HYDE161
Go Kart Champion
I take my wheels off a lot, whether it’s to swap brake pads, clean the wheels/brakes or for other reasons, it’s a chore if using OEM lug bolts. After talking to Tom Rittenburg at Rennline about the benefits of a stud conversion, I ordered a set of 20 x 45mm (80mm overall) studs and ball seat nuts.
Product Description:
Rennline's competition wheel studs offer customers the ability to eliminate those bulky factory lug bolts that make quick wheel changes so cumbersome. These studs feature a bullet nose end to assist in wheel positioning, and are heat treated to excede the requirements outlined by SAE wheel fastener standards. Rennline's studs are black zinc plated unlike the vulnerable black oxide coating commonly used in other wheel studs. These particular studs are M14x1.5 thread commonly found on Porsche, Audi, and several other makes, and are available in both 45mm and 60mm lengths. See below for detailed specifications. Sold individually
-Black Zinc Coated
-Facilitate wheel changes easier
-Available in a variety of lengths
-15mm of threads on hub side
-8mm of unthreaded shoulder for brake rotor
-45mm or 60mm of threaded stud from shoulder
-12mm of bullet nose to help in wheel alignment
Note: For installation, torque studs to 30 ft/lbs, and then torque nuts to factory specs. We generally do not recommend using loctite on these studs.
Installation:
Installation is very simple but requires some effort and time to make sure each stud is properly tightened to the recommended torque spec. As pictured below with the wheel off, hand tighten each stud into the hub. For each stud, back two lug nuts against each other and tighten them into each other with open end wrenches. Once the lug nuts are tight, tighten the stud into the hub until you reach the recommended torque spec of 30 ft/lbs as per Rennline. Sometimes the lug nuts will loosen, place an open ended wrench on the back lug nut and tighten the front lug nut with the torque wrench until it clicks at 30 ft/lbs. Now your torque wrench should be able to tighten the stud into the hub at the recommended torque spec without the lug nuts loosening again. Once the stud is set, use the open ended wrenches to break the two lug nuts apart so you can thread them off the stud. There are several great YouTube videos showing general stud installations.
Overall Feedback:
I have to say, not only do I LOVE the look of this black zinc coated stud conversion kit, but taking the wheels on and off has become a breeze. I feel like I’m in a pit crew and actually timed myself when removing the wheel. Lift the corner with a jack, break the lug nuts loose, use a drill to speed-remove the lug nuts, remove the wheel and then re-install in reverse order. I may be crazy but I swear the car felt smoother after this stud conversion kit was installed. Not much smoother, but ever so slightly as I feel the stud conversion kit better centers the wheel on the hub lip so as to prevent any wheel movement against the hub when tightening the lug nuts in a star pattern.
From an engineering standpoint, the OEM lug bolts are required to perform two functions: locate (keep the wheel aligned against the hub / over the hub lip) and fasten (sandwich the wheel against the hub face). If the hub lip and wheel bore are even slightly mismatched in size, then the OEM bolts may not perform these two functions 100% effectively as the wheel can shift slightly when tightening the OEM lug bolts to spec. With this stud conversion kit, the studs are only responsible for locating the wheel on the hub and the lug nuts are only responsible for fastening the wheel against the hub.
I also highly recommend stud conversions for anyone with VW/Audi vehicles. 
