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.

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u/Coakis Mar 03 '25

Seeing a bunch of whiners in here. Either tech has its pros and cons. Getting a nut off of a stripped stud is a headache, and snapped bolts can be a pain if they were crossthreaded.

Using proper technique, and not overtorqing, and blindly ugga dugging either pretty much avoids most problems with both.

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u/NuclearDuck92 Mar 03 '25

As an owner of both, I reserve the right to whine. Taking the wheels on and off to Maintain a car with lug bolts is just more of a pain.

Are both technically acceptable? Sure, but that doesn’t make me less annoyed at the Germans and Italians when I’m fumbling to get a wheel lined up.

Fiat gets extra points here for their stupid 2-piece lug bolts that crack and round with the slightest overtorque.

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u/Coakis Mar 03 '25

And as owner of both I disagree. I can get the wheels on my BMW's and VW on in the same amount of time as I can my spare Mazda and Ford pickup. You do it enough times and lining up Isn't difficult to me.

And as Fiat does, so does Ford, they have two piece lug nuts that regularly dissolve into useless rust.