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Replacing a drum-brake wheel cylinder

Brake fluid is generally renewed when a leaking or sticking wheel cylinder on a drum brake is replaced with a new one. Read more

Adjusting toe alignment on wheels

Front wheels wrongly aligned cause uneven tyre wear and may seriously affect the car's handling. Read more

Checking for wheel and tyre damage

Tyres are put under tremendous strains when a car is being driven. Read more

Avoiding tyre and wheel damage

Damage to a tyre sidewall or carcass can make the tyre useless, even though the tread is hardly worn. A major cause of damage to wheels and tyres is debris on the road - such as pieces of broken silencer and objects dropped from trucks and lorries. Read more

Checking, removing and refitting road wheels

When you take the wheels off to inspect the tyre walls, clean the wheels thoroughly and look closely for cracks starting around the stud holes, and at the joints between the rim and centre. Read more

Adjusting wheel bearings

Wheel bearings need periodic checking - and adjusting if necessary - usually at 12,000 mile service intervals. Read more

Removing wheel bearings

Non-driven wheel bearings - the front-wheel bearings of rear-wheel-drive cars and rear-wheel bearings of front-wheel-drive cars - are similar in design, differing only in detail. Read more

Lubricating and reassembling wheel bearings

Clean the hub and races well with paraffin or white spirit. Then drive the races away from each other. The inner and outer races may be of different sizes. If so, begin with the smaller one. Read more

Replacing wheel bearings on driven wheels

Cars with front-wheel drive have front-wheel bearings that resemble closely those in the rear wheels of rear-wheel-drive cars which have independent suspension (See How car suspension works ). Read more

Driven wheel hubs

The hubs of the driven wheels often look similar to those of undriven ones, but there are some differences in the way they are constructed because the driven hubs have to incorporate drive shafts too. Read more

Trimming wheels

The original wheels fitted by your car manufacturer may be rather plain or they may have become scratched, rusty and dirty with age. But there are several things you can do to improve their appearance and the overall look of the car. Read more

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