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If all else fails, you could get a wheel nut that will basically be scrapped and some grinding paste and bring them back to a smooth finish by hand lapping. It will be tedious, cost you a wheel nut, but will work. The dimensional change from the material you remove will be negligible. Good luck!
Originally Posted by 38D
this
Originally Posted by TPG
Can you polish the centers?
Originally Posted by jbatchelor
I think I'd do a bit of gentle lappng-in and then start to use them with periodic checks of tightening torque. We all know what a pain it is to check CL torques but I'd run them for 25 miles, then 50, then 100, then 500 (and so on) checking at each interval for evidence of loss of clamping torque. Maybe become more aggressive with the driving pattern, too.
With luck you will find that that the original torque is retained - happy days. If torque is lost with mileage or with drive cycle duty then you know you have no alternative than to replace.
James
I will give this idea a go. I have an extra set of CL's from my 997.2tt, so I will use one of those. I did a cursory search last night on lapping/polishing paste and there are various grits. Are there any recommendations on paster and/or grit?
yes. The mating surfaces between the hub/aluminum rotor core/wheel and center lock bolt are all compressed, that’s how it works. What happens if the mating surfaces have abrasions, dirt, etc they can’t be fully compressed. The wheel isn’t going to fall off, but when the wheel is loaded (ie you are turning left or right) you will get a clicking sound which may sound like a pebble in the rotor, or a card in bicycle spokes…
it’s fairly common in the center lock mechanism if you search for it.
again, I don’t think it’s going to be dangerous, but ymmv.
good luck, feel free to pm me if more info needed.
yes. The mating surfaces between the hub/aluminum rotor core/wheel and center lock bolt are all compressed, that’s how it works. What happens if the mating surfaces have abrasions, dirt, etc they can’t be fully compressed. The wheel isn’t going to fall off, but when the wheel is loaded (ie you are turning left or right) you will get a clicking sound which may sound like a pebble in the rotor, or a card in bicycle spokes…
it’s fairly common in the center lock mechanism if you search for it.
again, I don’t think it’s going to be dangerous, but ymmv.
good luck, feel free to pm me if more info needed.
I had this clicking sound, it confused the dealership at first but apparently there is a technical bulletin on this and it relates to the amount of paste used.
I had this clicking sound, it confused the dealership at first but apparently there is a technical bulletin on this and it relates to the amount of paste used.
correct.
it is paste but also cleaning any ‘micro abrasions’ on all mating surfaces.
Some excellent / intelligent responses in this thread. All I can add is a comment the shop foreman at Monterey Porsche told me when I asked him if they had ever not been able to loosen a CL nut and he told me that usually happens when there isn't enough paste applied and the wheel or nut surface gets scarfed up. So even with adequate paste I suppose a rough mating surface could cause the same problem?
Some excellent / intelligent responses in this thread. All I can add is a comment the shop foreman at Monterey Porsche told me when I asked him if they had ever not been able to loosen a CL nut and he told me that usually happens when there isn't enough paste applied and the wheel or nut surface gets scarfed up. So even with adequate paste I suppose a rough mating surface could cause the same problem?
Agreed, I'm thankful for this community! I spoke with the media blaster this morning. Instead of getting in a pissing match with him, I asked him for ideas. Part of me hoped he would offer to pay half for new wheels or something. He stated that the media he used was 1mil (micron?) and shouldn't be too difficult to "knock down" the rough surface. I will try the suggested method of smoothing out the surface if for nothing else curiosity. If it doesn't work out I will get new wheels.
Some excellent / intelligent responses in this thread. All I can add is a comment the shop foreman at Monterey Porsche told me when I asked him if they had ever not been able to loosen a CL nut and he told me that usually happens when there isn't enough paste applied and the wheel or nut surface gets scarfed up. So even with adequate paste I suppose a rough mating surface could cause the same problem?
Adequate paste is the key term, as too much is not good either. As part of my maintenance process I now disassemble and regreae the center lock nuts.
UPDATE: The sandblaster redid the mating surface using micro glass to "push down" the abrasions and then used 1500 grit sandpaper with WD-40. It is now very smooth and has that polished look with little or no material loss. Not perfect, but much better. I will be watching the torque very closely.
Just FYI: the local powder coater for wheels specifically says that he does not sand blast the wheels because it can damage the wheels. This is a guy who thinks powder coating is fine for wheels. However, when I speak with professional powder coating companies (aerospace grade), they say that they would not even powder coat wheels, because the heat can risk damage to the alloy. .. so there you go, on the risk spectrum.
(I personally decided against powder coating wheels after speaking with higher grade industry experts.)
Just FYI: the local powder coater for wheels specifically says that he does not sand blast the wheels because it can damage the wheels. This is a guy who thinks powder coating is fine for wheels. However, when I speak with professional powder coating companies (aerospace grade), they say that they would not even powder coat wheels, because the heat can risk damage to the alloy. .. so there you go, on the risk spectrum.
(I personally decided against powder coating wheels after speaking with higher grade industry experts.)
Good luck with that, depending on where you are. Nobody around here (Bay Area) will paint wheels. I've tried. Most places only powder coat because they aren't allowed (so they say) to paint due to environmental regulations. That makes no sense to me though because how they hell do paint shops function lol. You can get a bumper painted, but not a wheel???
Anyway... yeah powder coating OEM wheels is a big unknown.
04-15-2022, 09:39 AM
