Track forum general chit chat.

[dogbone]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

does it tighten up like a drill chuck? do you only use it for removal, or will it work for installation, too?

Only for removal. Yes, it tightens down on the threads like a drill chuck, so don't expect to reuse the stud once it has been pulled.

Once the stud has been pulled, the tool is really tight on the stud. You need a big wrench to hold the outer shell in place while you spin it the other way to untighten the tool off the stud. No big deal. Once you get your groove down, you can pull all 20 studs in just a few minutes.

[roastbeef]

gotcha. i picked one up just for the convenience of having it for a possible paddock repair. i bring spares and i have always though i would just wing a double nut repair, but this just makes it easier. thanks!

[okusa]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

does it tighten up like a drill chuck? do you only use it for removal, or will it work for installation, too?

Yes it tightens right up but only used for extraction as it mangles the stud. For install you need to double nut.

[M3 Number 86]

Originally Posted by macdude357

Had fun with my wheel studs this weekend. They are about a year old so I decided to replace them. I had bought the bullet nose style so I needed to use the double-nut method to get them off. After heating one up using a propane torch, I realized that I would never get the stud hot enough with the rotor still in place since that acts like a huge heat sink. So off come the caliper and rotor. After that it was pretty easy to heat them up and get them off (in fact, it's a bit scary how easy they came out after heating them up).

Since it took so long to do just the one corner, I decided to work on the rest another day; however, since I had the car jacked up, I figured I would test fit one of my new wheels (18x10.5 Titan 7 with R888R) on the front (I had changed studs on the rear). Pulled my street wheel off, put on the new wheel, lowered the jack and checked clearances and everything looked fine. Jacked it back up, put the street wheel back on and while I was torquing it down, "snap" goes one of the studs. Trying to drill the stud with my cheap-ass drill bits wasn't cutting it. So off to Home Depot to get a carbon bit. Wasn't looking forward to trying to get that stud out but as I was drilling a hole, the heat/vibration broke the loctite bond and the stud screwed itself out the back of the hub.

And yes, I switched to the hex-head studs this time.

Fun, fun, fun.

How much of the stud is sticking out? I have the stud grip socket thingy because a couple years ago it kept happening lol

Snap on truck came to friends shop while I was there so bought one.

[M3 Number 86]

Originally Posted by dogbone

Only for removal. Yes, it tightens down on the threads like a drill chuck, so don't expect to reuse the stud once it has been pulled.

Once the stud has been pulled, the tool is really tight on the stud. You need a big wrench to hold the outer shell in place while you spin it the other way to untighten the tool off the stud. No big deal. Once you get your groove down, you can pull all 20 studs in just a few minutes.

Depends where the stud snapped. One time it snapped on me leaving nowhere to be gripped down lol.

[macdude357]

Originally Posted by 1MOREMOD

They aren't that bad double nut and they come off never had to use heat

The ones on the rear were the Bimmerworld studs, I put them on with 50 ft lbs of torque per their instructions. They wouldn't come off with double nuts even when I had applied some heat; the nuts kept rotating. It wasn't until I got the rotor off that I could get enough heat into them to remove them. I had the same issue putting them on.

Originally Posted by ayao

Painful! What brand studs were they? Were you approaching the broken stud from the front or back side of the hub?

Originally Posted by M3 Number 86

How much of the stud is sticking out? I have the stud grip socket thingy because a couple years ago it kept happening lol

Apex studs. The stud broke off nearly flush. I drilled it from the front. Got about halfway through the stud when it loosened up and the remaining part just rotated with the drill bit and unscrewed itself out of the back of the hub.

[M3 Number 86]

Originally Posted by macdude357

The ones on the rear were the Bimmerworld studs, I put them on with 50 ft lbs of torque per their instructions. They wouldn't come off with double nuts even when I had applied some heat; the nuts kept rotating. It wasn't until I got the rotor off that I could get enough heat into them to remove them. I had the same issue putting them on.

Apex studs. The stud broke off nearly flush. I drilled it from the front. Got about halfway through the stud when it loosened up and the remaining part just rotated with the drill bit and unscrewed itself out of the back of the hub.

Nice. Bring those tools to the track lol

[CorruptCommie]

How are you guys drilling these studs, aren't they class 12.9? I have the BW Race ones, I'm pretty sure if one snapped at the hub I won't be able to get it out. Installed at 60-80 ft-lbs.

