Hey guys/gals;
I have finally found a 22" wheel that I really like (both looks and price) but it is going to require I use a 1/4" spacer at least for the front.
I have searched and read all the other wheel spacer/stud threads and still have a few questions I would love a little help on....

First: these require a little longer lug stud, so I have ordered 20x ARP lexus IS350 wheel studs that are longer and fit the wheel...question: does anyone have experience in changing out these studs? I have read that there is a clearance hole in the backing plate through which each stud can be pounded out (on the front wheels), but nobody seems to know what it takes to replace the rear studs - do you?

Second: Would anyone recommend using wheel spacers on the front and NOT spacing out the rears (I want to do it for symmetry reasons, not required for fit)?

Third: Do you guys like these? Hate them if you want, but I just cant seem to stop loving the way these look! And they're only $300 each so I can throw them away if I dont like the way the car rides - as opposed to making a $10,000 investment in 3-piece Asanti or Giovanna's....

Thanks for your opinions, and really thanks in advance for any help with the wheel stud replacement procedure..

Z

 

20mm / 0.25"? i would highly recommend wheel adapters instead of just longer studs. get adapters, bolt on the stock studs, and bolt the wheels on to the adapter studs

wheels are same width front and rear? imho i'd probably put adapters in the back too, especially if front become so wide it's "wider" than rear

 

also, are you saying that you are using is350 studs?!?!?!!! i am not sure if that's good idea at all.... ls460 is a lot heavier and lexus specifically use different bolt pattern as well as stud design. all other lexus are 5x114 but ls460 is 5x120, and also the studs on other lexus are M12 but ls460 has M14 studs. if you use is350 studs i am not sure they are good enough to stand the stress.

 

Rominl has very good advise, but I also have a few questions, 1st, Is that a pic of the exact wheel on your car, 2nd, How do you know that wheel will require spacers? 3rd, what size (width) and offset is the wheel, 4th, if that is not a picture of your car and the wheel in question, have you tried one on? Myself or others may have some other suggestions.
p.s. roll on the wheels you like, no matter what people say, because you have to live with them. !!

 

Dammit, it looks like I am opening a can of worms with this.

I got the is350 studs based solely on one guys suggestion in an old thread where he says they are the same as the LS but only longer. That will really suck if they arrive and are M12 instead of M14....no I will not use M12 studs on this car. They are racing studs and are grade 5 bolts so I'm not worried about the material strength, just the size issue is concerning me now. Oh well, they are already ordered from Japan, and I will know when I receive them in a couple of days.
As for wheel adapters, I would go that route but the wheels I have do not have clearance holes in the back for the original studs to poke through into... and I dont really want to machine them myself. Another issue with that is that through 5 test fit tries, we have mnanaged to strip one of the original studs and I will be in there anyways replacing that so I figured I would just replace them all with these longer ones... but now I am totally up in the air as far as the IS studs go, again, I will just wait and see them to tell if they are M14 or not. They did not spec the size on the Japanese website I got them from.
The photo is the wheel bolted onto the original studs with a 1/4" spacer and the weight of the car down, so yes it is sitting the way it will sit. The problem is that the studs are so short that only about 1-1/2 turns of thread are engaged on the lugnuts, and that is not enough to make me feel good about running that way (hence the longer studs), but it was just barely OK to set the car down on them just to see how it sits.
1/4" spacers are 6.35mm, which is thinner than any of the wheel adapters I have seen on the market. Plus I have already made the 1/4" 'ers that I plan to use, so I don't really want to throw away that work. Plus, since I own a CNC machine shop I try to custom-make something for all of my cars and my Harley too, so I like the idea of having something handmade on my car.
Oh and another reason is that my spacers are 7075 aluminum and weigh under 1/2 pound each - where the adapters I have seen are steel and are probably more like 3+ pounds each. Every ounce counts when starting and stopping rotational masses. Correction, I just found a maker of alum/magnesium alloy spacer kits with extended studs, asked if he sells them for the LS460...so I could go that route. Assuming it is possible to replace these studs easily. I still have had no feedback on the rear stud replacement strategy.

Here are some photos of my options...
1 is a pic of the spacers I made (sitting on a woodgrain desk), the rest are photos I have found around different threads on this site...

Thanks again for your guys' input - thats exactly what this forum is for and this is why I love it!
Z

 

Also, I concur that I will be adding spacers to both front and rear of the car just because something really bothers me about NOT doing that... just a symmetry issue, plus I am an **** retentive engineer.

And I am sure we need spacers, because the wheel just rubs the rear control arm without them. With the spacer, I get 1/4" clearance, which is enough to make me comfortable. This has all been determined from our multiple test-fittings....

Thanks
Z

 

ah my apology, somehow i read you got 20mm spacers @_@ but yeah, for 6mm, longer studs would be enough.

1 1/2 turn on the lugs are definitely not enough, don't even risk. so now the question is how and where to get the right longer studs. let's wait on the is350 studs and see what's up, but from my understanding they'd be too "thin". i still remember when i first got the ls460l, i didn't know it's M14, i took my old lugs for the gs400/sc430 and try to fit it on and i was like wtf?!

 

Yep, yep....thanks Rominl, I will get back to this thread in a couple days to see what the actual thread is on those studs...
If they are bad I will be combing the AutoZones around here to see what else I can do for longer studs.
Will advise once I get 'em....
Z

 

at least you didn't get a set of kics r40 like i did only to find out the same - M14 not M12 for the LS even though others and some books say M12

 

ouch, that hurts man... and yeah, a set of lugs for the ls460 isn't cheap neither

 

Just got the IS300 Wheel studs, and yep, they are M12 Dammit!

I went back thru the posts where I saw you can use these, and the guy who posted that has an LS400 or LS430 - so they must have used these smaller studs on the older models. Oh well, I should have paid attention.

But it seems relatively easy to get the proper new studs in M14, thats the route I am going to go.
Thanks for the advice, guys, I will post pics once I get the wheels on there and rip a couple burnouts on them!

Z

 

hmmm i never knew the stud was thicker on the LS'. did this just happen recently? the site i usually use for vehicle bolt patterns shows that the 00+ LS ia 5x114.3 and an M12 stud. Did Lexus just change this a few years ago?

 

since 07 ls460 when it debut. ls400 and ls430 had M12. all ls460, ls460l, and ls600hl are M14

mcgard site has all the information

 

sweet, thanks for the info. guess its time to change up my source

 

Well you asked the members opinion in regards to the style of your wheels and my personal thought is that they look simply horrendous! No wheels like these should ever be placed on a LS460 or on any Lexus for that matter. I am sure the other members have not said as much in the attempt to be somewhat respectful. If you didn't have the resources or your were unwilling to spend additional money on top end wheels, then you should have left the factory wheels on as they look a thousand times better than what you currently have. Plus you wouldn't be going through all these random experiments to make sure the fitments are correct. I do think it's a smart idea to use a cheaper wheel to determine if you prefer a larger wheel and tire combination, then to shell out a large amount of money for something you may regret later. Hopefully once you get the wheels on and you like the ride and handling dynamics of the 22's you will purchase a more suitable wheel.