So, long ago (this past winter) I found online a set of Ronal R-9's that were meant to be on a W123. Four of the same, okay condition for their age, 7J x 16 H2 ET23 with what I thought to be a 5x112 bolt pattern. Got them in the mail, no problems at all. I slapped one on in my freezing garage, no tire, and all seemed fine to me. I bought tires for them to get ready for the summer. I figured out what lug bolts I needed (conical 12mm x 1.5 with 17mm of thread sticking out of the back) and bought those too. Had to cut and grind the ones I got in the mail to equal 17mm out the back. Warmed up a bit and took it all down to my Indy to have them put on, balanced, and mounted. They balanced fine but when he went to put them on, something seemed wrong to him.

It was somewhat awkward to put them on, he said he felt like something was "off." He moved the one he was putting on the back to the front, and then pointed out that two of the rims had "KBA40793" on the front of the rim, and two did not (I've since taken a closer look and it appears that two of them have been refurbished and have the slight markings of something that used to be there). He put the two with markings on the front, and the other two in back. He said it seemed weird to him but knew that I was happy to have them on and laughed at me and told me to see how it felt and come back with any problems. And there were problems.

At 45mph there was vibration and shaking, felt mostly through the steering column. At 60mph and up, the vibration and shaking came back and got worse the faster I went. Not enough to chatter teeth, but enough. I got home and did some research and the best I could figure was that I had been swindled into buying 5x114.3mm wheels instead, made for AMC's, Fords, Plymouths, etc. While figuring this out, I came across Variable PCD, or Wobble Bolts to fix this problem. Google them to find out more, but they basically have a moveable collar, the conical part, that shifts up to 2.8mm to then tighten in the right spot while filling the wheel hole in the right way as well. Bought these and put them on the front of the car, figuring they'd fix it or not hurt it. Made things a lot better. Cut the rest down to 17mm protrusion, and put them on the back of the car. Much worse. Took the whole lot of bolts, wheels, and tires, to a cruddy little local tire shop, told them my story, and asked them their opinion. Had to sign a waiver too. They re-balanced the tires, put everything back on the car with the Wobble Bolts, and told me it was better, but not perfect, and told me that it wasn't good and I should consider not using them. Drove home and they were WAY worse. Immediately put my boring old bunts on with winter studded tires, and have been scratching my head ever since.

So, now I have four wheels all marked:
Ronal R-9
KBA40793 (just two but the other two have remnants)
7Jx16 H2 ET23
Made in Germany
6723 086 (with the 086 circled)

I have good Michelin 205/55/R16's on them, that seemed to balance fine, twice.

Conical, correct length lug bolts, 12x1.5 threads and the same in wobble bolts.

What could possibly be going wrong here? I really want these to work. Putting them on by hand has been somewhat difficult only in that they are kind of awkward to screw in when you are holding them up to the car. Do I need some kind of hub spacer? Are they hub centric? What am I doing wrong and how can I fix it??? Any input and help is very appreciated!!!

And please, please, please don't move my thread to the wheel and tire section, threads go there to die and the experts are all hanging out in the diesel discussion. Diesel fuel! Woo!

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1985 300D - 1984 Euro 280E AMG Clone (SOLD) - 1978 280CE (SOLD) - 1983 300D (SOLD) - 1981 300D (SOLD)

Who wouldn't want these to work??? Check them out!

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1985 300D - 1984 Euro 280E AMG Clone (SOLD) - 1978 280CE (SOLD) - 1983 300D (SOLD) - 1981 300D (SOLD)

sounds like you got a set off of a BMW. maybe one of the beemer forums can help you sell them to recover some money.

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1982 300CD Turbo (Otis, "ups & downs") parts for sale
2003 TJ with Hemi (to go anywhere, quickly) sold
2001 Excursion Powerstroke (to go dependably)
1970 Mustang 428SCJ (to go fast)
1962 Corvette LS1 (to go in style)
2001 Schwinn Grape Krate 10spd (if all else fails)

BMWs are 5x120, so I don't think they would be even close to fitting.

Are these tires new? If not maybe they are out of round. Something is not adding up here...

Edit: If these wheels are indeed for another type of car the center hole is probably the wrong size. This hole centers the wheel and actually takes the load from the wheel (not the lug bolts) If it is too large for the car the wheels are probably sitting on the hub off center and this is what is causing the vibrations.

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

Ronals were also made in 5X114.3 that could be the issue.

The rims themselves could be bent, or the offset could have been changed.

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1984 Euro 300SDC, (4spd standard)
1986 Toyota Landcruiser Diesel HJ60 5spd X2

Gone but not forgotten (some sold, some stripped)
1983 300 SD, 1985 300 SD, 1983 240D, 1986 300 SDL, 1985 300 SDL, 1983 300 D, 1984 300 D, 1985 300SD, 1987 300 SDL, 1983 300 SD, 1985 300 TD Euro, 1983 380SEC, 1990 300 D, 1987 300D, 1982 300D, 1982 300D, 1994 E420, 1987 300 TD, 1987 300 D, 1984 300 D

I like your thinking bgkast.... so Mercedes are hub centric and if the Ronals were made for a 114.3mm bolt pattern car, chances are the wheels are either not hub centric or are hub centric for another car all together...

