The Stickman

Ok we are putting new wheels and tires on the wife's car and I noticed how small the wheel studs are. I have heard GM made them larger after 1979 which is what this car is. So could I just drill out the hub and drum on the rear and the brake rotor/hub on the front and put new larger ones in?

gearheads78

they went to 12mm studs in 1982. I am not sure if the knurl was the same of not.

joe_padavano

I'm not sure where you want to go with wheel studs. The 1/2-20 studs used on the earlier cars are nearly 13mm, so that's a small upgrade. You can also get 5/8" diameter racing studs, which require machining to install.

The bigger question is, why do you think you need them? A 1/2-20 grade 8 wheel stud has a shear allowable of 14,560 lbs. In the 5 x 5" bolt circle, the five wheel studs can carry over 15,000 ft-lbs of torque per wheel. Can your tires put this to the ground without spinning?

The Stickman

Well the reason I thought it might be a problem is I took off the current Cragar wheels and went to put on a regular wheel and was going to use regular lugnuts and they slid stright over the studs. You could put the nut over the stud and not have them touch each other. I thought that a bit small.

gearheads78

Your wifes car uses 7/16 studs. All cars with 5 on 4.75 did until the change in 1982 metric 12mm studs were used.

joe_padavano

DOH! I was thinking of Stick's Custom Cruiser, not the Cutlass Cruiser.

The Stickman

I decided just to use the 7/16th ones. They are small but we don't plan on huge hp for her car anyway. Not yet anyway. Now mine I do have secret plans for.