Ball seat lug nuts/ Wheel studs

[Vetruck]

Without research, I would only know and trust OEM. When it comes to American car you have the credible companies mcgard and Gorilla etc. I have ARP and Gorilla on all my other stuff so that really all I can 1st hand recommend. Sorry.

On the subject of wheel stud, where people go wrong is by not immediately torquing on their wheels to 85lbs to further stretch the locktite hub threads then wait a day for the locktite to cure.

[Vetruck]

I have an appointment with a guy mid week next week to ake these wheels to a wheel specialist and CNC them the ball socket to an Acorn conical shape for $45 per wheel. He told me over the phone from my description it should not be an issue since I have a 1/2" meat ont he inside of the center bore. he feels its plenty strong with the inside taper about 3/8" and the outside about 1/2"-9 1/16" after machining. he wants to putty them and do a firm measurement though before he does anything to confirm the finished thickness.

This way I can just go Conical lugs with these wheels and keep a few R12 ballseat lugs in a baggie next to the OEM spare tire.

[Vetruck]

...and if everything works fine with the machining- then these are going onto the car to get the same look with the lug nuts as the perimeter rim bolts.
They are also Chrome Vanadium which is alot stronger that aluminum plus highly corrosin resistant, and very light weight (like the high end titanium lugs) but 1/4 the cost and readily availiable for replacement spares if ever needed. I do not like custom made stuff that is one off if I can't make it my self- makes things too hard to replace in a pinch.

If this all works- then I will have the piece of mind I seek for hard cornering with wide gippy tires

http://www.evasivemotorsports.com/mm...tegory_Code=L1

[Vetruck]

I puttied the wheel lug holes today and measured just how much would have to be shaved off the ball seat to get the Acorn 60* taper and it would leave me about 1/4" om meat on the inside of the taper...IF, that is IF he macjhines it perfectly It would be less if he is not exact. I do not feel comfortable with that. I will just have to live with steel standard sized R12 ball seat lug nuts- they will work fine. I was looking for the lighter weight stuff, but all in all I have to also remain myself this car will probably never see track use like my other cars- just the occational hard freeway onramp, etc.

I have a friend that just bought a 2009 SL550 with AMG wheels and the lugbolts are set real deep in those pockets also, along with my other buddies 04 Brabus Sl500. At least my studs will fill the bores a little so they are easier to start with fingers rather than deep socketing them.

Lastly, the guy I have lined up to check out machining my wheels on Tuesday has alot of bad yelp.com reviews about scratching peoples wheels and breaking price quote promises- a strong 2nd reason I do not want my brand new rims screwed up by some two bit shady promise. Its the only guy within about 50,miles of me I can find that wants to tackle this job. SOmeone else told me if the wheels were lazer cut then the alloy is hardened from the laser heat around the lug sockets and a good chance they will not machine properly. He told me alot of wheel companies will machine the ball socket to the countersink depth, but them to save on tooling cost and wear they then punch the entire bore of the lugbolt with a laser which hardens the alloy around the seat. WHo knows, but again it is not worth the risk to find out this guy starts something and then can't finish it.

Steel ball seat lug nuts it is. Time to move on to the next task.

[Vetruck]

Just got the standard ol R12 ballseat lug nuts today. Here a boring shot of one of them with a wheelstud. Very nice quality wheelstuds with a white zinc corrosion finish bullnosed race stud. They also have a nice fat collar. Lug nuts? well, lets just say they are lug nuts- they'll work but not the fanciest things on earth. Attachment 1410


Just also placed my order for my rear two tires as well as my spring choice. Spring are cheap, so I figured I would first try a set of H&R Sport springs (1.4"f/1.3"r) made for a heavier nosed c280 (I have the 200lb lighter C220) and I decided to keep the flat top springs of my year rather than the later helix design-why? well if I do end up deciding later to fab a weightjack system I have flat springs to sit into the pockets of the screw jacks. Like I sdsaid though, springs are cheap so I will experiment with these for rate and ride height first to see what I have.

Tires? I already have 4 60% tread BFG KDW2's (215-40-18's) off another car that was totaled less than a year ago (Fiancee was in a bad accident in her last car- Not her fault) so I am salvaging those for fronts on the 18x8.5" wheels I have and just ordered new KDW2's (245-35-18's) for the rear 18x 9.5 wheels. When the fronts wear out, and the rears are still half treadlife- I will put the other used fronts I have on- makes sense to me

[Vetruck]

Thngs are getting closer. Got my metal valvestems today and my new rear BFG's. youc an see the old 4 I have on other wheels from another car I had (about 60% tread left on those 215-40-18's) so they will go on the new front wheels. The tire next to the rear of the car is the new 245/35-18 rears.

Attachment 1417

Springs and a few other goodies will be here monday. I have half my rear camber arms ordered, I need to order the rodends still- will get to that next week since I will not have time to mess with this car 9lowering wise) for at least a week. I had an emergency TB repair I just had to order so its temporarily down pending that part arriving tomorrow...I hope. I am going to be real busy next week so I hope I can get this thing up and running this weekend. I was hoping to get the tires mounted tomorrow but thats not going to happen becasue I have to do the TB work first- then if I have time also I will mess with the new sunroof angle guide on the left side.

[Vetruck]

Just also placed my order for my rear two tires as well as my spring choice. Spring are cheap, so I figured I would first try a set of H&R Sport springs (1.4"f/1.3"r) made for a heavier nosed c280 (I have the 200lb lighter C220) and I decided to keep the flat top springs of my year rather than the later helix design-why? well if I do end up deciding later to fab a weightjack system I have flat springs to sit into the pockets of the screw jacks. Like I said though, springs are cheap so I will experiment with these for rate and ride height first to see what I have.

Springs just arrived. I am still waiting mainly on my new TB right now- However, when I get more time I will document both the OEM springs I have as well as the new ones I just recieved as for heights, diameters, active coils, wire thickness, and thus rate comparison. THese are H & R springs (I opted for early design to keep the flat top spring shape in case in the future I ever want to go to weight jacker it will sit nicely on the top perch). I have a c220 4 cylinder car, but these are for the heavier nosed C280 car. I want the front stiff and the rear a little lighter in lateral rates- if I then need more balance I will only up the rear swaybar. I have plans to keep the front swaybar OEM for great ride quality and firm up body roll with the stiffer spring rates and koni shocks. Im doing a little experimenting, so if I do not like the feel then I will try a different set of springs. Using these for now to see if it will work for what I am after rideheight and rate wise.Attachment 1421

[Vetruck]

Back to this project after my unexpected throttle body hiatus.

Had to grind my new meatl valve stems just a tad in diameter at the base washer to slip fit into the wheel cavity, then used rubber cement (like the kind you get in a bike innertube repair kit) on both inside and outside rubber groumets, then put just one of the two inside fastening nuts on with red perminant locktite. Why only 1 nuit on the inside of the wheel? becasue I want it light as possible so I use less weights to balance the wheels.

Next step is to take them over to an acquaintance of mine and see if he can quickly spin all four wheels (only the rims without tires) on his machine to see how true they are in weights. I will mark any that are off and take them home and grind them a little if any one of them is bad. Then its time to mount the tires on them.

[Vetruck]

Aluminum rear jam nuts and camber links arrived today. I need to order the rod ends from Qa1 still. The jam nuts are color coded with the normal right hand threads in red and the left hand thread ones in blue- makes for ease of figuring which goes which way a year down the road when you kindof forget and have to try and look at grimmy threads.Attachment 1432