Sincity

This has always bothered me. The Brabus reps I have from ACE Alloy are drilled 14mm to fit a wide variety of Benzes. However, my C320 uses 12mm bolts. ACE says it is ok. Any opinions? I am assuming this is done on real Lorsiners, Brabus, Carlssons so they may fit a wider range of Benzes.

TIA.

Hokie1200

The wheels should be hub-centric, which is good. But with the 14mm holes, I question how well the 12mm lugbolt will sit.

I once tried to apply 12x1.5 lugbolts with a 55 degree head angle to wheels with a 12mm bolt hole and a 60 degree bolt seat. That small difference caused vibration. Once fitted with 60 degree head lugbolts, the vibration went away.

I doubt your wheels will fall off, but the vibration may not be tolerable.

Sincity

No problem with vibrations (hub-centric). The Ace Alloy reps must be spot-on with the real Brabus. They even replicated the Brabus spacers (the extra groove around the circumference of the hub) so it is vibration-free.

bumpnzx3

as long as you buy the correct radius ball seat lug bolts- you will be fine

Luke@tirerack

the seat on a 12mm bolt will not have the proper amount of contact in a wheel designed for 14mm bolts. There are some 12mm bolts with 14mm seatrs which will make it a safe intall but, without them I wouldn't even get into the car

bumpnzx3

yep- that's what i was saying. does TireRack sell them? if not RAD does. they are, or at least were, a sponsor at one time.

Sincity

Who is "RAD"?

bumpnzx3

PM returned Reggie

Sincity

Bupmnzx3: Thanks for the quick response. Let me post it on the forum for everyone to read.

http://www.radusadirect.com/category...olts.ball_seat

It looks like for ball seating, they make a R12 and R14 (sounds like freon). I am assuming that is the seating between a 12mm or 14mm bolt with ball seats?

I forget to mention that my wheels have taper/conical seats. Does the seat matter in my situation for a wheel that now has to use 12mm conical/taper bolts and wheels are drilled for 14mm concical/taper seats?

Hokie1200

You need to match the lugbolt head to the wheel's lug seat. Since you have wheels with a tapered seat, you need to use tapered head lugbolts, not ball. Picturing this in my head, if the bolt hole is drilled for 14mm, a 12mm lugbolt would go farther into the bolt hole and probably not seat correctly. Again, vibration is likely. Possibly dangerous Can anyone confirm? Luke?

Sincity

I just got confirmation from Ace Alloy and Ron @ prestigewheel.com that as long as I have cone lugs for the cone seats, we are fine. They both state that it doesn't matter if they are 12mm or 14mm as long as the 60 degree angle is there on both the lugs and seats; which they are.

I should have made myself clear on the first post that my wheels and lugs are cone/conical/taper. It appears what Luke and Bumpnzx3 were referring to were ball seats.

Sorry for the confusion and I hope this thread helps others.

Reggie

Sincity

Luke responded to my PM and confirmed that since the wheels have cone seats with matching cone bolts, it is safe.

Pit-Pony

What about the converse?

A 16" OEM W203 wheel originally 12mm , I'd like to drill them to fit the 14mm W204 bolts. Can I than use the OEM 14mm bolts from the W204 and fit them to a 2009 C300 for winter?

..jack

Luke@tirerack

it's not as simple as just drill them out becasue the seat area has to be a 14 millimeter radius. If you have a machine shop it could be done but even then the brake clearance is not guaranteed

Pit-Pony

Thanks

I will test for brake clearance first without bolting the wheel up. If that works out I'll take it to a machine shop with one 14mm bolt and see if they can do it right. Otherwise I'll need wheels.

Do you have a wheel I can use for winter that's less expensive than the OEM Mercedes offerings for a C300 Sport that's decent looking and priced right?

Thanks

..jack