Twisting studs on the street??
 

So i was taking off my rear wheels to clean them up from all the driving i've been doing in the Camaro the last few days.. and i had to find a SUPER thin wall socket to get it over the lugs. :question:

Once i got the lugs off... I notice the studs were looking a bit...... crooked.
So i pulled the axle out... and all five of the studs were twisted.:_paranoid
Same on the other side as well. They are Strange grade 8, 1/2 inch studs.

I have been enjoying the fact that the car has been hooking up like crazy in 2nd and 3rd gear once the tires get warm. Actually i have been quite impressed. They are the Nitto NTO5's. 335/19's.

The car has been running 750-760 rwhp... so i would expect it to blow the tires off... but it pulls nice instead.

Anyone ever hear of this from a "street car"... it has yet to see a dragstrip... and has yet to be "hole shot'd".

I had to cut them off flush to the axle... then replaced them with some grade 9 studs. Please don't tell me i have to drill the axle and the wheels to put some bigger studs in there.....:(

Are you sure the studs were fully press into the axles when installed?

YEah... they were threaded in.

I wonder with the torque it has elongated the holes have you taken one out to inspect the flange?

Yes... i already have installed the higher grade bolts. Everything seemed good. The threads weren't damaged at all... and the new studs had no "slack" while putting them in. However... the old studs could not be threaded out. They had to be cut flush.. then backed out. I have a photo at the shop.. I'll post it in the morning.

These were just installed then I will wait until i see your pic to see what you have going on. It seems like those could be the only two things that could be wrong? But i could be wrong..

maybe a bad batch during the manufacturing process.. if its grade 8 bolts it should say it on there.. maybe the studd were imported from China..:lol:

That's some torque and horsepower right there. Good thing you pulled off the wheels to clean them off.
GOOD LUCK and stay safe!:thumbsup:

It's hard for me to believe that the studs wouldn't withstand the force of a 2nd or 3rd gear romp with street tires regardless of power. I know that thing reall flies but the stresses of braking and hard cornering more than likely out weigh the acceleration. I can hit 100 in 8-9 seconds but it takes me 5 seconds to stop.....Are you sure they were always torqued correctly?

I originally thought the same... but the Torque was correct. I also thought maybe it was a "bad batch"... but they came with the axles... and they are Strange grade 8 studs... and they are always pretty consistent with the drag race guys.
I spoke with the drag racers(street racers) around here... and they said with the sticky ass tires i have... if it hooks in second... and im running over 750tq to the ground.. it can twist them on the street no doubt. They told me to drill them out and put some 5/8th studs in there.... or don't run such a sticky tire. I want to put the bigger studs in there... but i would have to get my rims drilled out.:mad:
Who knows..... i have some grade 9's in there as a temp fix... i'll be keeping my eye on them. A buddy of mine sheered his studs last year at the track in a 2nd gen.... destroyed his entire quarter panel. Im not trying to redue "my" quarters...lol.

I would go ahead and upgrade if i were you. just my .02:cheers:

We had the same problem on the green chevelle. It broke 1 stud and bent the rest of them. I replaced the studs, Reemed the lug holes on the wheels to accept "drag style" shanked lug nuts that go through the wheel -.030 away from bottoming out. I had a set of Hub Centric rings machined so the wheel is now supported on the axle flange and not the wheels studs. Most of these fancy aftermarket wheels use generic tolerances and tappered face lug nuts. Thats not a good combo. After this incident there will never be another car that leaves our shop without Hub Centric rings and and full shanked lugs.

These are the guys who machined the Hub centric rings

http://www.motorsport-tech.com/hub_rings.html

I gave them the specs and had them in a week.The price was really good. Its alot cheaper than replacing a 1/4 panel.

Don't know the best route you should go about fixing it, but congrats on twisting the Strange grade 8's! :unibrow:

Awesome!! thanks for that link. That is what i need. My lugs are NOT tapered... but the rim does sit on them (so to speak.. the lug has a built on sleeve). The hub centric rings is a fabulous idea. :captain:

Non tapered lugs would sure exlpain your problem Josh.

My rear lugs look like this without the washers they show in the photo.

unless i missed it i didn't see anywhere that says what your lugnut torque was or if the lugnuts were loose when taking the wheels off. with the half inch studs they should be torqued to 120 ft lbs. not 100 like normal studs. seen this on a few cars before and it was just under torqued wheels:thumbsup:

Hmmm... We usually torque them 100-110 with aluminum wheels. They were tight when the came off.

I've never heard of that much torque. I only torque mine to 85.

the thing is, in second gear your not running 750tq to the ground.... assuming your 2.nd gear ratio is arround 2.. and your are a running 3.73 rear your tourqur to the ground is 750x2x3.73=5595 foot pounds of tourque.. !!! and over 6000 with a 4.11 !

if you have grease or oil on the axle flange you will bend the studs... it needs to be dry and the bolts torqued well a grade 8 - 1/2 inch bolt should be in the 110+ tourque range

I did have an axle seal leak for a minute........ :mad: and my gears are 3.55

i know, tirerack.com says that too. GM specs are 100 ft lbs on cars (12mm studs) and 140 ft. lbs on the truck (14mm studs)