Installing Longer Wheel Studs- DIY w/ Pictures

Minsk99 · Joined: 25 Feb 2004 Posts: 635 Location: Los Angeles

I installed the longer wheel studs that came with my 5mm H&R wheel spacers (in the front wheels). It was actually much essayer then I thought. Below is a DIY with some pictures from the install.

Here is a picture of the longer H&R stud next to the stock stud

Start by jacking up only one side of the front of the car and remove the wheel. Here is a picture with stock studs on.

From behind the hub, take out the two 17mm bolts that hold the brake caliper and remove the caliper. You will need to have something to support the caliper so that it wont hang by the brake line and possible brake it. I used a few bricks piled up. This picture depicts the two bolts to undo. When reinstalling these bolts they are torqued to 88 N-m / 65 ft-lbs.

Once the brake caliper is off the rotor (disk) can slide off by pulling on it. You might need to jiggle it a few times to get it to pop off. The picture below shows the rotor that has been taken off exposing the hub. The red circle around one of the studs shows the stud that is in the position to be banged out with a hammer. Notice that there is no obstruction behind this stud and it can be taken out from behind.

After baning out the first stud, you will need to rotate the hub in the direction of the red arrow so that the other studs can be positioned to be removed. To do this you will need to slightly jack up the other side of the front of the car so that the wheel is just barley off the ground.

After each stud is banged out, replace it with a new one by sliding it through the hub from the back side. Don't worry about securing it at this point. Bang all four stock studs out and replace with new studs by rotating the the rub. Once you are done doing this let the other side of the car down so that only the side you are working on is jacked up. This will stop the hub from turning while you are working on it. This picture shows a new stud being inserted from the back of the hub

You will next need to secure the new studs so that they are flush with the back of the hub. It is very difficult to try and bang them in with a hammer. A very easy way to get them in is to take a nut, preferably the stock lug nut that you know will fit on the stud, and tighten it on the new stud until the force pulls the stud all the way in.

You will probably want to use a torque wrench to get the leverage you need to wedge the new stud all the way in so that it is flush like the stock stud used to fit.

After replacing all four studs the hub should look like this.

Once you have them on replace the rotor and brake caliper. Torque the two 17mm brake caliper bolts to 88 N-m / 65 ft-lbs. Now you can put your new spacer on. This is a H&R 5mm spacer with the longer studs that came with the kit.

Hope this helps. It was not hard at all and is definitely a DIY project. Happy to answer any questions.

projxB · Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Posts: 309 Location: The OoooSee

nice write up man... very much appreciated, and im sure i speak for other people on this.

the_saint · Joined: 12 May 2004 Posts: 639

I'm glad you showed the correct way to pull a stud through. I've seen people booger the hub by using the conical end of the lugnut :shock:
You should always use the flat side of the lugnut, and a washer is always a nice bit of insurance too.

2501 · Joined: 20 Oct 2004 Posts: 49 Location: Salem, Mass

How about the rear end? I would think that hub spacers are the best way to go, so how about a write up on that?

mancide · Joined: 15 Nov 2004 Posts: 377 Location: Western KY

What is the benefit of running a longer stud and spacer? Wouldn't the spacer change the shear point of the stud and actually make it more likely to break?

TheScionicMan · Joined: 10 Jan 2004 Posts: 5653 Location: In the Hot Tub

The longer studs are needed to run a 10mm spacer. Without them, there aren't enough threads to get a lugnut on there safely. The spacer is to push the wheels out further.

For the rears, I run and would recommend the rear shim spacers from www.onetongarage.com. If you need more than that 10mm, then look at spacers. They make a nice spacer at OTG, as well.

Great write-up Minsk99, we'll get this added to the tech section.

abbfanuc · Joined: 26 Aug 2003 Posts: 194

great writeup. But one question.....Will hupcentric rings still work since there is 5mm less to put on the ring to the center of the hub?

i64X · Joined: 27 Aug 2004 Posts: 239 Location: Michigan

Any pics of your XB with this mod done? I'd like to see wth the whole car looks like.

hahajoey · Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Posts: 1152

thank u for posting that DIY, im sure many people will benefit from that. i did my rear with extended wheel studs too, i should taken pix.

anyways. post pix of ur ride with the wheels on

silly_rabbit · Joined: 24 Feb 2005 Posts: 18

Are the rear studs just as easy to remove?

g0nD0LeR0 · Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 35

edited

pdrizzle · Joined: 06 Oct 2004 Posts: 463 Location: New Orleans, LA

silly_rabbit wrote: Are the rear studs just as easy to remove?

