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Are wheel bolts strong enough to wear the giant load during driving? What if my wheel bolts seem to be broken? What cause the 2022 BMW i4 wheel bolts to break? How to select high-quality wheel bolt kits for my 2022 BMW i4? How to decide on the new wheel bolts for my aftermarket wheels of the 2022 BMW i4? Do you have these worries? Let’s see some working principles of wheel bolts, and discuss the useful solution against bolt breaking.
What Cause the 2022 BMW i4 Wheel Bolts To Break?
The breaking of wheel bolts will cause terrible damage to your 2022 BMW i4 – the loosen of wheels, or even doing harm to the axle hub. So what are the common reasons for the breaking? The quality of wheel bolts and the torque applied to installation are responsible. When it comes to the quality of wheel bolts, there are several concepts to figure out – Elastic Deformation, Plastic Deformation, and Yield Strength. Elastic Deformation is a temporary deformation of a material’s shape, in this case, is the temporary deformation of wheel bolts. It can be self-reversing after removing the force. Within the elastic limit, wheel bolts can keep their shapes to ensure safe working. Once the force pass this limit, which is called the ultimate yield strength, the shape of wheel bolts will go into plastic deformation – the shape cannot self-reverse after removing the load. Once the plastic deformation happens, wheel bolts fail to work. That is to say, ultimate yield strength is the vital index to judge a high-performance wheel bolt. The higher the index is, the higher load wheel bolt can wear. The ISO standard is formulated to detect and evaluate the capability of whee bolts, of which grade 12.9 is the best. When you’re browsing aftermarket wheel bolts for your 2022 BMW i4, don’t forget to take these indicators into consideration.
Another aspect that may lead 2022 BMW i4 wheel bolts to break is the excessive or insufficient torquing to the wheel bolts when installing. There’s also a concept to be mentioned – Clamp Load. Clamp Load is created by the tightening wheel bolts and the mated surfaces. The friction between the two surfaces and the force between wheel bolts and clamping surfaces(Clamp Load) makes surfaces resist the movement. This is just how the bolt joint works. However, if there is variation in the system, the balance will be broken. The Clamp Load can be measured by a torque wrench, but the universal use of impact wrench causes 3 to 5 times of specified wheel bolts torque. And adding the lubrication and anti-seizing compounds to the thread of studs will intensify this dread torque.
If there are items like rust between the clamping surfaces, the friction cannot reach and the balance between bolt torque and Clamp Load will also be changed. The low quality of wheel studs, wheel bolts, and the impact wrench may increase the risk of loosening. Make sure you purchase the studs and bolts with the hard anodizing finish and are proved by 192H neutral salt test, and the impact wrench is made of great material and can supply the moderate air pressure, otherwise, a Soft Joint will be caused.
Should I Choose New Wheel Bolts For My 2022 BMW i4?
No matter you change the wheel bolts for stronger and safer tightening, notable appearance, or fitment with the aftermarket wheels, don’t forget to figure out the specs of your bolt pattern. The bolt thread of the 2022 BMW i4 is M14×1.25, the seating type is cone-seat, and the hex size is 17mm. These specs are very vital for the choice of new wheels and wheel bolts, which can be found in your user manual. In these several situations below, you’d better consider changing the original wheel bolt kits.
- Assumed you want to upgrade your factory wheels with aftermarket wheels, pay attention to the seating type of the aftermarket one because it determines whether your wheels could tighten with the axle or not. Generally speaking, the majority of aftermarket wheels are designed with cone-seat for widespread use. However, certain vehicles like Mercedes Benz, Audi, and Bentley also use round-seat.
- Moreover, if you had modified your brakes, suspension, fender line, or adjusted the camber, the rubbing issues probably occur. Two more convenient solutions are changing the wheels with moderate ET, or installing bolt-on wheel spacers to generate a moderate offset. No matter which way you go, the bolt thread probably needs changing. The former choice is just like the first point we mentioned. And to add wheel spacers, you will need extended wheel bolts to support the additional length of the wheel spacers.
- Another significant point is the convenient installation and removal. I bet many people driving lug-bolt fastener vehicles are bothered with the difficult installation and removal of wheels. You have to seat on the ground, use your legs as a lever to free your hands to moderate. With a set of stud conversion kits, your wheels can be installed and disassembled as easily as lug-nut fastener vehicles. The short end of the thread on the stud conversion is tightened to the axle with specified data and torque, and the long thread end is used to bolt the wheels on with the matching nuts.
- The last purpose is replacing the worn-out factory wheel bolts. Long-term moderation without maintenance will make your 2022 BMW i4 wheel bolts corrode and badly worn. So regular inspection and timely replacement after certain miles is essential, especially before and after a long journey.
How to Judge a High-quality Set of 2022 BMW i4 Wheel Bolts?
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, to distinguish whether a set of wheel bolts are high-performance or not, refer to the indicators such as ultimate yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, fatigue strength, proof load, hardness, corrosion resistance, wear resistance, etc. The higher the data is, the more outstanding it will be. A high-end 2022 BMW i4 wheel bolt is always one-body machined with forging crafts. The appearance is glossy without any trace, which makes wheel bolts have a more hard structure. With high-performance wheel bolts, the torque you need to apply on them is as standard as specified one. Once you torque in place and have a re-check after installation, the possibility of vibration and friction is negligible.
