Wheel bolt mystery

[GST350]

Hi All,

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I purchased a 2010 E350 Coupe, came with a lovely set of aftermarket staggered 19" alloys. Life was good.

The wheel bolts are rusty so I decided to change them, they are Mercedes OEM radius bolts (28mm).

However, I noticed the alloys actually take tapered bolts, presuming the previous keeper was being cheap and lazy, I purchased some 28mm tapered bolts.

The problem...........

The front passenger side changed fine, all new bolts torqued to 110.

The front driver side refuse to torque. They get a little tight but just turn and turn.

I put the oem back in and they torque just fine.

There is a few mm difference in length due to the radius v taper.

I am at a loss as to why one side works and the other doesn't. If it was a stripped hub then surely the OEM wouldn't tighten either.

All help and thoughts appreciated.

 

[SmartAmg]

Torque is 130nm on the coupe the same as mine, and you shouldn't have tapered bolts on oem wheels, they are radius.

 

[W1ghty]

Have you correctly got the staggered wheels on the car ? Rears wider , maybe got one rear on the front side that won’t tighten correctly?

 

[GST350]

Torque is 130nm on the coupe the same as mine, and you shouldn't have tapered bolts on oem wheels, they are radius.

The wheels are aftermarket, the previous keeper had oem radius bolts on them.

 

[GST350]

Have you correctly got the staggered wheels on the car ? Rears wider , maybe got one rear on the front side that won’t tighten correctly?

Yeah, they are staggered but correct wheels on each corner.

 

[GST350]

The wheels are aftermarket, the previous keeper had oem radius bolts on them.

Whereas the alloys take tapered

 

[AndrewOl]

Sounds like the bolts are short. How much is sticking through the wheel. If the previous owner changed the wheels but not the bolts they may have been wrong before you got it.

 

[SmartAmg]

Sorry just read your post again your alloys are aftermarket, so tapered bolts are correct.

 

[SmartAmg]

Sounds like the bolts are short.

But one side fits ok, strange?

 

[W1ghty]

On the wheel that won’t tighten , is there damage inside the bolt holes that allows the longer bolts to go in but bottom out ?

 

[GST350]

On the wheel that won’t tighten , is there damage inside the bolt holes that allows the longer bolts to go in but bottom out ?

Guess that's my next plan, I'll pull the wheel off and insert the new bolts (without rim) to see how they fare.

 

[W1ghty]

Guess that's my next plan, I'll pull the wheel off and insert the new bolts (without rim) to see how they fare.

I meant inside the alloy wheel bolt hole

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Try switching the front wheels from side to side to see if the problem stays with the hub or follows the wheel.

 

[geoffus]

Guess that's my next plan, I'll pull the wheel off and insert the new bolts (without rim) to see how they fare.

Surely all 5 holes don't have their first 10 mm or so threads stripped ? Or have they ?

 

[JHS]

Take the wheels off, stick a bolt in to the hole and see how much protrudes on the other side. Do it for front and rear. My money is on short bolts. Make sure that there is enough thread to fully engage the hub.
Ask me how I know!

 

[GST350]

So, pulled the wheel off and gave the hub holes a clean. Alloy back on and was able to torque without reasonable problem.

I say reasonable as the new bolts took about 10 turns to fully torque, which seems excessive.

Got my hand in behind the front hub when all bolts were torqued, and I can feel the bolt head sticking veeeeery slightly past the back of the hub plate. So they're fully in and torqued (110 per manufacturer) albeit pertruding slightly.

I'm not concerned about the front, as theres nothing behind the hub, but as the ebrake connects to the rear hub assembly I reckon a 3mm spacer is needed, and I reckon that's why the former keeper used the original oem (wrong) bolts.

Please keep any advice coming, but thanks for the speedy replies in here.

 

[JHS]

So, pulled the wheel off and gave the hub holes a clean. Alloy back on and was able to torque without reasonable problem.

I say reasonable as the new bolts took about 10 turns to fully torque, which seems excessive.

Got my hand in behind the front hub when all bolts were torqued, and I can feel the bolt head sticking veeeeery slightly past the back of the hub plate. So they're fully in and torqued (110 per manufacturer) albeit pertruding slightly.

I'm not concerned about the front, as theres nothing behind the hub, but as the ebrake connects to the rear hub assembly I reckon a 3mm spacer is needed, and I reckon that's why the former keeper used the original oem (wrong) bolts.

Please keep any advice coming, but thanks for the speedy replies in here.

Try feeling behind the rear hub as well just to make sure. Take nothing for granted.

 

[SmartAmg]

Exactly the same as my C207 like you say, it doesn't matter if the front bolts stick through even 10mm they won't catch, but the rears, are prone to catching, if the bolts are even slightly long, and you can't feel the back of the rears to see if they are sticking out, 3mm spacers should do it, if they catch, I've got 5mm on mine, with slightly longer bolts than standard. Are you sure it's 110nm torque, I do mine 130nm.

 

[GST350]

Now for a paranoid drive up the road

Exactly the same as my C207 like you say, it doesn't matter if the front bolts stick through even 10mm they won't catch, but the rears, are prone to catching, if the bolts are even slightly long, and you can't feel the back of the rears to see if they are sticking out, 3mm spacers should do it, if they catch, I've got 5mm on mine, with slightly longer bolts than standard. Are you sure it's 110nm torque, I do mine 130nm.

I'm taking the word of the guy in the shop tbh, they are NOT mercedes oem (which is 130). He said 110 is what he would do. But I trust this forum more, so maybe 120 is a safe bet.