I just installed extended studs in the rear (I used studs from a 97 Land Cruiser, which are about 10mm longer than the stock rear wheel studs). To do this make sure the parking brake is off. I hit the drum cover with a mallet to get it loose, then it just wiggled off. I used a steel bar between 2 of the studs and the ground (so don't remove all of the studs at once!) to hold the stud hub in place while I tightened the new studs into the hub. I used several washers because the studs from the Land Cruiser had about a 10mm space that didn't have thread on it. It took me a while to figure out how to do this, so I hope this post saves some time for those of you doing this. Good luck!

Sliphorn · Joined: 06 Mar 2006 Posts: 160 Location: DC

Sorry, I'm a little confused. I was planning on using Landcruiser studs for the fronts, and potentially the rears. Is this "10mm-of-no-thread" area going to be a problem? Should I not use them? :nails:

pdrizzle · Joined: 06 Oct 2004 Posts: 463 Location: New Orleans, LA

I can't confirm this, but I'm pretty sure the Land Cruiser studs are only for the rear of the xB and only for an extra 10mm. The front studs on the xB are longer than the rear ones, so it won't work. If you need to go longer in the front I believe you can order longer studs directly from H&R.

Ed · Joined: 19 Feb 2005 Posts: 191 Location: NJ

pdrizzle wrote: I can't confirm this, but I'm pretty sure the Land Cruiser studs are only for the rear of the xB and only for an extra 10mm. The front studs on the xB are longer than the rear ones, so it won't work.

pdrizzle you're using Landcruiser front studs right? They work in the xB fronts too,I run them.

This proves the xB rear studs are definitely shorter than the fronts. I measured approx 5mm difference between the LC studs and xB fronts. Since pdrizzle said the LC's are 10mm longer than xB rears,this means xB rears are 5mm shorter than xB fronts.

pdrizzle · Joined: 06 Oct 2004 Posts: 463 Location: New Orleans, LA

Ed wrote: pdrizzle wrote: I can't confirm this, but I'm pretty sure the Land Cruiser studs are only for the rear of the xB and only for an extra 10mm. The front studs on the xB are longer than the rear ones, so it won't work.

pdrizzle you're using Landcruiser front studs right? They work in the xB fronts too,I run them.

This proves the xB rear studs are definitely shorter than the fronts. I measured approx 5mm difference between the LC studs and xB fronts. Since pdrizzle said the LC's are 10mm shorter than xB rears,this means xB rears are 5mm shorter than xB fronts.

I can confirm that the xB studs are longer in the front than in the rear. I think you meant to say that the front LC studs are 10mm longer than the rear xB studs, but yeah, your logic seems correct. So the conclusion is that LC front studs can be used with 5mm spacers up front and 10mm spacers in the rear.

Ed · Joined: 19 Feb 2005 Posts: 191 Location: NJ

pdrizzle wrote: I can confirm that the xB studs are longer in the front than in the rear. I think you meant to say that the front LC studs are 10mm longer than the rear xB studs, but yeah, your logic seems correct. So the conclusion is that LC front studs can be used with 5mm spacers up front and 10mm spacers in the rear.

Doh :doh: just caught that,I meant to say longer,just edited my post. I sometimes hit submit too soon LOL.

BoostedGTi · Joined: 23 Jun 2006 Posts: 19 Location: Austintown Ohio

whatchu know about that, VW put poked rims on the map! :bow:
old pic (before a majority of mods)
but im not running spacers, thas 18x9.5 and 18x8.5 boy
(baddddd pic)

popalock85 · Joined: 06 Jun 2004 Posts: 413 Location: Dallas Tx.

Nice thread!

I was rolling down the highway a few days back and I heard a pop....
Then I exited and went to where I was needing to be and heard another pop!
I pulled over and 3 out of my 4 studs had snapped.... :nails:
This information is a life saver and a money saver.....
Thanks..... :bow:

pdrizzle · Joined: 06 Oct 2004 Posts: 463 Location: New Orleans, LA

popalock85 wrote: Nice thread!

I was rolling down the highway a few days back and I heard a pop....
Then I exited and went to where I was needing to be and heard another pop!
I pulled over and 3 out of my 4 studs had snapped.... :nails:
This information is a life saver and a money saver.....
Thanks..... :bow:

whoa, studs aren't supposed to snap like that.