Studs or Lugnuts?

[hemifalcon]

I have a 1962 Beetle sedan that will have a bit more go in it than the original 40hp engine had when new. I have put new brakes on it, and had the tranny given the 'pro-street' treetment from Der Transaxle, and I want to ensure the rest of the drivetrain will be ready for about 120-150 horse hits with the go pedal. Is there a definitive recommendation to use lug studs rather than lugnuts? I've got Centerline rims, and was thinking that is probably a better and stronger alternativer, but in reality, how much stronger? If anyone has any suggestions, I"d be interested in hearing them!
Thanks,
John

[clarkbre]

Use the studs with lugnuts. It doesn't matter so much about how much power your putting to the wheels or anything. It's the fact that you want the wheels on as secure as you can get. I bought a set of Empi's and even with those you should use the stud/lugnut kit.

Think of it this way:

If you are mounting a shelf on a wall, would you want just a few threads of the screws in or would you want to get a good 1-2" into the wall? The same applies to wheels and tires. You're talking about mounting the 4 stable points of the car with just a few threads into the brake drum. Personally, I'd rather have the piece of mind that it was done right with studs that go in farther than a few threads.

If not for your car and your own safety do it for the other drivers on the road. I'd be pissed if I got hit by a tire rolling down the highway because someone didn't bolt it on good enough.

[hemifalcon]

Thanks. I don't know if this makes any sense. But if you install lugs, and lugnuts on those, you are eventually in a way making a chain of pieces which are all doing the same thing as the stock design bolts that vw uses. IF you use an aftermarket bolt type fix like vw designed which are longer, and extend all the way into jusr short of touching the brake pads( i had to grind mine down a little bit because of this), that is one item doing the same thing as two pieces? I don't know, I'm not an engineer, but I am just looking for what is the best way of doing this. I see all the racers use studs as opposed to the original vw design, but this is just a question. I don't believe VW thought they were endangering people on the road when they went to this design while all the other auto makers in the world were using the lugnut on stud design.
-my 2 cents-

[ivsamhell]