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Recently, I installed new Wheel Locks. These are locking lug nuts that will not permit the wheel to be removed without using the provided unique lock key for your locks. Thus, each road wheel remains reasonably safe on the car irrespective of wherever you park.
To install these lugs, (mentioned elsehere under the thread Locking Wheel Locks, Revised), one must remove one lug nut per wheel and replace it with a locking version.
This simple act awakened me again to the fact that modern day autos, and this "C" in particular, have their wheels screwed on and torqued to 100 foot pounds (135 Meters.n). The simple fact is that these nuts simply cannot be removed by most persons using the OEM provided jack handle and lug wrench combination tool.
So I resorted to my trusty cross lug wrench, always carried in the trunk over the spare wheel, suitably wrapped in a towell, of course, so it won't rattle and/or scratch something, God forbid.
Even that tool would not break loose these nuts. So I tried to break them loose with a piece of pipe slipped over the end of the OEM jack handle for additional leverage. Again, no joy. These nuts just couldn't be budged. My car was delivered 4/29/04, so it's not as if the lugs were corroded yet.
So, I finally resorted to the piece de resistance, my 12vDC electric impact wrench which I bought 21 years ago when I first encountered the problem on a Benz. This wrench plugs into a 12vDC source in the car; its cord is long enough to reach each wheel. It made short work of removing the one nut from each wheel and helped me replace them with the locking nuts.
WARNING -- DO NOT USE AN IMPACT WRENCH TO TIGHTEN THESE LOCKING NUTS FOR THEY MAY OVERTORQUE AND MESS UP YOUR STUDS ON THE WHEELS.
So, beginning yesterday, the impact wrench is back in the trunk. I want to be able to remove a wheel anytime, anywhere without depending upon AAA or USAA, or whomever to show up at their leasure, if they are even available wherever I might be. The tool is available still at good auto stores for around $100 and worth every penny when you need it.
Torquing is another thing. Very few of us carry or even have access to a suitable torque wrench; so one needs to go to a service operation to get that lock torqued. And check it again after some driven miles to ensure it is still tight.
A CHALLENGE --
Just for the heck of it, how many of you have tried to remove a wheel lug nut? Try to remove just one and please let me know how you did. I doubt if most can remove any such nut torqued at 100 foot pounds with the OEM jack handle wrench.
Here's what to do -
Just remove the "hubcap" by prying carefully into the small slot on one edge of the cap's circumference, pull it off and place it aside. You'll notice it is about 99% plastic (as are the wheels so coated) and relatively fragile. Then try to loosen just one nut on any wheel using the OEM-supplied jack handle wrench. No need to jack up the car (but you should be familiar with how to do that, too).
IF you do get it loosened, then retighten it, (stop by somewhere and get it retorqued later). If not loosened, replace the "hubcap" carefully. Do so by placing the cap into its slots on the wheel and popping it on with the heel of your hand, nothing else. Be careful to bop around the entire circle because it won't always go into position and these things do come off and get lost. Someone ealier lost one at $45 a cap, as I remember.
Why bother with the wheel removal attempt? Well, our tires are marketed as puncture-resistant, not proof. Someone will get a flat. If you, do you want to sit around for hours waiting for help to change your wheel to the spare?
Lemme know, please.
To install these lugs, (mentioned elsehere under the thread Locking Wheel Locks, Revised), one must remove one lug nut per wheel and replace it with a locking version.
This simple act awakened me again to the fact that modern day autos, and this "C" in particular, have their wheels screwed on and torqued to 100 foot pounds (135 Meters.n). The simple fact is that these nuts simply cannot be removed by most persons using the OEM provided jack handle and lug wrench combination tool.
So I resorted to my trusty cross lug wrench, always carried in the trunk over the spare wheel, suitably wrapped in a towell, of course, so it won't rattle and/or scratch something, God forbid.
Even that tool would not break loose these nuts. So I tried to break them loose with a piece of pipe slipped over the end of the OEM jack handle for additional leverage. Again, no joy. These nuts just couldn't be budged. My car was delivered 4/29/04, so it's not as if the lugs were corroded yet.
So, I finally resorted to the piece de resistance, my 12vDC electric impact wrench which I bought 21 years ago when I first encountered the problem on a Benz. This wrench plugs into a 12vDC source in the car; its cord is long enough to reach each wheel. It made short work of removing the one nut from each wheel and helped me replace them with the locking nuts.
WARNING -- DO NOT USE AN IMPACT WRENCH TO TIGHTEN THESE LOCKING NUTS FOR THEY MAY OVERTORQUE AND MESS UP YOUR STUDS ON THE WHEELS.
So, beginning yesterday, the impact wrench is back in the trunk. I want to be able to remove a wheel anytime, anywhere without depending upon AAA or USAA, or whomever to show up at their leasure, if they are even available wherever I might be. The tool is available still at good auto stores for around $100 and worth every penny when you need it.
Torquing is another thing. Very few of us carry or even have access to a suitable torque wrench; so one needs to go to a service operation to get that lock torqued. And check it again after some driven miles to ensure it is still tight.
A CHALLENGE --
Just for the heck of it, how many of you have tried to remove a wheel lug nut? Try to remove just one and please let me know how you did. I doubt if most can remove any such nut torqued at 100 foot pounds with the OEM jack handle wrench.
Here's what to do -
Just remove the "hubcap" by prying carefully into the small slot on one edge of the cap's circumference, pull it off and place it aside. You'll notice it is about 99% plastic (as are the wheels so coated) and relatively fragile. Then try to loosen just one nut on any wheel using the OEM-supplied jack handle wrench. No need to jack up the car (but you should be familiar with how to do that, too).
IF you do get it loosened, then retighten it, (stop by somewhere and get it retorqued later). If not loosened, replace the "hubcap" carefully. Do so by placing the cap into its slots on the wheel and popping it on with the heel of your hand, nothing else. Be careful to bop around the entire circle because it won't always go into position and these things do come off and get lost. Someone ealier lost one at $45 a cap, as I remember.
Why bother with the wheel removal attempt? Well, our tires are marketed as puncture-resistant, not proof. Someone will get a flat. If you, do you want to sit around for hours waiting for help to change your wheel to the spare?
Lemme know, please.
.
