Lug bolts

Ok so all the lug bolts I have seen listed are in mm by in. I am assuming the mm is the width and the inches is the length. Am I right? And also what is the lug size on a K-car?

AFAIK, the k car used 12.x 1.5mm lug nuts. Not bolts.

12 X 1.5 X 20 Bolt?

12 = o/s diameter (major dia.)

1.5 = pitch (distance from one thread to the next)

20 = threaded length

I've owned/driven 2 cars out of DOZENS that had lug bolts: a '49 Plymouth, and a '74 Audi Fox. Ooops, three cars, a '74 914. I don't know when Chrysler "ditched" lug bolts, but what's up with the Germans?

There used to be a company that sold a bolt to nut conversion (insert joke here?)....I doubt they are still in business.

I do not see the problem with bolts.. all of my cars use them and it works just as well as anything.

It is also probably cheaper and stronger to use bolts.. with nuts you need a pressed in or screwed in stud. One more item to fail between you and the wheel falling off

Since I haven't had a flat tire to change in ages, yeah, it can be a trade-off "bolt vs nut". But that first cold, dark, rainy/sleety(?) night when you have to change a tire on the side of a road....with a dead flashlight, makes you want to curse the idiot who thought they need to continue using a bolt.

FWIW, the Plymouth I owned also had "directional" lug bolts....you do NOT want to use the left side bolt on the right side of the car, they are very easily cross-threaded.

the only real problem with bolts is the chance of cross threading... the expense of fixing has got to be greater than that of a cross threaded nut...

and + 1 on the "directional" lug bolts on the old Plymouths... I had a '50 and a '51

integraguy wrote: There used to be a company that sold a bolt to nut conversion (insert joke here?)....I doubt they are still in business.

For VW's and MINI's there are a few companies making bolt to stud conversion kits.

Those bolts are a pain, especially with spacers. I drilled out the threaded holes in the hubs and pressed in 1/2 by 3" long hardened racing studs on my BMW 2002. Now I can run up to an inch of spacers and secure the wheels with those big ol Nascar style lug nuts that require a 1" socket.

So I am right in assuming that stud that goes into the nut is a 12mm.

So I am right in assuming that stud that goes into the nut is a 12mm.

Bolts are evil. Many years ago I was a 14 year old hanging out with my dad who was ice racing in upstate NY. His buddy had a Saab 96 and was spending practice trying to figure out the best combo of which tire wound up on which corner. So he's go out, run a few laps, and come in and ask me to swap left front with left rear. Times like a hundred. He stayed in the car while I did all the work. It's below freezing, I was a skinny kid (still am), trying to deal with studded snows on steel wheels lining them up so I could spear the bolts to get them started, at least get two started so I could stop trying to spear while also holding the wheel up to the brake drum. And of course we had no power tools, just a breaker bar. I was too polite to quit but wasn't as enthusiastic about joining my dad on future trips to the ice races.

I made a stud out of a long 12mm bolt when I did road side assistance. Thread it in one hole, line up the wheel, put in a couple others, unthread my stud and replace with bolt. It made it very easy to install a wheel in the dark.

IIRC the old Ply. had a little stob that fit in a hole in the wheel that allowed you to rotate and align the wheel to the hub and insert the bolts with little trouble... may have some 40yo faulty memory going on here...