New GT3 owner with question about CL wheels
 

I traded my 991 C2S for a 991 GT3 a few weeks ago, and just took it to the track (Laguna Seca) this past Friday. What an amazing car! Second session out while still getting used to the car I already hit a new personal best laptime of 1:41 there, and I know I have at least 2-3 seconds left in me, but then I failed sound and had to start backing off a bit.

Today, I tried pulling the wheels off to inspect brakes & other components and do routine inspection/maintenance planning for track use. I had ordered a 40" breaker & torque wrench combo, and have all the other supplies I need (I think), however I just could not get the center lock to budge. Here are the steps I followed:

1. used a spreader clamp to keep the brake pedal firmly down
2. jack the corner I'm working on up in the air (unfortunately, my quick jack system is leaking and I haven't yet filed warranty claim, so had to fall back to floor jack & stand)
3. Use the little tool that comes with the car to pop the cap off
4. Fit the wrench head to the breaker bar (vs the torque wrench) and use the special socket that comes with the car
5. pushed it in on the wheel until I heard it "click" into place. In theory this should have released the locking mechanism?
6. tried applying A LOT of force (in upward pull motion) to try and loosen the CL. I even had to ask my wife to hold the steering wheel because the wheels would start to move side to side.
7. could not get them to move. tried another wheel. Same story

I feel like maybe the locking mechanism didn't release fully? Otherwise they shouldn't be this tough with a 40" breaker, right? I verified the locking mechanism had popped back to the locked position (flush with the teeth) before putting the caps back on and calling it quits for the day.

Any advice or suggestions? Anything obvious I'm missing? Thanks!

Dear God! So happy for my lug nuts!

Pull harder, and try the rears first before you mess around with the fronts that want to steer. :) I use a breaker bar around 48" to loosen them and they never seem THAT tight...

They were too much for me to mess w/ on my cars and I gave in to using my indy for stuff like you're doing. Whatever benefit the CL's provide (and that's dubious to me) is far outweighed by their inconvenience.

Hopefully the previous owner applied a sufficient amount of the Castrol anti-seize paste. If not, it is really difficult to remove but doable with more force.

CLs are no big deal once you have done it a couple times and have a system in place. You also personally know it is properly inspected, greased, and installed.

Once the tool is inserted, the CL should be released. Good luck!

The center of the nut should be free and bounce up and down the spring with finger pressure. Make sure that is the case or the nut is locked and you won't be able to move it. They can sometimes get stuck and need to be hammered in to release. If it is free, then you just need more leverage. It requires enough force where someone must be holding the steering wheel and brakes powered on with the front wheels

they are not that hard to take off, perhaps they were over torque'd when last put on? as you track the car perhaps take to the dealer to check out this time, but after that its relatively simple, if annoying, process.

First you need a 48" torque wrench to apply the pressure needed to release the nut.
If you have a Precison Instruments torque wrench use it but make sure the handle is in the proper orientation "Clockwise or Counter Clockwise"
If needed start the car and use the power brakes to hold the wheel from turning.
As Orthojoe stated start with a rear wheel.
When you get the wheel off make sure you clean off the Optimally paste from the nut and wheel center(use WD-40 as a solvent)
Re Apply Optimally paste to both nut mating surface as well as wheel.
Re torque to 442 foot pounds.
Centerlocks are easy you just need to do it once.
PM me with questions.

I purchased a 6:1 torque multiplier. I could get the wheels off with a 20" breaker bar. Made my life easy. Only required about 73 ft/lb to torque the wheels. Now it makes a nice paper weight on my tool bench. No CLs on the GT4;) Not cheap but it was worth it.
https://www.grainger.com/product/PRO..._vc=IDPPLARECS

Does anyone use impact drills to remove CLs? the newer cordless / brushless ones are pretty freaking strong. I have a heavy duty dewalt 1/2 one but also found the compact 1/4 brushess will work as well for lugs.

I don't have the "pleasure" of owning a CL car, just curious.

This is not something you want to do with the street CL. The motorsports ones......sure.

Would make life so much nicer, if possible! I watched a guy with a Cup do this on Friday with a cordless (and the built-in air jacks) and it made me Soooo jealous. Was so simple...

Not allowed on the street cars - maximum suffering is part of the design brief...

I picked up a GT3 about 2 weeks ago and had the same exact experience the first time I took them off. I used the precision instruments breaker bar and could have used another foot or two worth of leverage.

It took everything I had the break them loose the first time. When I took the wheels off again a week later they came off much more easily. I think they were over torqued when I got it.

If you find a longer breaker bar, or a strong friend to help, you should be all right.

One other thing to remember, when you put the wheels back on, if the lock mechanism is not flush after torquing, use a 1/2" socket extension to gently rotate the lock mechanism Clockwise and Counter Clockwise until it pops out. I had to do this to a couple of my wheels.