Why Oh Why Would anyone.............

[00slk]

The saga continues, and with the aid of good information from many forum members, we were able to remove 3 of the locking bolts today. That's 3! Power bar, axle stand set level and the 4lb hammer all in use and by the time we got to the O/S front wheel it sheered off the internals of the locking bolt and started to round off the locking bolt key


Took the car down to a local tyre fitter who basically said, 'no we won't try to remove that'. Best thing to do would be take it back to the place who tightened the bolts. Don't feel like driving to Kent to be fobbed off. I have started to drill out the bolt, but i think i need a diamond tipped drill bit as the bolr is not playing ball. The remaining 3 wheels are being torqued up right

Bless her

 

[Submariner1]

What is the correct torque for wheel bolts, this has made me want to check mine!

Definitely check the Manual.
I was very surprised the CL500 is 150Nm! ( checked manual and my main dealer ... never had a MB that went over 140 Nm before.

Last 4 R230s were 130 Nm.
With a touch of arthritis using my original Norbar, a quite long one was a serious strain.

So I thought if the SLs locked up fine with 285 tyres at 130 Mn, I am sure the CL will be fine at 140 Nm, and the genuine MB locking wheel nut at 135Nm.

That logic does not work!

After a few days Just pottering about say 80 miles mainly 30-50 mph, although they were definitely all “on firmly”, the undo torque was significantly easier than undoing the SL with 130 Nm.

I reckon a good fast trip from Paris to Marseilles, would have probably not be completed, with a wheel flying off at about Lyons!

Lets say it was enough for me to order a 1,000mm long bar for easy undoing and a 900mm Norbar!
They are all now torqued to 150Nm, with the Locking nut torqued to 146Nm. They stay like that.
If I was doing a fast long haul I would set the locking wheel nuts to 150Nm too!

 

[Submariner1]

What would be the NM on a CL500 W216.

DEFINITELY 150 Mn as per the manual ... and checked with Mercedes Main dealer. I assumed it was a misprint! Even though the wheel bar had a 150Nm sticker! ( joke that thing .. I couldnt even get it wound up to 145Nm! ).

See my post ref experimenting with a lower value ... to make life easier. lOl
Shocking how fast they started to undo at 140Nm!

Very scary how soft they were to undo!
One long trip fast at 130Nm ( per my SL 500s ) and I reckon they would come off!

 

[Submariner1]

The saga continues, and with the aid of good information from many forum members, we were able to remove 3 of the locking bolts today. That's 3! Power bar, axle stand set level and the 4lb hammer all in use and by the time we got to the O/S front wheel it sheered off the internals of the locking bolt and started to round off the locking bolt key

View attachment 45209
Took the car down to a local tyre fitter who basically said, 'no we won't try to remove that'. Best thing to do would be take it back to the place who tightened the bolts. Don't feel like driving to Kent to be fobbed off. I have started to drill out the bolt, but i think i need a diamond tipped drill bit as the bolr is not playing ball. The remaining 3 wheels are being torqued up right View attachment 45210

Bless her

Are you still stuck.?
If so there is a guy I was put in touch with, who’s sole business is removing locking nuts and wheel bolts.
Says he has never been thwarted yet ... a garage full of stuff to undo everything.
When I bought this CL , some tyre cretins had sheared the internsl guts off 3 no name brand wheel nuts!
Think it was £55 for both.
He is based between Aldermaston and Reading.
Sorry cant remember his name.
If you cant find him I will dig out some paperwork . Just not feeling up to crawling around the boot post Op!


Pretty sure this is him
http://www.lockingwheelnutsremoved.com/contact.shtml

If you go there, dont be late. Its like a production line of folks driving in, undo drive out!

If it needs him to weld something to the nut to undo it then I think that os more £ss

No damage done to my wheels either!

 

[00slk]

Are you still stuck.?
If so there is a guy I was put in touch with, who’s sole business is removing locking nuts and wheel bolts.
Says he has never been thwarted yet ... a garage full of stuff to undo everything.
When I bought this CL , some tyre cretins had sheared the internsl guts off 3 no name brand wheel nuts!
Think it was £55 for both.
He is based between Aldermaston and Reading.
Sorry cant remember his name.
If you cant find him I will dig out some paperwork . Just not feeling up to crawling around the boot post Op!


Pretty sure this is him
http://www.lockingwheelnutsremoved.com/contact.shtml

If you go there, dont be late. Its like a production line of folks driving in, undo drive out!

If it needs him to weld something to the nut to undo it then I think that os more £ss

No damage done to my wheels either!

Yes pretty much so, but what I have discovered is the bolts that i was able to loosen with the power bar and just nip up have tighened themselves. I've had to use conciderable force to loosen them, i have now copper slipped the bolts and will recheck at the weekend. Maybe it is just the fact that the wheel bolts were dry?
Thanks for the link to, will check them out

 

[mercmancdi]

I am sick of garages with the air guns rapping them up too tight, if you watch they go from car to car and never change the Torque on the air gun.

