LUG BOLTS, Lost Options

[72914S]

Last night on my way to the local car showoff(pictures next time) I lost a lug bolt ,left side,I know I had retightened them as per the topic earlier this week,95 ft.lbs. Is this a common thing for them to loosen up?One more thing, everytime I use my right turn signal it blows the fuse; any ideas?

[Blake]

Lug bolts, eh? I hate lug bolts (IMG:style_emoticons/default/barf.gif)

Don't you guys replace them with studs and lug nuts? Obviously this is not a concours-kosher mod, but it certainly saves a lifetime of frustration (5 minutes at a time) when swapping rims/tires.

BTW, if you do a lot of wheel/tire swapping (or just pull them frequently for things like brake bleeding, or whatever), buy long studs and then grind off the excess threads and lightly chamfer the ends. This makes it so much easier to shove the wheels on there and provides place for the lug nuts to rest before you tighten them down (it also aligns them properly, if you are using an air gun). Our Grand Am Cup car -- in typical endurance racing form -- has lug nuts that are about two inches longer. We "glue" the lug nuts to the wheels with weatherstrip adhesive and then, when shoving on the wheel, the nuts pop off the rim but remain resting on the ends of the lug studs, ready to be zipped down with the air gun. Works like a charm. Probably a bit excessive for a street car, but a moderate interpretation (say, half an inch or so longer) is not a bad idea on any car, IHMO.