Enter the "Hub Centric Ring." Check these out: http://www.1010tires.com/hubrings.asp

So I'm thinking this is a possibility, and cheap enough to try... This would be the only thing that makes sense if they are different, as the Wobble Bolts should have done the trick if bolt pattern was the only issue. Centrifical force vs. weight is throwing them off with every rotation....

Anyone happen to know the measurement of the diameter of the W123 hub? Or a good way to accurately measure this? Anyone else have this problem with Ronals? I guess if you buy the right bolt pattern to begin with, you don't have problems like this.....

Thanks for the help everyone, the Ronals aren't dead yet!!!

Any more ideas out there?

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1985 300D - 1984 Euro 280E AMG Clone (SOLD) - 1978 280CE (SOLD) - 1983 300D (SOLD) - 1981 300D (SOLD)

Pull a wheel off you car and measure it with some calipers.

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

at least you waited to move it until after i got some answers. that was nice of you. now it'll just rot here. why the bureaucratic protocol, everyone knows threads die here, those who are in the diesel discussion know the W123 better than anyone who goes to the wheels and tires forum.

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1985 300D - 1984 Euro 280E AMG Clone (SOLD) - 1978 280CE (SOLD) - 1983 300D (SOLD) - 1981 300D (SOLD)

Some of us get bored and scan through the other posts, so I wouldn't call it dead.

ID of the hubcentric rings for mercedes is 66.56mm
You will need to know the id of the wheel to get the right rings too. If your wheels are not hubcentric or not tight fitting, it will wobble and shake like crazy. My last set of wheels didn't have the correct rings, it was a PITA to get them on centered with no wobble.

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81 300SD daily driver/project
86 420SEL (sold)
85 380SE(in the graveyard)

I have not used non hub centric wheels on my MB,but have used them on mazda miata's
I read somewhere that on a 4 lug wheel the lug nuts provide over 6000 lbs of clamping force.It seems almost impossible the wheel can move when clamped that tight.
I bet you have a 5X114 wheel.They are a LOT more common than the 5X112 the Mercedes requires.

I have a similar issue on the 126, I have non hub centric spacers all around, and get a shake too, I'll look into those wobble bolts, never heard of 'em before, thanks for the tip.

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83 SD

84 CD

I've never heard of "wobble bolts" before. Are they eccentric or something?

Sorry to hear about your trials and tribulations. Those are great-looking wheels.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

Hub centric rings are the answer to your problem right now. You have done everything else. you need to make sure that each wheel is centered on the hub tightly before you tighten the lugs. because the hub bore is bigger and you are using wobble bolts, there is no sure fire way to center the wheel on the hub, except for a good set of hub centric rings. Make sure its a proper fit with no slack.

No the post ain't dead yet. Which wheels appear to be the wrong size, two or all four? I'm heading out on a 300 mile journey to pick up a set and I'd sure hate to get worked over like you have. I'm picking up a set supposedly never mounted 16x7 23 ET. 300 miles $300 a set

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1984 280SEL, 62,000 miles
Euro model in the USA
1983 300D (Totaled out 10/2004)
New Factory Mint Green paint
Palomino int
1982 240D (Steak dinner for two)

maybe i spoke too soon on this dead thread, wheels thing....

which car are you putting them on? they are direct replacements for the W123, as long as the bolt pattern is 5x112mm. you should really find out more before your drive as you could be going to pick up wheels that wouldn't even work with wobble bolts, then you'd have to buy very expensive adapters that aren't good for your bearings and would throw off your offset and might induce wobble. i lucked out with mine as they are close enough to bolt up even without the wobble bolts, they just didn't work out right when driving.

i used some calipers to measure the Ronal diameter and ordered hub centric rings as the Ronals were a couple sizes bigger than the W123 hubs. i'll slap those on and try them out with the regular lug bolts and if that doesn't work i'll put in the wobbles and that should do it. if these were any bigger, say for a BMW (which could be true of yours, FineOlBenz), none of this would have worked and i'd be on some BMW site trying to pawn them off. As far as two sizes of Ronals, i no longer think that was the problem. two of them must have just bolted up straighter by chance. i'd be suspicious of anyone saying they were "never mounted" as that's a get out of jail free card for someone trying to sell a set they know are not the right size for your car. "how was i supposed to know they wouldn't fit, i never mounted them. your problem now."

and i see you've checked out my lug bolt thread so you know what you need to make Ronals work on Benz's. make sure you thank bgkast for that .

Dee8go, i believe the wobble bolts are a newish thing, and some people are wary of them. i talked to a couple of mechanics and they think they're great and should work fine, but i learned they only work if you're hub centric to start with, THEN move up or down one thread pattern.

so, as far as getting worked over, with the knowledge you've got from my fckup, you'll be all set!

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1985 300D - 1984 Euro 280E AMG Clone (SOLD) - 1978 280CE (SOLD) - 1983 300D (SOLD) - 1981 300D (SOLD)