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My Corolla 1999 came with original steel rims, I'm not sure if there was an option for aluminum rims at that time. Recently I want to buy some used aluminum rims but the question is if the current wheel studs are long enough to tighten the lug nuts ? The current wheel studs are 3 or 4 threads outside the lug nuts with the steel rims on. I guess that length is not enough to adapt aluminum rims but I would like an answer from someone who has experienced this. Thank you very much!

Oops I have updated a picture and looks like the studs are only 1 thread left outside the nuts. And look at the shaft protruding from the hub, I'm wondering if possible to put on the hub cab of the aluminum rims?

enter image description here

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    What kind of lug nuts are you going to be using? Also, pictures would be worth a 1000 words here.
    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 ♦
    Commented Mar 9, 2015 at 0:57
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    I'm with Paul - a photo would help! Usually, the studs are the same across all the models, but the nuts will be different for the different types of wheel (often a different chamfer).
    – Nick C ♦
    Commented Mar 9, 2015 at 14:53

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In order to fit a different size or type of wheel to a car, four things need to be compatible:

  • Pitch Circle Diameter (PCD) - this is the number and distance between the nuts/studs, e.g. 4x100 (4 studs, 100mm diameter). This needs to be the same for both old and new wheels.

  • Centre bore diameter - the size of the hole in the middle of the wheel. If it's too small, it won't fit over the hub, and if it's too big, it'll be a loose fit - neither are wise...

  • Offset - How far in or out the wheel is from the hub - This doesn't usually need to be exactly the same, but too big a difference will have a bad effect on handling, may cause the tyre to hit the arches, and might not fit over brake calipers etc.

  • Stud/Nut size - Your problem in this case. Alloy wheels are thicker than steels, so generally need a longer amount of stud. You generally need to have around 1.5x the diameter of the stud engaged with the nut (so about 18mm for a 12mm diameter stud, for example) - if there is less than that you will need to replace the studs with longer ones. You will probably also need new nuts, as it is likely that the chamfer will be different between alloys and steels.

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  • Many '90's Toyotas with alloy wheels used flat washer lugnuts.
    – Brian Knoblauch
    Commented Dec 16, 2015 at 17:08

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