Ever get tired of trying to balance your wheel on the hub while threading in wheel bolts one-by-one? Do your wheel changes take forever on race day due to the way VW designed wheels to attach to the hubs? With this DIY from midwestjetta, now you can make wheel changes a cinch with his lug bolt to lug nut conversion guide.

Materials Needed:

• (16) studs 12×1.5 thread pitch (for 4 lug) - available from Gear Works Mfg
• (20) studs 14×1.5 thread pitch (for 5 lug) - available from Gear Works Mfg
• open ended lug nuts with appropriate thread pitch
• Red Loctite

Tools Needed:

• Allen keys/sockets
• Torque wrench

Estimated Time: 30 minutes install, 24 hour set period

Procedure:

Loosen lugs to remove wheels. Jack up the car and put it on jackstands. This is important because you need to leave the car up over night after installing the studs.

Remove wheels and lug bolts. Clean threads inside the hubs. Also make sure your new studs are clean.

Take one of the new studs you purchased and smother the short end of the threads in red Loctite. If you don’t do this, the studs probably won’t stay in very long.

Insert the stud into the hole and thread it with your hand at first to ensure proper threading.

The studs I purchased had an allen key hole in the outward facing side. You can use this to tighten the stud into place. If you do not have this provision in your studs, you can thread two nuts onto the stud facing each other. The nuts then tighten against each other and tighten the stud into the hub.

There is no specific torque spec to tighten the studs to, so thread the studs all the way in, then slightly further so that the threads start to dig into unthreaded territory. This method was recommend by Bildon. They said it was the best way to insert the studs, though 20 ft-lbs. is a decent torque spec for those that want one.

Repeat the previous steps until all studs are in.

Red Loctite takes 10 minutes to cure and 24 hours to set completely set. Leave the car on jackstands for 24 hours to allow the Loctite to do it’s work.

After 24 hours have passed, you’re good to put on your new open ended lug nuts and wheels. Torque the lug nuts to 85 ft-lbs. You must use open ended lug nuts due to the length of the studs. It’s possible that close ended lug nuts might hit the end of the stud.

Continue to check the studs for tightness periodically over the next 200 miles. Now you’ve got a Mk3 with wheel studs and open ended lug nuts, making wheel changes simpler and faster.

Words and Photos: midwestjetta

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