Converting wheel bolts to studs and nuts

Just looking at the Feb 2003 issue of Volkswagen Driver magazine & they used studs from Grayston Engineering
which they fitted to the project Mk4 1.8T using the double nut method & nutlock

They mention that they had trouble finding the correct sized nuts that have the correct rounded shoulder to fit correctly on the wheel too - something to bear in mind
Edited by: Mikey

 

Do I recall you use splined ones though? ie front hub flanges had to be removed + machining rear drum inside faces flat?

 

"Plated to resist corrosion. Rolled threads, "speed nose", Hardened steel, made in Germany. These studs are a work of art! Expensive, but these racing studs are rare and very well machined. Sold individually"

$18.50 x 20= kin hell $370 just for the studs. anyone know how much they are from Graysons??? if not i'll ring in the morning
Edited by: motorhead

 

I was looking at the others Daz, not the VW racing studs

 

Rolled threads are definetley a better option.

 

mine are M14.... those are the only ones they list

been thinking about fitting studs for a while, as you say its a pain........may just keep feeling for the holes
Edited by: motorhead

 

rallynuts.com list some studs but no pic so I dont know if they have a shoulder in the thread

 

Yes - Grayston bits again. Part number gives it away

Doubt it'll have a shoulder..

 

silly question but how do you screw them in tight

 

from Grayston, pics not clear but the threads look to stop so far up but not sure if it's a shoulder or if it's wasted ??? you seen then before Chris??

 

The threads stop, but there's no raised bit to stop them absolutely firm against the hub. They do stop, although some wind through (as Gary found). If there's any slack in them, there's a risk of snapping them on wind up (which I have done once).

Just to be clear, they do work, but there's always something slightly bodgy about them: Loctiting them to fit, then they come loose on heat cycles (as RobT mentioned) or loose from spinning wheel guns etc.

I used to have them on the Jetta, everyone I know who has studs apart from Nick (Dogwood) uses them.

It's just that if you go to the race paddock, you find some good stuff, some with the first few threads missing so that you can just buzz them straight on with the wheel gun (as opposed to cross threading).

I spent an afternoon asking people in the paddock a couple of years ago where they got the pukka ones from and all I heard was that they were either made by an engineering co to order, or something about Porsche studs (which was a one off comment I think).

 

According to the magazine article they paid 51p each for the M14 x 1.5 50mm long studs (SS28) from Grayston
Note these are the sizes generally used on 5 bolt cars. The 4 bolt versions are M12 x 1.5

 

One of these chaps do the job nicely and if any damage is done to thread it would be at the part which is in the wheel which nut will not screw down to.

 

Surely not that difficult to get made to order??

 

Agreed - I spoke to a couple of fastener people at autosport inters this year - mainly about getting some high quality flywheel bolts made - no problem they said, send us one or a drawing and we can cost it up - if there was sufficient interest then it would perhaps be viable - how long would folk want ?

Rob

 

60 mm and 80 mm from recollection...

Will check.

 

Might be stating the obvious here, but PM and ask Dave2227, he might be able to help ya out

 

Chris you are spot on, the Techno2 one's are splined. Like you say, flanges off and a bit of machining. I think 16 studs plus motorsport spec (they do bling ones as well) alloy nuts came to about 125 with discount. With a new pair of front bearings and the machining the job cost about 200 quid. Someone give me a slap.

 

Nick, there was a sharp intake of breath when you mentioned it at the time!

 

Just an update: apparently Skip Brown (Peugeot specialists) sell pukka studs, but price reflects this: 3 per stud etc. No idea where they get them from...