Next time you remove a wheel, I invite you to put some energy into your wheel studs (that’s mental energy, not wheel torque energy). The wheel nuts on our Spridgets (all Bugeyes through rubber bumper Midgets 1958-1980) should be torqued 38 pounds each. The entire universe is designed to torque to more foot pounds than that, and if any modern shop gets anywhere near your Spridget (unless you have a technician with old car experience), chances are good your studs will be stressed by too much torque. Modern equipment is just plain over-built for our application. As a result, it’s not hard to over-torque Spridget wheel nuts and damage the threads of the lug nut and/or the lug stud, and this can create a serious safety issue.
It’s difficult for some people to spot a stretched stud. They don’t always look as obviously stretched as above. More commonly, you might see some loose threads ripped out of the lug nut if an over-torque event has occurred. Keep an eye on this next time you remove a wheel from your car and see if anything looks out of sorts. If a new lug nut catches as you thread it onto the stud, that could be a sign that the threads are damaged.
Make sure that if you bring your car to a tire shop, for example, that you advise them the proper torque for the wheels is only 38 pounds, and that you want your nuts torqued with a hand-held torque wrench and not an impact gun. If you have any feeling that your Studs are elongated or stretched, make sure to change them, along with your lug nuts, the next time you have the wheels off your car.
We had a call this week from a customer who called to purchase a single wheel stud, and when I asked him why, he said that he torqued the stud properly, and it broke. This is a major red flag… his stud sheared at the proper torque because it had been damaged previously by someone who had over-torqued and stretched it. That means that all 16 of the studs (and potentially the lug nuts as well) were likely damaged at the same time in the same event, and even though all of his lug nuts were now properly tightened to 38 pounds as a result of his attention to this matter, he is taking a chance by leaving those studs in place, and I’d encourage anyone in a similar situation to change all 16 studs and lug nuts with safety in mind. We offer new studs and nuts in our parts catalog; click the photos below to get yours, or click here for our full catalog!
So be a good detective. Keep this in the back your mind, and I wish you a wonderful Spridget holiday season!
