5-pin wheel issues?

[DanEC]

Kevin - I had a minor problem fitting mine on the rear. The lugs will be too long and will have to be trimmed in length so they don't interfer with seating the threaded pins. It's not especially difficult but is a pain. I marked mine as best I could and used a cut off wheel trying to remove the minimum amount. Unfortunately I left one or two slightly too long and wasn't aware of it when I first torqued them. The hex head opening on the rear pins is slightly smaller in diameter than the threaded length and the lug tightens against the end of the pin if too long. Apparently the ground off end of the pin wasn't quite flat and that force levered the pin over just so ever slightly out of alignment.

I put the wheel on and pounded it with the palms of my hands to get it mostly seated with some effort and then tighten the spinner on it to pull it the rest of the way up. OK - until I tried to take it off - man, it was stuck, and it was all lubed up with anti-sieze. I yanked and pulled and beat on the back side with a rubber mallet for an hour or more before it started to move and I finally wiggled and pulled it off.

I kind of realized what happened so I got my calipers out and started measuring the length of the lugs and found a couple slightly longer than the others. I ground them off and then carefully finished all of them off with a grinder to make sure they were flat and tried again. Now the wheel just slides on and off with ease.

On the other wheel I carefully measured from the start and double checked the length with caliper before trying the wheel - no problems. The front lugs work fine with the pins.

Kind of a long response but yes, there could be a problem if not careful.

Dan

PS - if by chance you are having ERA source the wheels and tires I guess they will take care of this for you.

[kevins2]

Originally Posted by DanEC

PS - if by chance you are having ERA source the wheels and tires I guess they will take care of this for you.

Thanks Dan, that's my issue. I got my information directly from Doug who, as you know, assembles their turn-keys. He told me he has issues with EVERY car with 5 pins and the best he could remember was one car where he only had to twiddle with one wheel. Since I'm assembling the front-end myself, he said there is no way they will know there's a problem because it doesn't become apparent until all the pieces are put together and the 5 pin adapter is put on. The most bothersome part was he said sometimes after drilling and milling to fit, he has to index the wheel. In that case, he punch stamps the wheel so it can be placed back on in the identical position each time.

I don't want to spend the extra money, but don't want that kind of hassle either.

KGS - I believe ERA assembled your car if I remember correctly so Doug knows how to take care of this. It's just not something I want to mess with once I have the car home. They'll be putting in the rear so I'm only assembling the front-end. Still looking for more input from guys that assembled their own with 5-pins and whether they had the problem descripbed above. Maybe Bob will read this also and weigh in...

Thanks.

Regards,

Kevin