Bolt Problem

[hitt]

I purchased a new set of 17" Alloy Wheels for my W124 Coupe. The new bolts that came with the alloys were shorter than the ones that were on the OEM 15". In my eagerness to get the new wheels on I used 4 of the new bolts, but used my original (longer) locking bolt. On moving the car there was a clunk from both rear wheels when moving. I only moved it backwards and forwards slightly in the driveway. I much headscratching I realised my mistake and replaced the old (longer) locking bolts with the new shorter (nonlocking) bolts supplied with my new wheels. However, as I drive along I can still hear a slight clicking noise per rotation of the wheels. Could I have done some permanant damage to something? What could have been damaged by the longer bolt? The sound appears to come from both rear wheels.

Any help you can provide would be greatly valued.

 

[guydewdney]

the longer bolts have probably hit some of the handbrake mechanism - take the wheels off, take the discs off and investigate if i were you (a handbrake jamming on would be un-funny)

 

[Chris Murray]

Unless the longer bolts when screwed tightened on the non-threaded shoulder of the bolt rather than the radiused seat and the clonking was the wheel moving around on the bolts (!). What are the new wheels - I'll give a definitive answer then! And presumably the OEM wheels are alloy?? You'll have M12x1.5x40mmR12 bolts..

 

[hitt]

Now only a slight clicking

4 of the 5 bolts were new and shorter and were holding the wheel on firmly. So I don't think it was a case of the wheel being loose that caused the clonking. When I removed the longer locking bolts the clonking subsided significantly. There is an every so slight noise coming from the rear wheels now. I assume when I moved the car with the longer bolts on, they bent something, as guydewdney suggests it has probably interfered with the handbrake mechanism. I took the car for a short run and it seems just fine apart from the slight clicking coming from the rear wheels per rotation. The Handbrake also still works as normal.

I am relatively ok with working on the car myself, how complicated is the handbrake mechanism? Any tips for getting to the mechanism that maybe mr haynes may not point out.

Many Thanks

 

[Ian B Walker]

I would advise getting a very good pair of extra long nosed pliers for the hand brake shoes as they are a sod to fit through the hole in the disk mounting flange. Another thing to look out for is the way the springs are situated. Be very careful when taking them off. There is a long end and a short end, mix them up and its sooooooo frustrating. Adjusting the hand brake is not funny either, you do it though a wheel bolt hole. My tip for that is to make some sort of cardboard template when the disk is off so that when you re fit the wheel and position against the wheel, the template will let you know when the handbrake adjuster is in line with the bolt hole.

 

[watsone91]

the longer studs can bend the back plate before taking the hand brake apart bend the backplate away from the discs and put the car in nuetral turn the discs to see if the backplate is rubbing

 

[Ian B Walker]

As the backplate is a static item that would mean the the disk was bent / warped. Feasable