Need longer wheel studs

[TAG2]

I removed my rear wheels with the intention of adjusting the parking brake. When I took the center cap off, I was shocked and pissed. Some people have no business working on cars. Fully tightened, the studs were maybe half was through the lug nuts. This Bronco is running 35" baloneys. I have been driving it this way with no idea. Who checks their studs? I bought it about 4 months ago.

Anyway, I need to replace all 20 studs. They are currently 1 5/8" long. This was probably a 4 wheel disc brake kit from Tom's or similar. Does anybody know the likely diameter and thread size/pitch?

Some photos for your enjoyment.

 

[73azbronco]

call up PO and ask wtf. There is you bought it as is aspect, but there is also fraud and selling knowingly dangerous equipment.

 

[serial car restorer]

Thread pitch is likely to be either ½" x 20 or 12mm x 1.5. Try one of those lug nuts on a front hub, those should be the ½" size.

 

[ksagis]

How many threads are being engaged in the current setup?

Hard to tell but seems like the lug nuts have a substantial thread length to them

 

[nvrstuk]

Does the 2nd pic really show how far the stud protrudes thru the wheel and how far the nuts are on the stud??? Barely held on by maybe 2-3 thread rotations.

You will need to find out the exact size of the stud. Length is easy. You need the exact dia of the knurling on the stud also because if you put in the wrong dia knurled section of the stud ... whenever you need to remove the nuts to remove the wheel the stud will rotate and you'll never get your wheel off.

 

[TAG2]

Does the 2nd pic really show how far the stud protrudes thru the wheel and how far the nuts are on the stud??? Barely held on by maybe 2-3 thread rotations.

You will need to find out the exact size of the stud. Length is easy. You need the exact dia of the knurling on the stud also because if you put in the wrong dia knurled section of the stud ... whenever you need to remove the nuts to remove the wheel the stud will rotate and you'll never get your wheel off.

Yes, the 2nd picture is accurate.

 

[toddz69]

98% certain they'll be 1/2-20 studs. That is the stock Bronco size. As @nvrstuk noted, the knurl dimension is the more critical one. To get you in the ballpark while looking for studs, most for our trucks are in the 0.610-0.625" range. Shoulder length can also be important.

JBG lists these as stock 9" studs, which gives you information on knurl, shoulder length, etc. Your 1 5/8" dimension matches other stock rear studs I see online.

https://shop.broncograveyard.com/Ford-9-Inch-Wheel-Stud-Each/productinfo/22318/

Then you can look around in the Dorman catalog (one source) to see if there might be a good match for something that's longer:

https://images.carid.com/dorman/lug-nuts-locks/pdf/2006-automotive-hardware-catalog.pdf

Todd Z.

 

[nvrstuk]

Well that's spooky. Glad ya saw it when ya did.

ID the brake kit & ask the vendor for sizing for probably the easiest remedy.

TZ's post beat mine by a split second! Dorman catalog for sizing is great. I've used it many times for sizing studs to fit

 

[AZ73]

What find of wheels are those, They look like they have awfully deep holes for the lug nuts.

 

[TAG2]

What find of wheels are those, They look like they have awfully deep holes for the lug nuts.

They are Fuel wheels.

 

[TAG2]

Well that's spooky. Glad ya saw it when ya did.

ID the brake kit & ask the vendor for sizing for probably the easiest remedy.

TZ's post beat mine by a split second! Dorman catalog for sizing is great. I've used it many times for sizing studs to fit

I went through the build invoices. It is Toms Bronco Parts - Ultimate 4-wheel disc brake kit.

 

[serial car restorer]

Looks like that kit uses the existing stock axles and wheel studs. So you need longer studs to fit the stock axle shafts.

 

[serial car restorer]

Another thought—if the Fuel wheels are on the thicker side, you could possibly use extended shank acorn nuts (aka "ET style") to get proper thread engagement w/o stud replacement.

https://lugnutguys.com/collections/lug-nuts-et/products/open-end-et-style-bulge-acorn-lug-nut-1-2-20

 

[ntsqd]

Not a fan of those ET type lug nuts. Yes, there is more thread engagement, however the necked-down portion of the nut isn't very strong. I don't see them as being enough stronger to be worth the trouble.

A trick that I use with wheel studs is to first look up the stud that I have on a site like Dorman's. Find the page with all of it's specs. Then you know what to look for in a longer stud.

 

[serial car restorer]

We who were in the tire/wheel business used them on problem fitments for decades. Never had one break. The thing they give is full thread engagement so they can be properly torqued down. This seems like a good case for them, especially if longer studs that fit the axles properly prove difficult to find. My recent experience in finding studs that interchange has been spotty at best.

 

[TAG2]

To get the front studs out, it looks like I have to removed to hub assembly?

 

[TAG2]

I am looking at this stud. Dormans site says it won't fit the Bronco, but I am not sure what their parameters are. https://www.dormanproducts.com/p-24356-610-441.aspx?origin=keyword

 

[ntsqd]

We who were in the tire/wheel business used them on problem fitments for decades. Never had one break. The thing they give is full thread engagement so they can be properly torqued down. This seems like a good case for them, especially if longer studs that fit the axles properly prove difficult to find. My recent experience in finding studs that interchange has been spotty at best.

I think that you missed the point that the necked-down part of those nuts is very thin and does not contribute much or anything at all to the overall strength of the assembly. It is a nearly useless increase in thread engagement depth.

In science and engineering, my training, it doesn't matter how many have worked, all it takes is one failure. As I recall NHRA's rule book specifically exempts the shoulder length portion of the ET type lug nut from their thread engagement length requirement for wheel studs and nuts.

Longer studs are available for anything, if you have a enough of a budget. ARP will make you as many or as few as you want, in almost any particular configuration. They're only "unavailable" because the budget for them isn't there. In preparing a BMW powered Elva MkVIIs for Vintage Racing we needed wheel studs because those on the car were made from junk steel, by hand with a thread die, and were very poorly made at that. ARP made us 30 studs, 15 each in two different sizes (six 7/16" per wheel in the rear, six 3/8" per wheel in the front plus some spares). They cost more than my wages for that week, but my boss and I finally felt comfortable in the owner driving the car at speed.

 

[TAG2]

Looking at the front lugs, engagement was much better @ 5/8" vs. 3/8" for the rear. I prefer to see the lug nut with full engagement but wondering if it is really necessary. What does the Bronco brain collective think?

 

[Oldtimer]

You won't like my answer.
Ford specified studs to give proper engagement for stamped steel wheels.
If you want to run thicker cast rims, you NEED longer studs.