I change my wheels 20 plus times a year and since I purchased a set of new wheels from MB Motorsports- Weapons- I have broken a number. I changed out all of them thinking that I had fatuiged the bolts. I am now breaking the new ones and have only changed about dis sets. This seems odd. I went down to the dealer who sold the set and he finds that the reccomended bolt is the tapered version I have on our Touring wheels and the SSR wheels. It might be a coincedence but I have not broken the studs with the other wheels. I use a torque wrench set at 80 lbs.

Any ideas or experiences.

 

That is very odd. I'm assuming you're using the supplied bolts that came with the wheels and not using the ssr bolts with the MB bolts and vice versa. One trick that I found is to use some anti-seize on the studs. I haven't broken a stud since I've been using it. I really hate changing stus.
Someone did point out that using anti seize can change the torque spec since it's adding less friction which does make a little sense. The cheapest place that I've found for the anti-seize is NAPA. They sell it by the jar unlike kragen that just sells those little packets.
You can borrow some of mine if you want to give it a try.

 

I agree, that sort of failure is quite odd. There is something else going on if you are actually snapping new studs. I'd start by looking at the obvious causes: has your torque wrench been calibrated recently? Check your wheels for the proper lug nut shape and offset. One thing is certain: a nasty accident could occur with a stud failure at speed!

 

Calibrate the torque wrench. Make sure it is a quality wrench. Also, make sure you are not tightening when the wheels/studs are hot.

 

I'm just guessing but are you using hub centric rings with those wheels? If not thats the reason.

 

So you would not retorque bolts after I start a track day. Only after the wheels hav had a chance to cool.

Thanks for the feed back. I have not had the torque wrench calibrated. I will do that.

 

Informal testing has shown us a difference of 20 to 25 pounds of difference between hot and cold torque settings with our wheels and brake setup. In other words, our wheels, torqued to 90 pounds cold, will only need about 65 pounds when torqued hot to achieve the same cold torque setting...

 

I torqued mine hot to 85 lbs so htat might have been it.

I do have hub centric wheels so I know this is not the issue.

Great feed back.

 

I want to add that our readings were after a bit of a cool down period, which I can't remember exactly, so YRMV.

 

I agree with the suggestion to use anti-sieze. I change my wheels perhaps even more than 20 times per year, sometimes 3 times in a single weekend (I have four sets - orginal OEM for the street, a set for auto-x, a set for the track and a set for open road racing). I have never had a problem.

I also agree with Racin not to torque to the same spec hot as cold. I torque mine to 95 ft-lbs cold and leave them alone (no more than that or you might warp rotors). Never had any issues with studs at all. I have checked the torque after they are hot and they definite are not as tight when hot, but still acceptable (but I didn't record any readings).