help: got a 15" rim on that won't turn!

[sidshock]

Hi guys and gals... it is a C230 Kompressor 2002 model, and boy, does it suck in the winter with just RWD! I hope tyres can fix my problems...
ok, so I needed some winters, and I bought some Michelin Pilot Alpin 195/65/r15 with the mercedes rims with 90% tread.
The rims are 5x112..
I spent $500ish bucks, so I hope I solve this, as my tires right now, are SO BALD!
so I put them on, and they went on just fine, but won't turn!!..
I checked, it seems to clear the calipers and all that fine, but just seized for some reason. Do I need spacers or something?? Any help would be great.
thanks!
Oh, I let up on the bolts a little, and the tire seemed to turn a little... so, I dunno if that info helps.

[CanadianMoFo]

Seized parking brake is more likely.

[sidshock]

nope, checked. :)
btw: the specs of my car on the side door stipulate 16" and 17" rims...
so I dunno if it's a manuf. size conflict, although, I don't see how if it seems to fit well,
and clears the caliper, etc... That's why I am wondering if spacers would fix this issue...

[hotgo]

nope, checked. :)
btw: the specs of my car on the side door stipulate 16" and 17" rims...
so I dunno if it's a manuf. size conflict, although, I don't see how if it seems to fit well,
and clears the caliper, etc... That's why I am wondering if spacers would fix this issue...

So wait, you knew that the specs for your car called for 16"+ rims and yet you bought and installed 15" rims? And now you are wondering why they don't turn?

If the wheels do in fact clear the calipers, then there is another point at which the rims are touching either the wheel well or the brakes (discs, calipers, or drums).

Consider yourself lucky that the wheels did not turn at all... better to find out now that the wheels are dangerous, rather than at a higher speed on the highway.

Advice: Sell current set of tires/rims and buy a properly sized set for your vehicle.

[KorruptioN]

You bought rims assuming they would fit just because: 1) Mercedes rims and 2) The matching 5x112 bolt pattern? There's a whole lot more to it than that. Why get spacers for the wrong wheels? You'll still be stuck with the wrong wheels.

[sidshock]

because I was given the wrong advice, obviously from the seller..
oh well, live/learn.
yes, they are from an older mercedes rims set.

[KorruptioN]

It pays to research... instead of listening to the seller. :|

What car did the rims come off of?

[SleepyZippy]

And the Pilot Alpin is not that good as winter tires...

[sidshock]

I don't have the details on the car it came off of, but what I figured out was it is a pre 2000 model...
prob. a 300E ? They are original mercedes rims though, and ther rubber is excellent. Just eish they fit!! Oh well, I guess I will sell them to someone that can use them and then find the right size.

[Spud72]

Check and see if they clear the struts.

You need to have the right offset in addition to the correct bolt pattern.

[Pete_Coach]

Check and see if they clear the struts.

You need to have the right offset in addition to the correct bolt pattern.

Did you read the part where the OP needs 16 or 17 inch rims and tried to install 15 inch and that they have the same bolt pattern? :confused:
And besides...clear the struts???? Huh :confused:

[CanadianMoFo]

Offset.

They may have an offset such that the inside edge of the tire comes into contact with the strut.

CM

[dealhunting]

Did you replace the aluminum wheels with steel rims? If so you need to use shorter wheel bolts. ie: the ones that came with your space saver spare. The longer bolts used for the mags are currently jamming up against your e-brake shoes/mechanism. Hopefully you didn't do any/too much damage. If you tried to drive the car.....worse case you will need new hubs and e-brake shoes. I know it's a stupid but, it happens all the time to people who don't read their owner's manual or the warning message on the spare tire before doing the tire swap......

