Wheel Lug Bolts - Replacement Recommendations
 

Hi Fellow 986 Owners,

Hope you all are well.

I'm preparing my 986S for a series of track days with our local PCA group. I did a visual of my wheel lug bolts over the weekend and noticed they are pretty beat up. I don't know if they were ever replaced and was wondering if they "should" be replaced as preventative maintenance and for safety reasons.

Also, is anyone here using the Porsche or Castrol Molub-Alloy paste on their wheel lug bolts? And is the recommendation of 96 ft-lb torque on the wheels lug bolts still the norm today? Thanks in advance!

bcrdukes

If you are going to continue to do track days - switch to studs and nuts. Also never lube a bolt or stud.

Oh, interesting. I read in the factory manual to use some anti-seize on the bolt which I am lead to understand to be called Mobul-Alloy (made by Castrol and is very expensive.)

Use the anti seize, we put it on every car that passes thru the shop.

Which anti-seize are you using, JFP? Would Permatex Silver suffice?

Permatex silver is fine. We like a nickel-based anti-seize which has better high temp performance.

That's the key - high temp performance. Honestly - there is no benefit to it though. Since you're going to be checking and torquing your bolts constantly. On a vehicle where the lug nuts or bolts are not touched for a long time and it doesn't see the temps you do on track - it might make sense.

Ok, given that...

I have two sets of wheels. First set are what I believe are the original 17" factory staggered wheels on run-of-the-mill street tires. The second set I bought from a local PCA member had winter tires on them and also the 17" factory staggered setup.

Given that the winter tires are 10+ years old, and I don't drive the car in the winter/snow, I will put on some Hankook RS4s on them and run them only for DE days. I plan on swapping back to street tires after a DE weekend.

Get some wheel studs. ECS Tuning has fairly inexpensive sets in a veriety of lengths that are easy to install with a hex wrench. Swapping wheels is much easier with them.

also, bet happy with what wheels and tires you are going to run. once you start adding spacers then you can run out of thread pretty quick.

I was thinking of adding my H&R spacers back onto the car (7mm/15mm respectively) but perhaps not a great idea.

Another reason for switching to studs, they come in different lengths. You can customize to the spacer sizes.

In the end, they end up being a track consumable, needing to be replaced periodically - The nuts do as well.

I been getting mine from:

http://race-studs.com/

Good link MaxD.
How hard are they to replace when they are loctited in?
Can you install without removing the rotors?
Thanks,

Pretty easy and is done with rotors in-place. I've removed a couple sets from one car to put on another. Use BLUE loktite when installing.

Once you switch over to wheel studs, is it easy to remove them later down the road?

yes. As I said, I've installed, removed, then reinstalled on different car. No big deal.

I wouldn't use blue. From my understanding, under high heat during track use, it can actually turn into a lubricant that could make them loosen up.

Use RED loctite.

Removing them will be a pain (remove rotor, heat hub with torch), but you don't want them coming loose on track.

Exactly. Use a high temp Loctite. Color is irrelevant. Type is more important.

This "blue" is good for 650 degrees.
https://www.lawsonproducts.com/Loctite/2422-Ultra-High-Temperature-Threadlocker-Blue/1383606.lp

This red is good for 450 degrees.

https://www.amazon.com/Loctite-492143-Temperature-Threadlocker-36-Milliliter/dp/B0002KKTR2

I'm going by the instructions and have never had any issues.
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