When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
What a difference new lug bolts and center caps make
We recently bought a 2011 GLK350. It is in almost perfect condition with only 48,000 miles. The only thing that bothered me was the rusty lug bolts and delaminated center caps. It ruined the look of an otherwise very classy vehicle. I decided to replace both.
- The factory lug bolts were standard 17mm, but the new ones were the fancy 'Mercedes flower' type. Technically a 17mm socket should work but it might damage the bolts. I opted to buy the proper socket.
This should have been an easy project. Buy the above items, swap them out, grab a beer. Unfortunately these lugs have either been on here for a little while or the last mechanic torqued them hard. I busted the factory tire iron (see below). I tried every tool I had in my garage but couldn't get anything long enough to break them free. A quick trip to the local hardware store solved the problem - a 40" breaker bar. That finally set things straight.
Overall, it's a cheap cosmetic improvement and I think it looks really good.
Here's the vehicle - already installed the new center caps but not the lug bolts.
These were the old center caps. Nasty.
Old center cap and rusty lug bolts.
New center cap and stainless lug bolts. Much better!
Busted the tire iron that came with the vehicle
40" breaker bar? That'll do the job.
Last edited by dblessing; Dec 21, 2018 at 09:41 PM.
this is very common and its a shame... The only thing i can surmise is that wheel cleaner eats the center caps. You'll notice the new lugs from Mercedes have what looks like a chrome cap over the end, hopefully that will fix the rusty lugs going forward.
Also be careful using junk off amazon to hold your wheels on. Stainless is softer than steel. And you will have dissimilar metals going on as well into the hub. It’s why Mercedes just adds a cap to their lug.
Also be careful using junk off amazon to hold your wheels on. Stainless is softer than steel. And you will have dissimilar metals going on as well into the hub. It’s why Mercedes just adds a cap to their lug.
No worries here. If you look at the product listing you see it’s only stainless caps, just like the OEM ones you shared.
Edit: Looking again I see it’s difficult to determine from the product listing that it’s only stainless caps. But someone in the reviews mention it and you can definitely tell when you get the bolts in your hands.
Last edited by dblessing; Dec 23, 2018 at 10:45 AM.
No worries here. If you look at the product listing you see it’s only stainless caps, just like the OEM ones you shared.
Edit: Looking again I see it’s difficult to determine from the product listing that it’s only stainless caps. But someone in the reviews mention it and you can definitely tell when you get the bolts in your hands.
yeah I see in some photos they made it look like one stainless bolt but in the other photos you can see the steel with cap on the end. They look identical to the Mercedes ones.
I like the one guy crying in his amazon review that it’s got a stainless cap and not stainless throughout.... you can’t fix stupid.
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
