Studs and spacers safe? Please help

[Mastrcruse]

Today I went to get hubcentric rings at discount tire. I was explaining to the sales person there what I was doing and told him I was going to get tires also in a month or so.

I told him that I was going to run a stud conversion (looked at me and shook his head) then I told him I needed spacers (looked at me and shook his head).

I proceed to tell him that I know of probably 20 people on this board that run studs and have no shearing problems but he won't buy it because thats the WORST problem he sees when people bring their cars in with stud conversions.

He then proceeds to tell me, he cannot do anything with my car if it has a stud conversion. I just bought winter tires from them and he says he can't rotate them. He then tells me, he can't even loosen or tighten the nuts (to make it even worse sounding).

Are studs and spacers safe? I have everything minus the tires to put my wheels on but I here you guys say that its okay and then I here him say he can't touch my car and he has customers shearing studs all the time with wheels falling off on the highways. And I really dont' want this too happen.

Please help!

[nando]

lol. Yes they are safe - I'd MUCH rather have studs than stupid bolts. what do you think all the track E30s use?

Those guys at tire shops get paid like $1 above minimum wage. they are monkeys - there's no reason to take their opinions seriously.

where the hell is this place anyway? I'd go somewhere else if they refuse to work on your car...

[Mastrcruse]

Thats what I asked him. I was like, a lot of cars have studs and I know a lot of people use studs on the e30. He comes back with...well it puts a lot of stress on the studs and a lot of stress on the car when you convert. When I told him I was running spacers....WOooo he about shit a brick.

Its discount tire, http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/home.do, that I went too. The one on Morse road never said anything about stud conversion and them not being able to work on my car. But go 30 minutes west and stud conversions are a fucking sin.

I will be on the highway a lot and have a convertible so if a tire/wheel comes off will it make the car stop and flip haha. If not then I will proceed with getting tires. I will be running 20mm spacers and 80mm studs

[Van Westervelt]

So much misinformation goes around about this. Lug bolts, are just as safe as lug studs/nuts.

The biggest problem that people have is that they:

Don’t use a paste loctite (not liquid or gel) on them
People usually don’t torque them down appropriately

The liquid doesn’t setup and bond as well as the paste in my experience.

When it comes to torque them down, make sure that the stud is 10lb tighter than your nut. Most tire jockeys over torque the nuts, then when they go to uninstall, the stud comes out. Hence, "oh my! So unsafe!"

Furthermore, there are different quality studs. If you look closely at say, Turner Motorsports kits, they have a bare shoulder that allows you to effectively torque them down. A lot of the kits out there simply go from one thread to the next with very little shoulder if any.

I have broken 3 in my life, all 2 were standard length lug bolts, and 1 was a longer lug bolt. Never have I broken a stud, even with 15mm spacers.

[Mastrcruse]

I did not go with the cheap stuff when I bought the stud kit. I bought from Vorshlag which has the thread smooth thread deal like you described.

I believe that the studs came with the paste but I will double check. I think I will have someone that has done the conversion help me out.

Thanks

[nando]

there is no sheer force on the studs - because E30s are hubcentric. it's the hub itself that handles the forces of the wheel, not the bolts. the bolts just keep the wheel seated on the hub..

[browntown]

there is no sheer force on the studs - because E30s are hubcentric. it's the hub itself that handles the forces of the wheel, not the bolts. the bolts just keep the wheel seated on the hub..

That's probably why the discount tire guy has seen problems. They dont sell any 4x100 57.1 wheels. If they have experience with an e30, it's putting voxx wheels with plastic rings if they use centering rings at all. But on an overbore situation, the forces are indeed placed directly on your bolts, or studs.

[Mastrcruse]

But on an overbore situation, the forces are indeed placed directly on your bolts, or studs.

Yea, but that, on an e30, is solved with hubcentric rings though, correct? Thats what I just bought today so that should put the stress back on the hub and not the studs.

[browntown]

I'm no physicist, but I'm going to guess that plastic hubcentric rings are really only good for mounting the wheel, and don't take much significant stress, still making a non 57.1 hub still "lug" centric instead of hubcentric.

Again, I may be thinking about this wrong. But if you mount bottlecaps to the car, and lower the car onto the ground with no lug bolts/nuts, the wheels *should* hold the car just fine. (Dont try this, the wheel would probably just fall off since nothing is holding it to the car)

Do the same with a wheel that has a centering ring, and I imagine that centering ring would snap before you got all the weight down.

[Mastrcruse]

Well, good thing is I got the metal ones and not the plastic ones. Maybe alittle bit more worthy

[E30Driv3R]

DJ, you have seen mine and my wheel and tire shop thanks me for it. They are the only shop in the area that can align my car to track specs.

Any way just go some where else if they wont do it. They are safe as e30Groupie said.

[smonkbmw]

the local discount tire told me the same thing. kinda creeps me out. im gonna go with a stud kit anyways. i can change my own wheels, as long as they mount the tires.

[gazellebeigem3]

What a dumbfuck. You should have reached over the counter and hit him with a sock full of batteries. Heres the lesson you should take from this:

DONT FUCKING GO THERE, FIND SOMEONE THAT KNOWS THEIR ASS FROM A HOLE IN THE GROUND.

[Van Westervelt]

Plastic rings are okay, but they can crack. Most reputable companies will sell you metal ones. I only recommend plastic as a temporary fix/fitments. Long term or "enthusiastic" driving, I would recommend metal. The plastic ones do flex, thats how I broke my lugs before, and the fact that some tire jockeys dont know how to put on a wheel correctly.

[Mastrcruse]

^Thats what I was told by, I believe, Mtechnic 92. He told me the same thing about plastic ones. They only charged me like $3.00 more for the metal but once again the salesperson didn't know why I would need metal. He said there is no stress, strain or whatever on the rings. I proceeded to tell him our cars are hubcentric but I don't know if he knew what that meant.