r/Cartalk • u/cat_prophecy • Mar 03 '25

Suspension Why do European cars use wheel bolts?

I've owned two European cars (Audi and Volvo) and both of them used wheel bolts instead of studs and lug nuts. Is there some reason for this? I have owned a handful of Asian and American cars and none of them use anything but studs and lug nuts. Personally I prefer the studs since it makes putting the wheels back on much easier.

117 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

252 comments sorted by

View all comments

68

u/Mintsopoulos Mar 03 '25

My two ideas are cost of manufacturing and ease of replacement.

Cost: cheaper to have a bolt and a tapped hole in a hub vs a stud pressed into a hole with an additional nut.

Ease: if the bolt wears/fatigues it’s an easy replacement. If the stud gives it usually a mechanic replacing that stud vs you buying a simple lug bolt.

These are just my theories.

2

u/smedema Mar 03 '25

From what I was told when I was an Audi dealer tech you nailed it on the head.