Ok..........just come back from a blissful two weeks on holiday and find that the weather at home has taken a turn for the better, so I thought I'd whip off the winter alloys and swap back to the nice black 18" Neptune's.

(2012 VRS).

Well that was the plan!

Jacked up the car, took off the first winter wheel, located the correct Neptune in it's bag and tried to put it into place on the hub but it just won't sit there on it's own, seems to be catching on the beige plastic piece on the hub.

Soooooooo, I hold it there and try to pop one of the longer winter bolts through and pinch it up, but doing this the bolt is so tough to tighten.

I manage to pinch it up without threading it, and then drop the next one in and have the same issue. I get three pinched up a little, just enough to hold the wheel in place while I drop the last two into the holes.

But, I can't get any of them to do up without having to use a great deal of pressure. Is this right?

Not wanting to damage anything I undone them all and removed the wheel again.

I then put all the bolts in and done them all up without a wheel, and they were all fine.

I've now stuck the winter wheel back on, that dropped straight onto the hub, sat there on it's own, then had no issues doing the bolts up as normal.

Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks in advance

Did the winter alloys require spigot rings, if they did it could be those stuck on the hub

Cheers guy's. I'll take a look again later. I think the plastic piece is a spacer or spigot as suggested so will see if it comes off.

^ as he said.

Definately sounds like a spiggott ring from the winter wheels has stuck to the hub.

cool, was going to do them again this afternoon, but the jet lag has kicked in. will have a go after work tomorrow.

Hurrah, wheels changed, yes it was a spigot ring causing my issue, happy boy now!

just in time for the frost and snow this weekend - though probably not that far South admittedly

I usually put a light film of copperslip on the hubs and wheel bolts to make life easier in the future.

I use a torque wrench when changing mine over and use the same settings as I used on my Mark IV Golf and 8P A3 89lb/f or 120Nm.

The copperslip on the hub face helps to stop the alloy binding to the hub in the future, as always though be-careful and don't get it anywhere near the braking surface or pads.

I quite understand why people do it (I have done it myself in the past) but I hear some experts / authorities / manufacturers / handbooks specifically advising against using any form of grease or lubricant on the actual threads of the wheel screw / stud / nut (these are, after all, only steel-to-steel contact so should not normally need it).

It might be OK to use some kind of grease, lubricant or anti-seize compound on the flat face of the hub to prevent corrosion seizing an alloy wheel against a steel hub - what do the experts think?

Never caused me an issue - done it on my last three cars, never had any garage that serviced any of them mention it as a bad idea.