Just a little reminder about the basics of lug safety....... I have an off topic car that's had a curious issue with losing wheel torque. I've fucked around with the lugs and taken it all apart for inspection and generally scratched my head while keeping a super close eye on it. Well that car spit a wheel out this weekend and fucked itself up pretty good. Because my dumbass did not obey my own advice or follow common sense and replace the "new" studs. After seeing how all 5 sheared flush I'm convinced the loosening was stud stretch and not the wheel working the lug loose. But the newness made me rule them out. Moral of this story.......stick to the basics and don't out-think yourself. Let the evidence point you in the right direction without the burden of "but it's new" ruling the decision. Powershift safely guys
good points, last week on the way to the roundup in austin, a guys truck was feeling crappy, took off the hubcaps to find one wheel had 1 lug on and another had only 2 left on. Its amazing he didnt toss a wheel. one lug on the stud only! go figure, if it would have been me, I would lose 1 lug and the other 4 would break off
Make sure you have the correct lugnuts there are many combos that look like they are correct but are not. They will loosen up because they do not seat to the wheel correctly
Can you tell us a bit more about the "new" studs? Are they aftermarket hot rod stuff, aftermarket stock replacement, OEM, or what? If there's a problem with some specific type of new parts, maybe we should know about it.
Stock replacement studs which in hindsight were completely appropriate for the car the day they went in, but totally inappropriate for today's setup. Since somebody asked it's an L-ca-mee-no. Seriously, my O/T quarter panel died so that your traditional fender can live. Read the symptoms better than I did!
I posted a thread related to this subject recently - 'Check your nuts!!!!'. I had reluctantly fitted some wheel adapters - the alternative would have been to re-engineer the entire rear suspension - and when I tried to use shank type 7/16-20 mag lugnuts, I found that the 5 on 4 3/4" pattern adapter spacers had metric studs. No instructions inside or warnings on the box. The metric 12-1.50 threads are really close to the 7/16-20 used on GM vehicles - but use a torque wrench and they will not torque down to 100ft./lbs. - it feels as if you have a stripped thread. The moral of this tale is: check your thread pattern and mistrust offshore products as a matter of basic principle.
Are these new Chinese parts? Or from a reputable parts source? I know it's hard to say anymore. I've had good luck with NAPA fasteners and Fastenal products, but I know that neither claim 100% American content.
Reputable source but even though their life was short, it wasn't easy. I had plenty of warning and can't blame the manufacturer. Somebody who's been doing this more than a year or two should've recognized the symptoms or at least given more weight to the severity. I don't want to make this a made in the USA rant or veer too far into off topicness. I just wanted to bring it up because we all get lured into troubleshooting traps from time to time. And the best way to avoid em is to keep an open mind.
huh..... Although I'd sooner run 40 year old original studs, than new "replacements". I think either we've forgotten how to make steel, or those guys on the other side of the world never learned.
Whenever possible I use ARP wheel studs - a few $ more, but I value my life and will replace those on the adapters with quality 7/16-20 studs.
I have been joking that whatever they use on the space shuttle is what I'll be using. But the ride was scary enough that it's getting ARPs at a minimum, the real question is will I step up to half inch?
I'm glad you weren't hurt, been there done that more than once! I definitely give a +1 to the ARP studs, better safe than doing that crap again. On the plus side, you got a free heart stress test...
Saw an S10 with this same thing the other day. Shredded 1/4, truck sitting on wheel, laying sideways under the rear bumper!
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