[sidshock]

ok, I checked it all..
nah, the bolts were good.. they needed 5.5 turns to tighten on my rims, and 5.5 turns to tighten on these rims too..
the issue is infact, the bck of the caliper slightly touching the inner rim!!!
argh.. so a slight offset adjustment with a spacer would fix it, however, I would rather just sell these now, and get a 16" pair.
the seller here Ron20 or something or other username, told me that all I need are spacers, and they will run me $10-20 bucks at crappy tire..
I called crappy tire, and they told me they don't even sell spacers...
so I checked around and it seeme to be more like $60usd min for a pair of spacers, so this guy is full of it....
he said he had another buyer for the next day, so I asked him for the guys number after, and he said he lost it, only had his email. So I smell more BS.
then I ask him to take it back (due to all the misleading info he seemed to give me at this point... )
no answer to that question...
actually, here is the threads he had selling these here...
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=525724
http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=522266

dunno why he had 2 threads for it...
anyways... that's that I guess.. hopefully I can find a buyer, as the rims and tires are excellent, just not the right fit for me...

[ES_Revenge]

Did you read the part where the OP needs 16 or 17 inch rims and tried to install 15 inch and that they have the same bolt pattern? :confused:
And besides...clear the struts???? Huh :confused:

Yeah but I think you may have missed the common sense end ;)

From what was known at the beginning was the wheel fit and was clearing everything and not turning. Regardless of who says you need a 16" wheel on it we were hearing that the wheel fit and was not hitting anything. So if that was the case there had to be something stopping it from turning. There's no magic to it. The car has no sensing capabilities to say "hey I'm gonna lock the brakes if I see a 15" on there!"... So at that point the logical step in troubleshooting becomes, "what's stopping this from turning?"--the strut was probably just an idea of where to look.

But in the end we find out that you do need a 16" wheel not just because it says so somewhere but because we find out the initial information was wrong...

the issue is infact, the bck of the caliper slightly touching the inner rim!!!

And there we have it. Knowing the car needs a 16" wheel is good information and the OP should have gone with the 16" wheel. But when they said the wheel wasn't touching anything and said it wasn't turning the only thing you can think is that it is indeed touching something but it needs to be found.

ok, I checked it all..
nah, the bolts were good.. they needed 5.5 turns to tighten on my rims, and 5.5 turns to tighten on these rims too..
Say what? Turns? Turns??? Wheels are not tightened by turns!!! They are tightened by torque. I've never seen or heard of anyone counting the turns of lug nuts (or wheel studs, I know many MBs use studs) to determine wheel tightness--that's a really bad idea. I hate to say it but it sounds like you don't know what you're doing. Both from getting wheels that don't fit to the "turns" bit LOL. Perhaps this is best left to a qualified person before the wheels on the car fly off.

argh.. so a slight offset adjustment with a spacer would fix it, however, I would rather just sell these now, and get a 16" pair.
the seller here Ron20 or something or other username, told me that all I need are spacers, and they will run me $10-20 bucks at crappy tire..
There's a cheaper, more ghetto way to move the wheel outwards if you just need a small clearance... I was going to say it but I don't think it would be a good idea, especially given the turns method of tightening... Plus moving that wheel out might give you other problems and you might not even get it out far enough to clear at all times (if it's the steering axle that's hitting). I think your idea of getting 16" wheels is a better one. Also another good idea is to get a torque wrench and stop counting turns ;) Or just take it to a shop (of course the idiots there will probably just air it on but at least then it's not going to come off, heh).

[Pete_Coach]

Say what? Turns? Turns??? Wheels are not tightened by turns!!! They are tightened by torque. I've never seen or heard of anyone counting the turns of lug nuts (or wheel studs, I know many MBs use studs) to determine wheel tightness--that's a really bad idea. I hate to say it but it sounds like you don't know what you're doing. Both from getting wheels that don't fit to the "turns" bit LOL. Perhaps this is best left to a qualified person before the wheels on the car fly off.



But to put the statement by the OP in context, he was talking about the length of the bolts, as in it takes 5 to 5.5 turns to get the bolt on snug as opposed to doing the final torque for tightness. The question was in relation to the thickness of his old rim versus the new rim, not the torque of the bolt.

[sidshock]

Yeah but I think you may have missed the common sense end ;)

From what was known at the beginning was the wheel fit and was clearing everything and not turning. Regardless of who says you need a 16" wheel on it we were hearing that the wheel fit and was not hitting anything. So if that was the case there had to be something stopping it from turning. There's no magic to it. The car has no sensing capabilities to say "hey I'm gonna lock the brakes if I see a 15" on there!"... So at that point the logical step in troubleshooting becomes, "what's stopping this from turning?"--the strut was probably just an idea of where to look.

