kael

Howdy all.

I'm making the chase that seems like it should be easy and ends up being PITA and $$$$.

Simple, C4 front wheel bearings/hubs with slightly longer studs. Any pointers on finding these without paying a bank? Buying typical bearings and whacking some studs found by miracle seems to double the cost of the bearings. For little bolts?!?

+5mm for $150 a set?!?

I noted the ET style lug nuts, whose $$ makes Sense and Does the same thing, Keep my damn wheel in place. And yet those have a shank diameter just 1mm too big.

How is putting custom wheels on such a PITA without paying some designer $$$$$$$$$?

SDF

If you don't have to replace your bearings....knock your old studs out and replace them with ARP studs of the length you choose. You can draw the new studs in with an impact wrench. Just take your time....use an old lug nut and a 1 or 2 inch piece of pipe that is a little bigger than the stud. Or take the bearings all off and use a press or have someone press them in for you.

kael

Whining complete.

Tweaking, necessary part replacements vs Nasty Mother Nature and the Hideous Greedy IRS makes me a big, nasty, cussing, whiner.

Car on stands in the garage, inability to drive, 60F+ suddenly and "Holy ****, I have to pay $$$$$?" is just mean.

Oh, wait, I was DUN whining. Damn.

WVZR-1

I did the GM longer studs on the REAR of my '90. I needed to grind the head slightly to install with hubs on the car. It requires a very slight champher and is no issue. Longer studs on the front I've no idea.

***A friend has a very nice stud remover he uses for heavier trucks and I used it for removal.

MatthewMiller

Even if you have to replace the bearings, just do this anyway. It's easy to do with the hub/bearing assemblies not yet installed. It takes a little time, but it's not an eternity. You can use a pipe or washer stack as SDF wrote, or you can even just use an open lug nut with a single washer if your impact socket is long enough. Or, for that matter, just do that method with a box wrench or ratcheting box wrench. You don't need he-man levels of torque to pull the splined studs into the hub surfaces. The old ones will also knock out pretty easily. Just make sure to support the hub flange directly, so that the bearing doesn't take the force of the hammer blows.

RandomTask

I run the ARP 100-7708's on the race car. They're ~$120 a set but worth it. I run Timken wheel bearings as well.

First, quality. This isn't a part to skimp out on. I track the car and run spacers; losing a wheel at 120mph because I didn't want to drop another $50 is stupid. Second, I've run centrics and other brand wheel bearings. The quality is completely noticeable. Timkens have very similar resistance. The centrics, I could grab one bearing, spin it, and it would go for 10seconds, if I did the same on another, it would instantly stop.


If you aren't tracking the car, and want to save, I'd at least do a good quality bearing in the rear as they're more of a pain the change where as the fronts can be done in a couple of minutes.

Also, as stated, use a press to get the studs out and the new ones in.

kael

Thanks for the reminder, I keep telling myself the same. Was afraid of the Centrics too, good to hear I was right.

How bad is cutting a bit off the end of an ARP? I'm running closed end lugs and 2" looks a bit long, maybe.

MatthewMiller

I think doing that is going to make it harder to get the nut started when you try to thread it onto the stud. Accomplishing the cut is no big deal, but you'd have to study how to dress the freshly cut end or else you'll get really frustrated trying to install the nuts.

SDF

Thinking the factory length studs are around 2"?? Why are you wanting to cut them off?? I thought you wanted longer studs for custom wheels or the use of spacers?? Most custom wheels, if made for your application with the correct offsets will not need longer studs.....

kael

No worries for me, grinder and metric thread file in my tool box.

I think the 2" will work, that's about 50ishmm, the stock are 41mm. Unless, of course, the measurement 2" isn't THAT measurement. Seems one needs the physical bit to be able to get the right measurements.