Aluminum wheel troubles

Kunker

Kunker

Administrator
Club Member
The brakes on the Jetta were shaking pretty bad, so I had to replace the front rotors on the weekend. I pop off the passenger wheel and when I look at the hub, it appears that someone welded the rotor to the hub at first glance. As I take a closer look, I realize that the wheel has rusted and left a ton of material on the hub. Pics of the wheel:

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A

alphawerks

Member
Hey Klunker,
I run vw's for over 20 years now, and that's how they make the wheels with a large chamfer in the middle. I helps in mounting the wheel without it getting caught. All the vw alloya I have seen have this feature. If the wheel was that corroded you would have to have taken the wheel off with a sledge hammer and bent the rim of the wheel. (ask me how I know) All you will need to do is clean up the wheel and hub with a wire brush of some emry cloth and it'll be fine. I might suggest some anti seize of grease when you remount the wheels.
As to the shaking wheels, check for gravel and road grim layered inside of the rim. Some Vw rims are notorious for this and this will have a significant effect on the wheel's balance.
Hope this helps!

Ryan
 
Kunker

Kunker

Administrator
Club Member
Kunker, not clunker :flipoff:

No, the other rims don't have that chamfer, and yes, I did have to remove the wheels with a bfh. Was very close to taking a spin around the block with the lug bolts loose. And for the shimmy, it was definitely the rotor as I could feel the pedal pulsating as well, and is completely gone with the new rotors.
 
Mlorint

Mlorint

Well-known member
just grind the rims and hubs, you can use some fluid film to slow it down. This can cause your wheel nuts to loosen off if its not removed.
 
Kunker

Kunker

Administrator
Club Member
Cool - cleaned up the hub to get the new rotor on, didn't clean up the rim too much though. I'll pull it this weekend (probably all of them, actually) and clean it up. Found it weird as I had used anti-seize last go around to prevent the hammering to get the rims off.
 
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