Sid

Hi,

The good thing about this list it that
we can learn from each other problems. Or
another way of saying "don't do what I
did, it was stupid."

I found a good way to dealing with frozen
wheels locks. (long)

A little history.

I just bought a 96 C4S. It had some nice
aftermarket rim (Kinesis K28's) on it. I
prefer the stock look and decided to put
back the orginal wheels. I took it to a local
tire shop to do the swap. They had the tools
for dealing with the 18" rims and lock profile
tires. As they started removing the wheels, they
find the two locks were stuck. They cracked the
key buy using just a extension on the wrench.
I then took it to the local porsche dealer. They
also broke their key. I ordered another and
tried again. This time I took it to local shop
that had experience dealing with stuck lugs.
They used to the key to remove one, but the
last one defied all trick that they had. They suggested drilling out the bolt. I decided to
talk to my regular (non porsche) mechanic and see what he thought. He took a circular hole saw and
cut the out the lug carefully. He then used a
fine pick to remove the rest of the remaining lug.
This was by far the least damanging method.
I was finally able to get the wheels off.

Lessons Learned

Never allow anyone to use a air tool to put
on/remove the lugs. Have them do it by hand
carefully. Make sure to watch if possible.

If you really don't need them, remove the locks.
The alloy is different than the regular lugs and
can really freeze to the bolts. Possibly an
electro-chemical reaction. (?)

I your keys breaks, don't force the issue. Your
just going to nick up the area around the bolt.

Don't order the keys though the dealer. Just
send you key to McGuard (they are on the web)
and they will send you a new key for free.

Have someone carefully cut the lug off. The
alloy if soft enough for this. Its the
safest way. Clean off the groves afterwards.
Recut if necessary. (They are 15mm 1.5 degree)

And Finally the most important lesson:

Have a good mechanic that you trust.

Sid

P.S. I've remove the wheels for sale on the
classifieds since I either going to have to
drop the price or have them cleaned up due
to a few nicks froms this process. All from
the orignal attemps, not the final solution.

STLPCA

Sid
Were the locks on your 993 oem Porsche? AFAIK, the Porsche wheel locks are made of the same aluminum as the standard lugs & weigh about the same - eliminating imbalance issues. They are not McGard & would be much easier to cut, drill, etc. than McGard's chrome plated hardened steel construction.

George Helser

An important point to observe with lug nuts and many other parts is to apply anti-seize compound before assembling the parts. The anti-seize compound will allow accurate tightening of the part and easy disassembly in the future.

Good luck!

Regards,
George
In sunny AZ

STLPCA

[quote]Originally posted by George Helser:
<strong>An important point to observe with lug nuts ... is to apply anti-seize compound before assembling the parts.</strong><hr></blockquote>

To clarify George's excellent hint: on the facing, not the threads.

Matt Vaughan

And let us not forget over-torquing the lugs!

Sid

Hey Dan,

There were the ones in your pic. I spoke
with the parts guy at the dealer and he
said that the oem were mcgard. Yes, they
were relatively easy to cut out. Just had
to be careful.

Sid

Ray Calvo

RE frozen wheel locks: dealt with that ages ago. Threw the wheel locks away and replaced them with OE lug nuts. Never heard of a Porsche wheel being stolen out here in Steeler country.

RE applying anti-seize: I have been using it on both nut contact surface and on threads for 25 years on 911s; never had a problem.

STLPCA

[quote]Originally posted by Ray Calvo:
<strong>RE applying anti-seize: I have been using it on both nut contact surface and on threads for 25 years on 911s; never had a problem.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Ray
I too have used anti-seize on wheel bolt/stud threads w/o problems in the past. I claim no expertise in this area. However, somewhere along the line I was informed by the "experts" that torque specs assume a dry thread & if lubed w/anti-seize the readings will be erroneous resulting in improper tightness. That point was reiterated by one of our resident experts, Steve W., just this past January:

[quote]Originally posted by Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems:
<strong>... Remember, do not use anti-seize on the wheel stud threads, only use it on the rounded shoulders of the lug nut that contacts the wheel. Less is more, too,....</strong><hr></blockquote>

Full thread:

<a href="http://forums.rennlist.com/scripts/rennforums/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=001806" target="_blank">Air wrench & torque stix </a>

Jeff96-993

The aerospace engineering community would agree with Ray....lube everything, faces and threads. This is the accepted practice and I expect the auto industry would be no different.

STLPCA

[quote]Originally posted by Jeff96-993:
<strong>The aerospace engineering community would agree with Ray....lube everything, faces and threads. This is the accepted practice and I expect the auto industry would be no different.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Jeff
I'm getting a bit confused by the conflicting opinions. Found the thread that got into this anti-seize on wheel studs question (near the thread's end). Steve W. seemed confident in his no anti-seize opinion.

<a href="http://forums.rennlist.com/forums/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=001316" target="_blank">Impact Wrench?? (lug nut torque thread) </a>

Ray Calvo

Hate to go against Steve Weiner, but I'm sticking with my experience. I have never stripper a lug nut. Have looked at the treads a few times on some, and have never seen any damage.

Note- I always use a torque wrench set at 92-94 lbs.

Now, spark plugs - that's another story!