2nd gen: Supernow hubs and longer wheel studs
 

As some of you 2nd gen. owners know, SuperNow from Japan makes replacement front wheel hubs for our cars (http://www.rhdjapan.com/super-now-st...set-fc3s-54461). Last time I checked, their prices were cheaper than stock hub units by a far margin and claim better strength and lightness. (I doubt that last part but whatever)

Since they were economically feasible, I purchased a set to replace by aging stock ones when putting in my new suspension. Unfortunately, the custom coilover setup I built had some rubbing issues, forcing me to use wheel spacers. This inadvertently reduced the usable length of the wheel studs leading me to purchase a set of longer ones by ARP (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/AR...t=ARP-100-7708).

Today I went to the machine shop with the intent of pressing out the stock-length studs on the SuperNow hubs when I noticed that the knurled portion was different from the stock size.

http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/w...x/DSC03557.jpg

Checking on the interweb, I learned that this odd size used by SuperNow only matches the studs used by the Celica GTS. Unfortunately, I cannot find longer studs for this application. (http://www.arp-bolts.com/catalog/Cat...talog_0066.pdf)

So now I am thinking- should I machine some new holes to press in the ARP studs I already have or just redo my stock hubs. If I choose the latter, I'll need to redo the bearings too.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Peace.

What about having the machine shop make you some studs that are longer and match the SuperNow one's.

i would jsut call ARP and ask them. the knurl is all that matters, so just ask for 2.5" studs with a matching knurl. the only 563 knurl i found in google is some moroso studs that say "dont use spacers" (aka poor quality)

If that knurl purtrudes the hub and makes contact with the spacer, that would be bad. But if the spacer can fit over the knurl, you should be OK.

THe other thing to do could be to find an even longer stud and shorten it.

Or machine the knurl down.

dont forget about the brake rotor ;)

Seems more of a pain to machine five studs than drill five holes, methinks.

So you think ARP wouldn't mind making custom studs? I suppose I could look into the Moroso ones- I need to double check the dimensions to make sure its safe. Thanks.

The 0.5630" and 0.5090" refers to respective diameters of the SuperNow and ARP studs. I realize that the diagram may be misleading. Sorry for the confusion, boys.

Ah, yeah, I thought you were talking about the length of the knurl

not custom studs... but they could prolly find a stud in production that works for you. chances are something out there uses the same knurl

I'll call them tomorrow I guess. When I checked their catalog, the Celica was the only model with the proper knurl dimensions but the length of the studs isn't any longer.

Update: So after a few phone calls and talking to people at the machine shop, I have decided to go ahead with my original idea of drilling the ten holes. It will be a bit costly (about $150) and time consuming to set up everything but I think it will be for the better.

I had found several other studs with the correct knurl diameter but those would require me purchase another set of lug nuts as they are of a different thread size and pitch. The price of this option would be under $100 including the new lug nuts but seems to be too much hassle.

The other option I had was to use studs for another Mazda (I don't remember which one) but that would require me to purchase 3 sets of studs (They are sold in packs of 4). These would have the desired total length and 12x1.5 thread but the price for three sets ($120) would bring me close to price for drilling new holes.

Update: I went with the machining and had new holes drilled into the hubs. The pictures below speak for themselves.

http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/w...x/DSC03602.jpg

I noticed that the the hub is about the same weight as the stock one, and regret not weighing everything out right now. This is contrary to SuperNow's claims that their product is lighter... oh well.

I am also a little concerned about the strength of these hubs since the lip where the wheel studs go in has a smaller thickness than the stock setup. I am pleased however with the fact that the races are MUCH easier to reach compared to the stock design.

http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/w...x/DSC03604.jpg

The installed system w/ wheel on. Those are the long gorilla nuts. The aforementioned spacer is also behind the wheel.

http://i700.photobucket.com/albums/w...x/DSC03607.jpg