Quote:
Originally Posted by DanielDudley
Old VW rims did not even have a wheel center. For these wheels, it isn't the shear strength of the bolts that holds the wheels in place but the friction of the wheel against the hubs created when torquing down the lug bolts. You need to cinch them up slowly and evenly to center the wheels.
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The wheels on old VWs and 356 Porsches are held in place by tapered lug nuts (Porsche - on the right) or tapered lug bolts (VW - on the left). Radial and axial positioning is done by the tapers on the bolt/nut against a matching taper on the wheel. So the bolt/lug hold the wheel in place through shear and also tension.
I tighten them carefully, in stages, in a cross pattern, but I don't recall that being a factory recommendation.