orthojoe

Can someone explain to me how they took off the front wheels without having someone sit in the car, fire it up, and hold the steering wheel and brakes while someone uses the gargantuan breaker bar and centerlock tool?

tonymission

Looking at your avatar, I have more and more questions... lol
I finally have this down to a science without breaking my back, but I can't imagine this wasn't a very well thought out and orchestrated plan by people who knew exactly what they're doing. Just doesn't make any sense to me at all.

orthojoe

Lol! I put a lot of trust in my buddy who was holding the brakes and the steering wheel

I think you are right. Insurance scam sounds likely. This is what happens when someone thinks buying an RS is 'money in the bank' and things don't turn out their way.

neanicu

That is because you are looking at things from the owner's perspective. The owner doesn't want to mess up the fins and paint on his CL nut. I have an impact with so much power,it will spin the wheel with the nut. LOL.

orthojoe

That is the problem, though. You can't get the nut off unless someone is on powered brakes because the torque required to loosen it will spin the wheels even if the car is on the ground.

neanicu

That nut requires 440 FT/LBS of torque to loosen. The wheel will spin from applying it with a breaker bar. My gun has 780 FT/LBS of loosening torque,which gets applied directly to the nut without rotational force. You would basically have to hold one hand on the tire while using the gun with the other. Plus,you don't know...they might've have loosened the CLs while the car was still on the ground...

Kobalt

Maybe they just switched plates to "import" it to Germany.


Strange story.

orthojoe

You can't loosen the CL with the car on the ground. The wheels will spin. Be glad you don't have any experience with these wheels. They are a royal pain in the ***.

Mechanicalrepair

My workshop air gun will remove centre locks with ease, the centre lock won't look pretty afterwards though, how do you think the race teams get them off and on?

Carl

neanicu

Exactly!

Mussl Kar

My bad. They need to let the car down on something so they can take their jack back with them.

ipse dixit

I think the owner is just corner balancing his RS

orthojoe

1). The race center locks and street center locks have nothing in common

2). The race teams have a driver IN the car who can hold the brakes! Lol

Anyway, I concede it is possible with the right tools.

TRAKCAR

Reads like a Nigerian scam..