[s-cars] Stripped wheel bolt

[Tom Green]

Somehow I just knew the "wheelman" did more than bike wheels and would  
be totally involved in this wheel mounting process.  : )

I like the wheel bolts on the wife's A4 that have the captive "washer"  
that the bolt seat rotates on rather than steel on aluminum alloy  
galling the seat.  I would expect that it results in a much more  
accurate torque value also if the bolt threads are kept clean.

I think that old practice of just grabbing some rusty wheel bolts or  
nuts from a pile is a thing of the past, and we won't have to deal  
with any of those "undertorqued, overtorqued, no longer stretching  
bolts".  I think those tire shops that have the practice of "if I  
tighten these bolts/nuts tight enough, she'll have to call me to  
change a flat tire" have found they all have AAA anyway.   Most on  
this list recognize that the aging UrS vehicles require extra care  
even for the routine items.

Tom '95 S6
          '95.5 S6 avant
Knoxville, TN

On Monday March 27, 2012, at 11:45 PM, Lee Levitt <lee at wheelman.com>   
wrote:

> Folks,
>
> I've ordered a tap and noted the instructions to go slowly and use  
> cutting oil.
>
> I also have new bolts on the way.
>
> If the tap doesn't clean up the threads, I will not try any further  
> repairs to the hub. It will be a R&R. :)
>
> By the way, I have a suspicion that a set of ECS bolts caused the  
> problem. Never had an issue until I installed ECS bolts on the A4  
> and my C5 A6. Both subsequently have had this issue...and I do  
> almost all of my own wheel mounting, with torque sticks and a proper  
> torque wrench.
>
> Best,
>
> Lee