 

[om613]

Something to note, if one's wheels bolts, locking or standard, have been subjected to 300 Nm, they will have way exceeded their elastic limit (stretched) so will be materially weakened. And so will need replacing x 20.

One of the normal wheel bolts on my 210 sheared clean off on removal. This had only been torqued up with my reliable, proven 'organic device' in my tenure, who knows what before (12 previous owners)?

Easi-outs purchased, trepidation acquired .... but fortuitously, the first attempt a drilling a pilot hole galled and pushed out the remains of the bolt thread into the handbrake drum - so was easily extricated by removing the disc.

 

[Submariner1]

Any time I remove a wheel for cleaning I have a quaint, but effective rule/procedure:- the lock nut ALWAYS gets loosened first and tightened last.
When it is tightened at refit, it is wound to just tight, then a quarter turn, no more, as a result I've never had one seize or strip its tangs or splines.
All the other bolts are torqued to the required setting first.
All bolts or nuts if these are fitted instead, are fitted dry. If I am working on a car I don't usually or perhaps haven't worked on before, I have been known to use WD40 or equivalent prior to removal and then brake cleaner to to remove the lubricant prior to refitment.
If I have to use a garage, ie:- if I can't do the job or need special tools, I use my samson bar on all the nuts and undo them before driving away and reset all to my system. This has been a rare occurrence though.

Yes pretty much so, but what I have discovered is the bolts that i was able to loosen with the power bar and just nip up have tighened themselves. I've had to use conciderable force to loosen them, i have now copper slipped the bolts and will recheck at the weekend. Maybe it is just the fact that the wheel bolts were dry?
Thanks for the link to, will check them out

Norbar once sent me a chart of the effect of greasing the mating surfCe and the threads.
Fundamentallly it changes the torque settings a lot ( grease specific variances ).
I do confess I did use coppa slip in the past with no outward problems

 

[00slk]

...............................Pretty sure this is him

http://www.lockingwheelnutsremoved.com/contact.shtml

If you go there, dont be late. Its like a production line of folks driving in, undo drive out!

If it needs him to weld something to the nut to undo it then I think that os more £ss

No damage done to my wheels either!

Yes that's the guy , we wont be able to make the journey today and he is away until the 30th from tomorrow
The locking bolt wont be going anywhere in the mean time

 

[Submariner1]

Yes that's the guy , we wont be able to make the journey today and he is away until the 30th from tomorrow
The locking bolt wont be going anywhere in the mean time

Probably worth the wait, he is old school, good engineering background.
As you have no doubt discovered, this does involve some brute force ... so comforting to know the guy understands the science behind the force ... rather than just Wallop .. oh sh*te there goes my wheel flange hub!

 

[00slk]

Weighing up the cost and time to travel to Reading, we discovered at our back door an engineering who said he'd have a go at moving the locking bolt. After unsuccessfully trying the steel square and arch welding method, this just twisted the steel, we decided that the best thing would be to gas axe the head of the locking bolt off, which he did. Good skills and the wheel is now off without any damage apart from the paint, which I knew would need refurbing anyway. At least we can now have that tyre changed. And the cost was £20. Good excuse to have all the wheels done

 

[ZZZZ]

Wow! And I thought my experience was problematic, having to buy a new locking key, after the old one sheared, but this is something else!

Glad you got it sorted, and yes - a good excuse to have the wheels done

 

[John Laidlaw]

Yip good hub painting opportunity there Peter. Remember to paint just over onto the face ( about 20mm) then you’ll not see any rust any more ( another member gave me that tip which I was grateful for)

 

[JBell]

Several reasons why I don't have Lockers on my car, they are a total pain in the arse

 

[00slk]

Yip good hub painting opportunity there Peter. Remember to paint just over onto the face ( about 20mm) then you’ll not see any rust any more ( another member gave me that tip which I was grateful for)

Thanks for the tip John, I've got new disc's to go on at some point, hoping the warning light doesn't come on before November. The pads are getting low.
Any special type a paint for the job?

 

[John Laidlaw]

Thanks for the tip John, I've got new disc's to go on at some point, hoping the warning light doesn't come on before November. The pads are getting low.
Any special type a paint for the job?

I sprayed mine with a high temp one from Halfords just can’t think of the name off hand....

 

[LostKiwi]

I sprayed mine with a high temp one from Halfords just can’t think of the name off hand....

VHT?

 

[00slk]

I'll check them out, thanks guys

Wow, VHT that takes me back I had 2 VHT stickers on the back of the 280se race car

 

[John Laidlaw]

VHT?

That’s the one!
Sorry long day in Padova has killed my memory!

 

[John Laidlaw]

I'll check them out, thanks guys

Wow, VHT that takes me back I had 2 VHT stickers on the back of the 280se race car

It looks dark like black but it sprays on and dries grey