yeah, it's a great buy

I've been using anti-sieze on the RX-8 and Miata, and I won't stop using it, as long as I am swapping the wheels on a semi-weekly basis.

Theoretically, the lube reduces the amount of torque required to get the correct pre-load in the bolt. So, if you use anti-seize and use the full 108 ft-lbs specified by Mazda you are stretching the studs by a greater amount than Mazda intended and putting greater forces into the hub.

Whether or not this is a problem is hard to say. Fatigue failures are notoriously hard to predict. But it's equally hard to predict how quickly the studs will degrade due to friction & contamination in the un-lubed state. Galling can also cause failures, as already noted.

I run 90 ft-lbs with anti-sieze as a compromise. Don't know if it's right or wrong, just a guess. :dunno:

Agreed.


I worry more about galling threads than breaking the stud through over-torquing.

How would a hammer affect it?

How would hitting your average hole in the highway at 80mph with a 3000lb car on top of it affect it.

:)

Wondering whether you can remember how to get the rear studs off while not taking more than just the wheel off (certainly not the hub). I have had issues at the track. I found out how to do the fronts with only removing the tire and was surprised to read your experiences.

Please help a fellow racer with issues at the track. This experience has made me hate and fear tire changes. Right now, if there were issues at the rear, I'm done for the weekend....which is an awful feeling.

Thanks.

anti-seize your studs, use 90-95 ft-lb torque, replace the OE nuts with a set of McGard or Gorrilla lug nuts, and pray

otherwise the rear hub will need to be disassembled

one member did manage to swap one out without disassembly by grinding down the stud heads on one side so that it could be slid out/in from behind the hub

:uhh:

Count me in for the stripped stud club. My local mechanic autox buddy helped me change out my rear stud yesterday. A HUGE PAIN. We did it w/o disassembling the rear hub, but had to:

1) Cut the disc cover
2) Filed down the stud head on one side to get past the rear knuckle
3) Used a hammer. Lightly ;)

Even after rotating the hub, cutting the disc cover, and filing the stud head, it still was a huge pain to get the stud past everything. If I had to do it over again, I would consider just disassembling the hub.

I will do everything I can to prevent this from happening again. Tommorow, I'm buying McGard lug nuts for my autox wheels and some anti seize...

I already picked up a fresh set of Dorman lug nuts to replace my crappy street lug nuts. Any experiences w/ Dorman lugs? Should I go online and get a real set? The Dormans were the only set the local store carried that fit my silly heavy bling SSWs.

cutting the disc is not what most people want to do, but it would prevent having to remove the hub

get the Gorilla nuts with the small 17mm hex if you can, these are what Tirerack provides with SSR wheels, they are great and relatively light, lets almost any socket fit in the tightest wheel holes

So after some digging, I found an old set of kyokugens in the garage, but the key/spline is stripped (common apparently). Is this set worth replacing the spline and using for my autox or street wheels? The lug nuts look like they are still in good condition.

I hate spline lug nuts ...