So I purchases an extra set of R98's because the set that came on my car had road rash. I changed then out and decided to take the old ones apart and have the centers powder coated black. Now that I have done that, I want to put them into the rims that I have on my car. Here's the problem though. So far, I have broken 2 studs on 1 wheel. 2 more are stuck. I can't even tighten them back up. They are breaking when I remove them. Has anybody encountered this problem before. Has anybody had luck with a machinist extracting the bolts? I could really use some help from anybody who may have had the same bad luck as me. I'm tempted to stop and just stick with what I have. I have one barrel from my old set that is rash free. I could have my tire mounted back on it and just break what ever studs I have to to get the silver center off. Anybody want to buy some black powder coated r98 centers?

 

pictures? If the bolts break you can replace them. In what way are they stuck?

 

I had that happen several years ago on a car I used to own. The lugs had been over-tightened, probably with an unregulated air-wrench, and my case was like yours in that they broke while being removed.

I would think that you could have a garage remove them, and then replace them with new bolts and tighten to spec, and no more.

Best of luck,

Spridget

 

The studs that are broke are the studs that hold the centers to the barrels. I need to find a machine shop who can drill out titanium studs I guess.

 

You can drill out titanium studs with regular bits, Titanium is like aluminum, it has a better weight to strength ratio then steel. But that doesn't mean its stronger then steal. It's Tungsten carbide thats hard to drill. Even tooling steel is harder then titanium.

Basicly it comes down to this, If you have 3 foot long steel dowel and a 3 foot long titanium dowel. Both rated at the same strength the Diameter on the titanium dowel will be larger, but they will both weigh the same.

So if you don't feel like drilling them out yourself, take it too any machine shop.

 

Ah, sorry. I misunderstood your original post. Interesting... knowing that these studs were installed by the wheel manufacturer thickens the plot. Perhaps they were meant to be "permanently" fitted, and they used a really strong threadlocker or something. Or maybe the manufacturer overtightened them... whatever the case, it makes me wonder about the overall strength of the wheel, if the assembly studs can be broken so easily.

Cheers,

Spridget