Replacing Wheel studs

GEM Forum
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First Post;

I have a 2001 E4, the lug nuts are in bad shape. I can see in the near future replacing them. I removed the drums and can see the Studs are pressed into a spindle.
Question; any tricks to replacing wheel studs.

My stock studs Are the smaller studs. M10 I believe. Anyone know if you can upgrade or switch out to the larger M12 studs. And if so where can I pick thoes up at. Many thanks

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I have never had one break or strip out yet on four GEMs. Would like to discover and post the part number on my list of parts thread. Generally, the stud is knurled and the hole is not. I keep a complete spare set of 12mm brake assemblies in the shop and can press one out to measure it and the hole. If my NAPA can match it up, I will post the part number. I will also measure the hole in the spindle which likely need to be drilled oversize. I will do this when there is free time.

Daniel

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Daniel; thanks for the reply and the willing ness to do some research.
I was trying to up load a pic of my broken wheel stud. I understand what your talking about how the stud is bigger at the base of the stud. I think they call it a shoulder and the side of the shoulder can vary. The studs on my GEM are M10. If it’s not to hard I would like to upgrade all the studs to the larger M12 wheel studs. Let me know what you find out. Thanks G

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Here is a pic of my hub the bottom stud is the one that’s broken

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The studs knocked right out.
Shoulder size on them is 14.09
With a thread pitch of 1.5

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Here is a pic of the new M12 Studs

These larger wheel studs fill the holes in the after market wheels I’m useing much better. The stock M10 studs left a large gap in the bolt pattern where the wheel bolted up. These larger lug Studs center the wheel better and now I can use normal tuner lug nuts instead of the lighter weight ATV lug nuts

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So this job of adding some aftermarket wheels to the Gem has turned into quite a learning experience.

So I picked up a set of 17x7 MSR wheels and 205/40/17’s for $400 on Craig’s list. I thought it would be as simple as bolting them up. WRONG!

First thing I find out is I need special lug nuts. Ok no big deal. WRONG
M10 lugs are not common for automotive use. I needed to special order them from a ATV shop M10 is common for ATVs well the thread pitch I got was wrong! It messed up my lugs trying to thread 1.25 pitch threads on to a stud that takes 1.5 pitch.

So that’s when I discover I need to replace some Lug studs. And in the process I can upgrade to the larger common M12 stud. and I can get longer studs to accommodate the wheels I have bought.

A quick trip to the local Napa store got me all new lug studs for $40

The old ones hammered out pretty easy as soon as I made room for the old stud to be knocked out and the new one put it. All you have to do is take a brake pad off and you have enough room to do the job. With the brake pad out there is plenty of room.

I need’d a set of rear wheel spacers $65 from NEV accessories

Then I need’d a set of special tuner lug nuts $40

I got one wheel installed and I will finish up tomorrow

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Here are the wheels

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I decided to go with Longer studs in the front.
The rear wheels use wheel spacers so their is no problem getting a good amount of threads on a wheel spacer with stock length studs. But because the wheel bolts directly to the drum I wanted to make sure I had good amount of threads holding on the larger rafter market wheel. Experts say you should have at least 4 whole turns of a lug nut to be safe.

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Could you post the NAPA numbers for both the standard length and extended studs? I would like to add these to the thread on alternative repair parts. I surprises me that none of the aftermarket companies sell these. Especially with all the wheels they sell.

Daniel

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Daniel; I should finish up the project today (fingers crossed) and I will post up the part #s

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Here is a pic of the LONG stud for the fronts and the Napa part #

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[B]Note[/B] with the shoulder being longer on this stud it required me to drill out the lug nut holes on the drum just a tad because the larger shoulder on the stud sticks out just a bit more then the stock lug. If you could find the same stud with a smaller shoulder that didn’t stick threw quite as much it might not require you to drill the drum

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Here are the [B]Shorter[/B] rear studs. again from Napa Auto Parts

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And here is the finished Front hub with longer studs

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Here are the wheels bolted up. And yes they are going to re-painted silver along with the rest of the car

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Sorry the sight will only let me upload one pic at a time

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Those wheel look great! I’m already searching for a set on CL, thanks for the tech info. Any rubbing at full turn?

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Simple;
No issues on the front wheels rubbing.
The rear wheels need a spacer so that the wheels can be pushed out. You will find most wheels will need to be spaced out in the rear because the inside of the rear wheels rubs on the fender. As soon as you can get your rear wheels in the center of the rear fender you won’t be rubbing. With that said you will need to UN bolt the rear fender and raise it up.all u need to do is take out the 2 rear Philips head bolts and add some spacers to the under side of the fender to lift it up 3/4 of a inch

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Thanks for the numbers. What size drill was needed to enlarge the holes?

Daniel