400+ HPC32 AMG

I bought new wheels from a member last week. As part of the deal, I have to give him my stock wheels, so when I got back from work this week, and saw that the wheels had arrived, I rushed to get them on the car. This was probably my mistake.

It was night time, I don't have a garage, so I tried to do it in the dark. First, the Mercedes tire jack broke under the vehicle. It just snapped while perfectly set in the rear jack point.

When I got another jack, I was already pissed and in a rush, and on top of that it got dark. During the course of this I mixed one of the stock lug nuts (much longer) with one of the Renntech lugnuts. I screwed it on nice and tight and moved on to the other wheels.

I realized what happened later on, and corrected the lugnut. When I went to move the car, I heard a loud scratching/clanking/metal dragging noise coming from that one wheel. I'd imagine I bent something back.

Does anyone know what I damaged by screwing in the wrong lug nut? I am beyond angry right now.

91RS

You damaged the parking brake mechanism. You'll have to take the rotor off to see what you damaged.

400+ HPC32 AMG

Thank you for the response. I'm hoping it's not that. I'm hoping that I just bent the dust shield and it's grinding up against something, but you may be right. damn.

loudandheard

You may be ok, I had a squeak when I had an aftermarket rim put on. The shanks were a bit too big, but every thing was fine.

RLx02

I have the MOST ANNOYING problem that is similiar to that. After I put on my rear 10mm wheel spacers every once in a while I get this metallic noise from my right rear tire well that sounds like someone stuck a metal baseball card in bicycle spokes. It only happens whenever a technical person ISN'T there.

AirFrcd

X2 - I Have done the EXACT same thing with my RennTECH monolites, later to be solved with RAD cold forged lug nuts that won't brake under full acceleration.

Note: I just replaced all 20 lug nuts this AM at a tire shop with the cold forged RAD ones. I am hoping that these will not brake in half as the other previous ones have - remaining in my hubs/spindles, after a burn out, or high TQ accel. Yes, my car dynoed 378+ whp/wtq

moosejaw

i did the same thing with my rims
i just swapped bolts ad it was fine

saer1one

same here.. i believe it is the parking brake.

91RS

What kind of lugs were you using? I'm using the stock W203 lugs with my C63 wheels and had no problems as of yet.

AirFrcd

RT wheels have differrent lug requirements than stockers.
I.e. Differrent shape (cone vs round), thread length...

I originally used the lug nuts that were shipped with the wheels and quickly found out that they weren't the right ones for the wheels/vehicle.

400+ HPC32 AMG

I'd imagine it is the parking brake that I damaged. The sound occurred immediately after I changed the wheel and put in the wrong lug bolt.

It sounds like tiny pieces of metal (possibly the springs) grinding against the rotor. I am embarassed, ashamed and upset with myself especially because money is tight these days living on an hourly wage!

The car is sitting at a shop down the road from me. I'll ask the guy to put in my new suspension system tomorrow and hopefully he can just remove the parking brake parts for the one wheel when he does it.

///AMG4EVER

400 HP - it´s the rear parking brake. No need to be ashamed or embarassed, we have all gone through similar things in the past.

If you need extra time shipping the wheels back to me, it´s OK.

Good luck with everything.

saer1one

unless you do crazy stunt driving like on the movie RONIN then you wont need the parking brake and im pretty sure you didnt damage it all the way to the point where it cant be used.. like i said, i myself went through the same problem and your hearing more members here on the forum coming out.. Ive never used my parking brake ever since.. i dont think you should have to fork out money for the parking brake if your in a tight spot, use it for something else more important then go back and fix it later..

W203Ramos

did the same exact thing.....because i used my stock wheel locks on after market rims. it shouldn't cost too much probably just the springs for the emergency brake. GL

john

14cue

This thread is setting off alarm bells for me. I am about to install new suspension and BBS LM wheels on my car next week. BBS shipped lug nuts with the wheels so I imagine these will work. However, I wanted to use my lock nuts from my stock wheels. Anyone know if these will work? They all look the same to me. All this lug nuts talk is foreign to me.

91RS

Lug studs are such a pain in the ***. You're going to have to take off a stock wheel and put the stud through it and measure how far it sticks through and then compare that to the new wheels to make sure its the same or you will hurt the parking brake mechanism. You probably won't be able to use your locking lugs anyway because the aftermarket wheels are probably conical seat instead of ball seat like the factory uses.

14cue

^cheers, thanks for the info.

400+ HPC32 AMG

Many of you pegged the issue head on. Here is what was behind the rotor, a mangled parking brake spring, and when it grinds against the rotor, it causes anything from a "can clanking" sound to a terribly high pitched metal scratching noise, depending on how fast you go which will lodge it in different positions.

One other thing, my idiot mechanic couldn't get the rotor off at first. He started banging it with a hammer and wooden block repeatedly only to realize that the parking brake was on. He released the parking brake and it came right off. So a word to the wise, check your parking brake if your rotor seems "rusted on". lol. I don't know why i pay these guys

Here are pics of the spring and the finished product.

saer1one

glad to hear it was the parking brake.. car looks good with rims, will look better once you install the h&r's..

mikekuriger

engine torque does not break lugs, but having the wrong hubcentric ring does! the lugs are not meant to support the weight of the car, and the tiniest imbalance with set off a harmonic that will shred lug bolts.

Newzchspy

+1 Mike, obviously there's a fitment issue with the rim, not the lugs. I do have to change the lugs for the snows to longer ones.