Studly

Parts order came promptly from Summit Racing. In the order was exhaust parts, and the ARP extended length wheel studs. After much digging around & asking at local parts shop to look up the measurements, I figured the ARP stud set listed for Celica was a good match. The key thing is to find a good size for the knurl since these are press fit. The Celica ones here were just slightly bigger in diameter. The whole reason for this is with alloy rims, the stock studs are just barely long enough, as seen here with my old rims. Looks a little iffy, but it just makes the general rule of thumb that there should be as much thread engaged as the stud is thick. Now the deal is the new FX came with some nice Rays rims, but it’s sizing required the use of spacers on the back. I think I mentioned before that we discovered that the rear wheels were being held on by only two threads. This was no exageration, two revolutions and the lug nuts were off. Pretty lucky there wasn’t a disaster. Yikes!

For the rear, after removing wheel, brake caliper, and rotor, the rear hub easily unbolts. Just have to remember to replace the o-ring seal. This was best way as I could hammer on the studs with impunity to remove. They came out pretty easily. Installing the ARP studs was pretty simple also, just insert stud, get a lug nut, and start tightening it and it’lll pull the stud through. I had to get creative and after the studs were partially seated I installed wheel to give some extra thickness. Got one set installed tonight and the new wheel mounted up. Length is perfect! Sweet! The fronts are going to be a challenge, I really don’t want to remove the hub on the front. I may just hammer on it since the bearings in there are unknown condition anyway, or see if I can jury rig a press out of a c-clamp.