Issues with wheel studs
 

I have a 2017 Q60 that is well setup for HPDE track days. I run a dedicated set of wheels and tires (Titan 7 wheels with Hankook RS-4 tires), wheel mate SR48 lugs nuts and have had a great time doing HPDE at VIR. The shop there stores my track wheels and we swap them so I don't have to drive them to and from the track. They are very careful in starting the lugs by hand and I trust them.

I have now had 4 wheel studs that needed to be replaced. They spin and I can't remove the lug nuts. This happened again today when I was taking off the summer wheels and putting on my set for winter. The wheel studs I am using are the Z1 extended studs so I assumed they were decent quality.

Do I need better quality studs to withstand the track abuse or do you think the wheel studs could have been installed improperly? I am 99% sure that it isn't being caused by switching the wheels around as everyone who touches my car is careful.

Issues with wheel studs
 

Sounds like the knurled part of the studs isn’t engaging properly with the wheel bearing. So that’s a wheel bearing issue or a stud issue that is resulting in not enough interference, causing the stud to spin. Either a bad batch of studs, bad wheel bearing, OR improper install. Who installed the studs in the first place?

Another thing to ask… are you properly torquing the wheels when you swap them over?


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Some years back I definitely got a bad batch of wheel studs from Z1. The knurling wasn't even close to being right though in my so I was able to catch it during the initial install of the studs.

Since then, if I ever have to replace a stud, I always confirm dimensions of the new stud(s) just to make sure.

Get new studs. Replace them all with ARP studs. With the stud spinning, the bore maybe to large now for the knurling to bite into. If that is the case. You will have to put a tack weld on the back.

http://www.the370z.com/diy-section-d...eel-studs.html

I've had an issue recently with ARP studs too.. make sure you carefully/hand thread on a lugnut the whole way before going to town with the impact. The threads weren't noticeably bad, but something was off and I've locked up and spun a few in my last batch.

I swear by the ARPs for how often I take my wheels off and on.. but definitely will be checking each of them by fully threading a lug before install in the future.

I always start my lug nuts by hand for the 5 to 10 turns. Then use an air ratchet to take them the rest of the way. Then torque them down. My air ratchet is 100 in lbs of torque. It will stop when it hits a bad spot.

you should 100% be running open ended lug nuts + arp or motorsport hardware studs. they are way stronger and thats including the threads on the studs. also get steel nuts. they are the easiest to take off. aluminum nuts will eventually strip too. tighten your lugs to 90-100 ft/lb, after you've changed them. and always thread them by hand a few times before you take your impact to them

The ARP studs seem to be the recommendation. What open ended lugs nuts fit OEM Nismo wheels (my daily setup)? Thanks for the great feedback so far!

There are NO open ended lugnuts that will fit the factory Nismo wheels.

I machined the OEM lugnuts to make them open-ended. Not difficult to do (or get done).

The alternative is this

https://au.gktech.com/z34-370z-wheel...pter-set-of-20

Those look great, I think I will order a set so I no longer need to use the OEM lug nuts.

thats fantastic, when you can fit it in your budget, grab a square set of aftermarket wheels, 18x10.5 et 12-22. you will improve the feeling alot and you can use normal aftermarket lugs too. goodluck

I thought about that as it would simplify everything but I love the Nismo V1 wheels for my daily. Anytime I take my car anywhere, the first comment is always about those wheels. Maybe I will find a set of aftermarket wheels that I like as much.

I have placed my order for the adapters and new ARP wheel studs and hopefully will have everything installed early next year (the lug nut adapters are 2-4 weeks out).

Disassembly will give you the issue.

If this is related to one corner it's possible that it's installation error however if its all around the car most likely it's studs.

a simple removal and inspection of the hub stud holes on the side that you have more than 2 will reveal if it's just the hub surface that has deteriorated over tooth count of the old studs being too narrow between ridges or from ridges that did not protruded as much causing them not to bite into the metal like oem.

I had all of the wheel studs replaced today, only one had an issue but many many of them were replaced with the Z1 OEM+ set a few months ago. No issues were found with anything else.

I went with the ARP wheel studs, the gktech adapters and SR48 open ended lug nuts. First drive home of about 35 miles was great. The real test will come after several weekends at the track (will switch back to my track wheels so the gktech adapters will come off) but so far so good.

Thanks for all the suggestions!