First Form Wheels from Bognor Motors

[The Van Cave]

My OEM bolts went in/on no problem with Navis Twin 5, they seem a lot more substantial than the 17 bolts that came with them.

A lot of aftermarket wheels, including Navis, are supplied with replacement bolts because the bolt seat is not the same as OEM wheels.

OEM VW wheels use radius seat bolts, most aftermarket wheels use 60 degree tapered seat bolts. The two should never be mixed and matched. If using the wrong ones you only have a tiny percentage of the seat actually in contact with the wheel.

I have seen bolts undo themselves almost completely and wheels close to falling off when the incorrect bolt has been used. I would be getting those OEM bolts out and putting the supplied ones in as soon as possible.

I have to apologise for an error.

I’ve just checked with Navis HQ and they inform me that Navis wheels are all radius seat, so OEM bolts will be fine.

Sorry for any confusion.

My statement was correct for most aftermarket alloy wheels, but worth checking with the supplier or manufacturer when ordering to be sure.

 

[Shaun Witts]

I encountered a similar problem on my old Toyota fitted with winter tyres on separate alloys. I should have known. After all, I bought the new alloys & winter tyres myself, and fitted them with the supplied bolts, and then I’ve been changing them every 6 months for the originals during the summer. So I knew damn well that the bolts used for the winters were a different size to the OEM wheels. However, it never occurred to me until I had a non-repairable puncture on the M5 and found that I couldn’t use the OEM wrench to remove the winter wheel and fit the space-saver spare. I even had spare OEM bolts in the car! Doh! So I sympathise with the OP, its an easy mistake to make.

My van has 1Form wheels (are they the same as First Form?) and the recess for the bolt is so slim that I can’t use any of those “special” wheel bolt sockets, with the protective plastic on them. I had to wrap some tape around a 17mm impact socket instead and even that is a tight fit.