[Richbot]

No metal is impervious to the right persuasion

Carbide will do a 12.9 fastener just fine if you're not an ape

[Mantii]

Originally Posted by CorruptCommie

How are you guys drilling these studs, aren't they class 12.9? I have the BW Race ones, I'm pretty sure if one snapped at the hub I won't be able to get it out. Installed at 60-80 ft-lbs.

Excuse my ignorance- seems like a lot of you guys torque the studs pretty good. I have the Apex ones and the manual states about 22ft/lbs. I put a little bit of Red Loctite, and then just torque the nuts per OEM specs.

[CorruptCommie]

Originally Posted by Mantii

Excuse my ignorance- seems like a lot of you guys torque the studs pretty good. I have the Apex ones and the manual states about 22ft/lbs. I put a little bit of Red Loctite, and then just torque the nuts per OEM specs.

Those were the instructions provided by BW

[redpriest]

Originally Posted by Mantii

Excuse my ignorance- seems like a lot of you guys torque the studs pretty good. I have the Apex ones and the manual states about 22ft/lbs. I put a little bit of Red Loctite, and then just torque the nuts per OEM specs.

This is what I did. No issues; one of mine eventually broke due to fatigue. My 35+ track day a year schedule is pretty destructive on them, so I generally change them after 16 track days. All stud kits have different specs.

[Mantii]

Originally Posted by redpriest

This is what I did. No issues; one of mine eventually broke due to fatigue. My 35+ track day a year schedule is pretty destructive on them, so I generally change them after 16 track days.

Ok good, didn't want to look like an idiot and eventually find myself going off on a tripod lol

I have not had any issues with the Apex Studs yet. I just change mine in the spring before the season starts, but I do less than 10 days so they hold up pretty well.

[kyippee]

This is why studs scare me. I'm sticking with standard wheel bolts as I don't change wheels very often. Anything I'm missing out on, aside from ease of swaps and a bit less wear on the hub threads?

I previously had studs on my E46 M3 and a stud removed itself when I loosened a nut!

[redpriest]

Originally Posted by kpewpew

This is why studs scare me. I'm sticking with standard wheel bolts as I don't change wheels very often. Anything I'm missing out on, aside from ease of swaps and a bit less wear on the hub threads?

I previously had studs on my E46 M3 and a stud removed itself when I loosened a nut!

Stud is safer than lug bolts. The lug bolts run you the risk of stripping the hub

[macdude357]

Originally Posted by CorruptCommie

Those were the instructions provided by BW

Yup, me too. I first installed the BW studs on the rear but I had a heck of a time getting them to 50 ft lbs so I put the Apex studs in the front. Fortunately, the stud broke flush so the torque used to tighten the stud had no impact on it's removal; it just screwed through and out the back of the hub. I ordered the stud puller that dogbone posted so we'll see how that works on my remaining BW studs.

[elim11]

Everyone has their own stud nightmare stories. It's part of the right of passage. Once you experience having one break off, you will swear to yourself to replace them yearly as maintenance to mitigate the issue.

[1MOREMOD]

Originally Posted by elim11

Everyone has their own stud nightmare stories. It's part of the right of passage. Once you experience having one break off, you will swear to yourself to replace them yearly as maintenance to mitigate the issue.

I just bought ones I thought were better and run them even longer

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by M3 Number 86

Here's a first shot with it installed.

Let's call it the GT4 lip in OE GTS lip finish

happybuyitnow told me the warehouse lost my lip and it will be delayed for a few months. bummer! but they refunded my money and offered me a discount on my next one.

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by elim11

Everyone has their own stud nightmare stories. It's part of the right of passage. Once you experience having one break off, you will swear to yourself to replace them yearly as maintenance to mitigate the issue.

what brand did you have again?

i keep reading about apex studs breaking, but i wonder if that is because lots of people are running them...

i have a set waiting to go on, but i'm not sure if i want to sell them and get some of those nice dry-lube turner studs.

[elim11]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

what brand did you have again?

i keep reading about apex studs breaking, but i wonder if that is because lots of people are running them...

i have a set waiting to go on, but i'm not sure if i want to sell them and get some of those nice dry-lube turner studs.

I think you are right. Apex seems most popular/most amount of users therefore more total instances (that we hear about)

The first set I ran lasted nearly 2 years with at least a dozen track days. I'm not sure the brand as Trinity Autosport installed them.

The fresh ones I have on currently are the APEX

[XCUSE_M3]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

happybuyitnow told me the warehouse lost my lip and it will be delayed for a few months. bummer! but they refunded my money and offered me a discount on my next one.

I was gonna pick one up tonight but just looked and the price is 800$ now! They must have some still.