But in the end we find out that you do need a 16" wheel not just because it says so somewhere but because we find out the initial information was wrong...



And there we have it. Knowing the car needs a 16" wheel is good information and the OP should have gone with the 16" wheel. But when they said the wheel wasn't touching anything and said it wasn't turning the only thing you can think is that it is indeed touching something but it needs to be found.


Say what? Turns? Turns??? Wheels are not tightened by turns!!! They are tightened by torque. I've never seen or heard of anyone counting the turns of lug nuts (or wheel studs, I know many MBs use studs) to determine wheel tightness--that's a really bad idea. I hate to say it but it sounds like you don't know what you're doing. Both from getting wheels that don't fit to the "turns" bit LOL. Perhaps this is best left to a qualified person before the wheels on the car fly off.


There's a cheaper, more ghetto way to move the wheel outwards if you just need a small clearance... I was going to say it but I don't think it would be a good idea, especially given the turns method of tightening... Plus moving that wheel out might give you other problems and you might not even get it out far enough to clear at all times (if it's the steering axle that's hitting). I think your idea of getting 16" wheels is a better one. Also another good idea is to get a torque wrench and stop counting turns ;) Or just take it to a shop (of course the idiots there will probably just air it on but at least then it's not going to come off, heh).

yes, I am aware of torque. don't have a torque wrench. I counted the revolutions because the threading is the same since I am using the same Lug bolts to get an idea of how "deep" it would sink in compared to my original rim. get what I mean? I know it's crude, however, to get a "feel" of the bolts being long enough, it would suffice from the point it makes contact with the threading.
I am aware of wheel spacers... and I don't like them either... Too much stress on the Lug Bolts in my opinion. Although, it would most prob. quickly fix my issue...

[sidshock]

But to put the statement by the OP in context, he was talking about the length of the bolts, as in it takes 5 to 5.5 turns to get the bolt on snug as opposed to doing the final torque for tightness. The question was in relation to the thickness of his old rim versus the new rim, not the torque of the bolt.

correcto... exactly what I meant...
hence, not hitting m e-brake on the other side, etc...

[Spud72]

Did you read the part where the OP needs 16 or 17 inch rims and tried to install 15 inch and that they have the same bolt pattern? :confused:
And besides...clear the struts???? Huh :confused:
If you don't know what I mean, don't bother posting a reply. This is basic stuff. And don't crap on him for using smaller dia rims - that in itself is no problem and exceedingly common for people who put on winter tires.

To the OP:

Edit: Saw you got it figured out. Good for you.

[Pete_Coach]

If you don't know what I mean, don't bother posting a reply. This is basic stuff. And don't crap on him for using smaller dia rims - that in itself is no problem and exceedingly common for people who put on winter tires.

To the OP:

Edit: Saw you got it figured out. Good for you.

Excuse me, I was clearly defending the OP not criticizing him, it was your vague comment about the struts I questioned

[sidshock]

If you don't know what I mean, don't bother posting a reply. This is basic stuff. And don't crap on him for using smaller dia rims - that in itself is no problem and exceedingly common for people who put on winter tires.

To the OP:

Edit: Saw you got it figured out. Good for you.

Excuse me, I was clearly defending the OP not criticizing him, it was your vague comment about the struts I questioned


Don't worry about it guys, it was prob. an overlook and quick read fault.
It happens to all of us.
I appreciate you all trying to help me out, and Im glad I now know a LOT more about tires/rims when I buy next time.
It was my fault for not researching this properly before hand anyways!!!

[Narci]

Downsizing may infact be used by alot of people but you can't do it for every car.

I had a 1997 AMG C36 and it cannot be downsized to a 16. It's can't even use just any 17 inche rim. I put on an aftermarket set of rims with proper offset and diameter. The design of the rim (spokes) would not clear the caliper. Ended up buyiung a second set of AMG Mono II rims for winter.

A good place to check to see if you can downsize is to visit the tirerack.com and see what packages they offer.