Ahhh Whiskey, Gin and Brandy...

[2002MK4]

...with a jack I ain't so handy. So having 2 sets of summer and winter rims I thought to myself...I don't need a mechanic to fleece me out of $40...I will just change to summers myself right here in my driveway using the jack and wrench VW provides under the trunk...besides...what could go wrong??? Well. Now I have this ungodly droan frommy wheels at any speed above 50 and a very loud clicking sound at speeds below 50. ANY GUEESES? I did have to give the wheels a few goos solid kicks to crack the winters off...but don't wheels take all kinds of abuse from our nation's glorious pothole ladden roads??? Anyway I hope someone can help. OH and I just have the standard VW alloys...believe they're called AVUS rims as my summers.

 

[j_martell]

if "scarborough" means scaborough ontario, you've jumped the gun on the snows.....

as to the problems, did you have the car on the ground when breaking the lugs free?

 

[2002MK4]

Hey j martell...ya actually I did. Well let me clarify ...for the three wheels whose nuts I could not crack in the air...the car was on the ground when I cracked them. The one wheel whose nuts I did manage to crack in the air is not making noise. (Please tell me this is not bad news).

 

[2002MK4]

J martell your silence is worrying me! And yes Scarborough as in gimme your wallet. ..lol...

 

[jetlagmech]

are your tires directional specific? an arrow on the sidewall showing direction of rotation. You didn't say anything about vibration but I would still probably jack car, break lug bolts loose, shake rim and retighten. the ticking sound maybe just a rock in the tread? trying to send good vibes to you for something simple and easy.

reminds me of when my son first helped change snow tires on car, the wheel he did by himself he put the lug-nuts on backwards. vibrated like a son-of-a-gun on my drive to work.

 

[j_martell]

the clicking makes me wonder if you did damage to the cvs trying to crack the lugs while the car was in the air.....just thinking out loud here....

 

[2002MK4]

I always thought tires were directional but I examined them closely and couldn't find any arrows on the sidewall. Should I remount with the wheels in the air???

 

[j_martell]

Most all seasons are bi-directional, at least the ones I've come across. Lots of snows are directional. Could just be you disturbed something when remounting the tires. It might be worth taking them off and remounting them in different positions to see if the noises continue.

 

[2002MK4]

That's the plan for this evening's festivities. But I cannot believe just swapping wheels would create such a fuss. My tires that are mounted on the standard AVUS Jetta rims are your garden variety Michelin MX4s. Unless I'm totally out to lunch I didn't notice an arrow indicating tire direction though I will inspect much much more closely. The clicking sound on the right rear wheel though worries me more. Much more. Could it be that when I removed the winter rim it bumped into something on the brake assembly, which got bent, and now clicks, click, clicks all the way home?

 

[sdeck]

That's the plan for this evening's festivities. But I cannot believe just swapping wheels would create such a fuss. My tires that are mounted on the standard AVUS Jetta rims are your garden variety Michelin MX4s. Unless I'm totally out to lunch I didn't notice an arrow indicating tire direction though I will inspect much much more closely. The clicking sound on the right rear wheel though worries me more. Much more. Could it be that when I removed the winter rim it bumped into something on the brake assembly, which got bent, and now clicks, click, clicks all the way home?

Could be. I had a bent e-brake cable that was clicking on the inside of the the rim of a Cutlass Ciera I used to have.

Also, the clearance between the caliper and the rim is different front to back. If the idiots that balanced the tires were stacking weights instead of removing them, they may be hitting the caliper. Happened on my '03 Jetta.

 

[2002MK4]

Sdeck thanks I think you might be right. I had stupidly thought to put the tires with more tread up front notrrealizing that with two sets of rims I hav not been rotating the tires across the rims themselves.