Spacesaver Bolts!

[davemercedes]

I had the misfortune to get a rear tyre problem yesterday which at first seemed very low on air. It was pouring with rain and I basically had no choice but drive slowly to the nearest supermarket and use the air pump. On the way I got a dreadful noise from the back and of course the inevitable happened - and the tyre is ruined. I have pretty bad arthritis so called my breakdown service and wited and waited... The service engineer remover the wheel and got hold of the spacesaver wheel and used the locking key remover but took one look and said the standard wheel bolts are too long - apparently on early MBs with spacesavers they issued short bolts to be used in place of the longer standard bolts. He told me they hada horror story where a bloke fitted the spacesaver with a power wrench and that caused them to runin the hub and it caused over £1000 of damage (I guesstimate £2000 at today's price!

So I left with a car I couldn't drive although he told me I could roll it a short distance but must NOT drive it - and he called me a recovery truck who loaded me up on board and got me and the car home. In all, four hours out of life and I have at best a rotten cold for my trouble - at least I had the flu jab some tiome ago!

My garage gave me a contact at Tyres on The Drive and he called round and having located a tyre has taken my wheel to get the replacement fitted and he'll be calling back to refit it this afternoon so at least I'll be able to use the car if necessary.

Note: Oh boy - what a difference there is when buying tyres from Costco!

I phone MB at Grangemouth and Neil sorted out the bolts I need and is getting them tomorrow morning but they are unlikely to arrive before Christmas,

The moral for anyone with this age of car fitted with alloys is CHECK that you have the shorter wheel bolts in the little box with the kocking key remover! tbh I've only told my garage where the locking key is when taking it in for service and I never looked at what was in the box, I suppose I should be thankful that it's the first puncture I've had since I bought the car in 2013!

Have a nice Christmas, everybody and be safe.

 

[onefortheroad]

How long was too long. ?

 

[Naraic]

How long was too long. ?

Long enough to contact the rear brake shoes and...

 

[Jim2]

As far as I'm concerned, out with these so called space saver wheels. and replace with the real thing....When I upgraded my 2010 for a 2014 Eclass 2 mths ago, first thing I did was to remove the locking bolts and replace them with standard wheel bolts.

 

[EmilysDad]

My 07 plate R Class came with a set of shorter bolts for the steel spare in a long poly bag ..... my ML has the same shorter bolts somewhere in the boot too.

My Vauxhalls all used the same bolts for both the ally road wheels & the steel spare.

 

[sonic]

Spacesaver wheel bolts on SLK's are also shorter.

 

[ajlsl600]

Same in aclass. I normally check all this prior to any lengthy trip
Whilst on subject HOW do benz get away with such crxp whell bolts rotten with rust in less than 2 yr. And THATS stuff we can see !!

 

[EmilysDad]

...
Whilst on subject HOW do benz get away with such crxp whell bolts rotten with rust in less than 2 yr. And THATS stuff we can see !!

The stainless capped bolts aren't any better .... the cover is just crimped onto the head & over and a rattle gun soon loosens them

 

[Blobcat]

The moral for anyone with this age of car fitted with alloys is CHECK that you have the shorter wheel bolts in the little box with the kocking key remover! tbh I've only told my garage where the locking key is when taking it in for service and I never looked at what was in the box, I suppose I should be thankful that it's the first puncture I've had since I bought the car in 2013!

Have a nice Christmas, everybody and be safe.

The little box with the locking wheel bolt adapter should have 4 normal wheel bolts in as they are the ones that were replaced by the locking bolts...

(you should always removed the locking bolts and replace them with the normal bolts so you don't suffer with over tightened locking wheel bolts which destroy themselves and the adapter when you try to remove them) - But that's a different issue to the space saver wheel bolts but I get distracted easily...

With regard to shorter wheel bolts for a space saver spare (if they are required) it will be printed in yellow on the wheel and there will be (or was when supplied) a blow molded molded case that clips onto the space saver spare wheel. You have to remove the case and bolts to use the space saver spare so you shouldn't forget you need or have them...

However on a lot of space saver spares they modified the bolt holes to accept the normal bolts. My W211 (late 06) used the normal bolts my '00 W210 used shorter bolts.

 

[onefortheroad]

Long enough to contact the rear brake shoes and...

I've recently purchased a spacesaver for my e350 , its not got one due to ad blue tank. Shortest I can find listed on ebay are 26mm thread which all of mine are, guess I should try it on before the nasty happens .

 

[ajlsl600]

Yup.I prepared to say that silly rims not withstanding the ride in a benz as good as any. Not prepared to say its any better than a lot of others any more i believe we as owners sometimes like to delude ourselfs that it is.and benz are VERY good at exploiting that.

 

[ajlsl600]

I've recently purchased a spacesaver for my e350 , its not got one due to ad blue tank. Shortest I can find listed on ebay are 26mm thread which all of mine are, guess I should try it on before the nasty happens .

Are you saying it came without spare as new?!

 

[Blobcat]

Are you saying it came without spare as new?!

Most new ones don't... for 3 reasons, 1 to reduce weight to improve emissions, 2 to reduce costs and 3 to make a space for the ad-blue tank

 

[onefortheroad]

Are you saying it came without spare as new?!

Yep. Tin of gunge and a compressor.

 

[ajlsl600]

What a flipin joke,is adblue goin to get you home on dark wet night when mobile batt is on last legs.

 

[ajlsl600]

I really cant wait to shift my newest motor on and unburden myself of the associated crxp designed to keep me spending my savings in places I didnt plan or dont wish to.

 

[davemercedes]

Unbelievable Change of Luck!

The chap from Tyres on The Drive just came back with my wheel and fitted new tyre. He took my keys, undid the big retainer for the spacesaver in the boot and found... a sttill sealed cardboard packet containing the correct short bolts! It's a round pack that sits underneath the wjeel retainer.

All I can say is - it was very dark when the breakdown truck came last night - I was next to the back and he took the keys and lifted out the spare. Neither of us saw them!

Fortunately, I was just in time to catch Neil at MB Grangemouth and kill the order I placed this morning!

Have as nice a Christmas as possible folks - and whatever you do, be safe!

 

[LostKiwi]

Long enough to contact the rear brake shoes and...

A bit of a faff but fit spacesaver to front then front tyre to back (as long as not staggered).

 

[davemercedes]

You're right - but my C Estate is staggered - which I think was just a way for MB to charge a bit more!

 

[davemercedes]

It's very interesting that almost everbody detests the spacesaver spare. I agree and they should be barred, crushed or otherwise destroyed! It's a stupid idea for another reasonL you get a puncture at night with say 200 miles to go and when you've fitted the spacesave you're limited to 50 mph! What a nonsense in a modern car!

I still wonder what the real idea is for staggered wheels - why on earth couldn't they just fit larger wheels all round? And having them as I do, just because it's an Estate car - I will always have the problem of a temporary repair wheel if I get a puncture.