tommy

I can vouch for the usefulness of the Ronco/Avlis disc adaptor. Worked great on Saturday.

And now that I think of it, in all seriousness, I would be interested in buying one from you.

If I buy one, do I get a "Dent King" thrown in as well?

young

let me say that that little adapter is great! when i switched the wheels, that thing really saved a lot of time b/c i could use my sears jack instead of the oem jack.

nice job avlis.

--
1 question though - the circular base - is it designed to be difficult to remove from the jack's pad? i have to usually knock on it a couple of times to have it pop out. (it seems to be clipped in).

avlis

If you act now I'll throw in a special silver braclet that, when worn properly, will totally eliminate all pain and diseases from your body.

BTW: the adapter fits perfectly in the little cubby hole under the trunk floor.

Introductory offer is $30 shipped to the East coast. PM me if interested.

avlis

The cup on your jack is probably a different size than mine. The base is 1.75" diameter and the cup on my jack is at least 2". I have a small portable jack and I didn't think they'd make cups much less than 2" Yours must be 1.75" so it gets pressed in.

MB-BOB

Well, now that I've totally derailled this thread... The hockey puck is a good 1/4-5/16" oversize. Now, I DO have a Lathe, but the average southerner (and nor'easter) would spend several days whittling that puppy down to size without one... assuming said hockey puck is subject to shaving with a pocket knife at all... it's VERY hard material...

young

is this in the manual? that is, where can i get proof that it is alloy b/c my doubting friend thinks it's steel.

tommy

Once again, RTFM!!!!!

Page 375, under "Technical Data":

Spare wheel
Rim (light alloy) 4 1/2 B x 15H2

Hope that you're happy! :p

avlis

Grab a magnet and open your trunk. See if it sticks to the spare. I could be wrong but, I was guessing that cast iron would be a lot heavier than that little guy feels. It DEFINITELY isn't stamped steel. At least...mine isn't.

Lynn

I used the avlis jack adapter for the first time last week when changing to the snow tires. It works great. Can't say if the snow tires work great. The forecast 8" of snow turned into less than half an inch and the roads were just wet.

young

argh! i'm just going to have to pull a fahrenheit 451 or make a copy of the manual and keep it w/ me just to avoid the "RTFM"s... :o i'm so ashamed.

avlis

Now that I'm home, here's the stainless version:

revstriker

So what happens if you use the short bolts with the standard wheel? Why would MB include these bolts in the cars with a full size spare?

Matt230K

If they're too short, you won't be able to screw them in at all. If they're long enough to screw in, they probably don't go in very far, and I wouldn't want to drive around too long like that, if there are only a few threads in the hub.

MB-BOB

A further attempt to clarify...

By saying "If your spare is the same as..." some might think this means that if you have a "full-size" spare you have no worries. But that's not true. You have to consider Dave's second sentence along with the first...

I've checked my spare tire/wheel. It's a "full-size" tire/wheel assembly, but the wheel itself is definitely STEEL. (MB-BOB's MB-Magnet sticks to it quite well.) I do have a set of the "extra" bolts in the baggie, and they are the conical design, intended for steelies, not the flat-flanged type used on alloy wheels.

So, for the Sedans (at least the '01s, probably the '02s, too), the spare tire is mounted on a black painted, STEEL wheel, and DOES need the short set of lugbolts... even though it's a "full-size" spare.

Probably an overkill explanation, but hey...

Lockbuster

How about when in doubt read the manual, it works for me!

evian

My car is the 01 model, but then my spare tires is not mounted on the "black steel". Instead it is mounted on a silver rim exactly the same as the other wheels.

MB-BOB

You have an '01 C240 or C320 in Ohio? Standard wheels, or the Sport Package Wheels? They are Alloys, right?

If so, then maybe some of use have been shorted an Alloy Wheel for a spare? (sounds of several people running to the garage...)

evian

I have the C 240 non sport package
Anyway, I have tried to use my spare wheels last time with the longer bolts, and there are no noticeable noise or clunk.
I thought that the bolts on the back are just spare bolts in case we lost the original one. I didnt even notice that they are actually shorter than the original one because I did not compare them side by side.

Anyway, I thought if that is not the correct bolts, it would have made a noticeable noise from the wheels area.

Lockbuster

I hate to sound like broken record however you need to read the owners manual, the lug nuts are their for a reason. You take the chance of causing damage to the vehicle, or create an accident with your neglect.

Back in the 1980's someone changed thier spare tire without reading the owners manual, the result was a traffic collision and someone dead!