I am swapping to 98+ F body brakes and was wondering which wheel studs to go with. The conversion uses the stock hub, and I do not want to drill or tap, I want to use knurled studs. Which ones do I use with stock Diameter/knurl, but around 2" long? I am looking for something readily available from AutoZone or something.

I use hardware store cap screws, they are 1/2X20 and 2-2.5" long.

Originally posted by dennis68:
I use hardware store cap screws, they are 1/2X20 and 2-2.5" long. What grade might those be, just nosey.

Dennis, what is there to hold the cap screws since they are not Knurled or anything?

They are not rated. All cap screws exceed grade 12. Mine are black oxide/socket head.

The holes for the studs were tapped and I threaded them in with red locktiite.

I'm not sure what Dennis is refering to. "Cap screw" is a very generic term. Anything you commonly call a bolt could also be called a cap screw. Also, there's no such thing as grade 12. SAE grade 8 is the highest SAE has come up with. Aircraft spec hardware has an entirely different rating system, but these AN bolts do not use a two digit number and you won't find AN bolts at a hardware store. If you do tap the flange or rotor make sure you use either SAE 8 or an AN bolt meets or exceeds that spec.

If you go to a "fine" hardware store or specialty bolt store "cap screws" are commonly recognized as either socket head or Torx.

Actually there is up to grade 12.8 (mil spec).

My socket head cap came from Orchard supply, they stopped selling the fully threaded versions however and have forced me to source specialty vendors, and they are exactly the same as the bolts OSH used to sell.

Okay, I'm going to have to confess my ignorance. I'm not familiar with the hardware Denny is using but it sounds good. Metrics use the ISO grading system which goes up to 12.9, which is one bitchin' bolt--exceeds SAE 8. Does GM use metric studs on their newer (98 F body) cars? Also, are bolts with US threads also being graded ISO these days?

Also, no one has mentioned an obvious source for the studs--a Chevy dealer. They won't be as cheap as Autozone but the quality will be there.

Also, ARP sells wheel studs. I'm not sure of the SAE/ISO ratings of their studs but you can be sure it's very high.

Yeah, that's the biggest problem with the swap is that the studs are metric meaning you have to run half 12mm and half 7/16".

Moroso and a few others make long studs, 7/16X20 with the correct spline diameter. I don't think there is a part store swap. We have discussed this before and I don't recall a simple solution.

But which studs to use WITHOUT having to drill or Tap?

Originally posted by Deadcarny:
But which studs to use WITHOUT having to drill or Tap? posted 02-20-2005 10:51 PM
Moroso and a few others make long studs, 7/16X20 with the correct spline diameter. I don't think there is a part store swap. We have discussed this before and I don't recall a simple solution.

Okay Denny, what is teh correct spline Diameter? I have seen 2 different diameter splines for 7/16x20... Sorry about all this, but the front end can be back together tomorrow!