hours away. Not really worthwhile finding out if they'll do it. I'll take it local to a pretty good tyre guy and ask what their balancing options are and what they recommend if they can't do some kind of manual balance. I'll also ask them about Dyna beads and Ride-on or equivalent out here. They are country guys, but very experienced at doing every kind of vehicle you can imagine (well maybe not if you can "imagine" a Sherman tank....but you get my drift)

 

[Peteoz]

Mike I know you like the General and it is a pretty good general passenger car tire.

I can tell you first hand having ridden an F3 with each of them the Yoko is FAR better traction and handling. Its better traction is the reason it does not last quite as long as the General. It handles better due to its lower aspect ratio, stiffer side walls and its engineered as a sports car tire, not for the family station wagon. The RT-43 will wear longer if that is what you are looking for. We see 15 to 18k from the Yokos where the OEM Kendas see about 10.

Thanks JC and Mike. My hands might be tied by what I can get out here, anyway. Sounds like I can't really go wrong with either choice, apart from changing one a little more frequently, which doesn't really bother me......unless I stuff this first wheel change up, of course :yikes:

 

[Peteoz]

Yep, you pretty much have it. To balance the rear wheel you can always get stick on weights and use the axle and two jack stands. Tightly tape those adjusters from the top to bottom and that should keep the fiddling to a minimum.

Thanks Highwayman. That was the bit that was really bothering me. The often mentioned fiddly process of getting the adjusters spot on was not something I was looking forward to.

 

[Peter Aawen]

Any discussion in this thread about Pete getting the General Altimax RT43 is a bit of a moot point really, as it seems that for a few (largely BS sounding!?!) reasons, we just ain't able to (readily) get them here in Aust!?! At least not in a useful size at this time..... :gaah: A number of us have tried thru the usual channels AND thru some of the less usual channels & while there are some General tires that do somehow manage to get brought in, they don't/won't include the Altimax RT43's or anything else comparable that's in a useful/useable size for those of us ryding Spyders!?! Maybe once enough of us have asked for them that there's a perceived market here, but not right now.... altho who really knows why one particular tire is picked for import over any other?!? :dontknow:

 

[Peteoz]

Thanks Peter.....so just to save me reading through posts on the Aussie sites, what are the most common brands used out here in Oz for the rear?

 

[Ccol]

Hi Pete,
I just read through your disassembly/assembly procedure...
I'm not sure with the F3...but on all the earlier models...(RT...ST...RS) you need to disconnect the bottom shock bolt to allow the swing-arm to drop enough so the tension is off the belt enough so it be can be easily slid off the back sprocket....
Hope this helps
Col

 

[Peteoz]

Hi Pete,
I just read through your disassembly/assembly procedure...
I'm not sure with the F3...but on all the earlier models...(RT...ST...RS) you need to disconnect the bottom shock bolt to allow the swing-arm to drop enough so the tension is off the belt enough so it be can be easily slid off the back sprocket....
Hope this helps
Col

Thanks for taking the time to read through the list Col, it's very much appreciated.

I had a re-read, and there is an item there - "Remove rear suspension nuts/bar". I can only assume that was auto correct changing "bolt" to "bar" for some reason. Maybe it knew that I was a bit partial to a nut bar (especially if there is chocolate involved). I have edited the post. Thanks again.