Benjamin Choi

I have these two-piece wheels in 18s.

I'm going to be polishing up the outer lip again, but need to umount the centers from the outers before I do this work.

BBS America refuses to disclose the bolt torque settings and due to time issues, I don't want to send it to a BBS "authorized" shop and have them charge me $100 to do this work for me (I'm guessing it's ~25lb/ft). It's just a matter of having me carry a set of four big wheels in my small *** Civic that's the killer for me.

If anyone can give me a heads-up, I'd really appreciate it. It'd save me a lot of headache.

(Do not drive your car with polished lip wheels when the roads are "salted" if you don't have the discpline to wash them afterwards)

Cheers,
Ben

A930Rocket

I not sure of the number, but you will need new bolts and seal for each wheel when rebuilding them. The bolts are one time stretch bolt I'm told.

Good luck!

Benjamin Choi

i've unmounted the centers before and the work was done by a BBS authorized speedshop here in redmond, wa.

they did not say new bolts are needed

i also called BBS in Atlanta to confirm. no new bolts are needed.

cobalt

Aren't the bolts magnesium? If they are you will want to replace them or penetrant inspect them for hair line cracks. I was told not only is the proper torque setting important but the tightening sequence is critical. This is probably why they won't give you the number so you don't do it incorrrectly and have the wheel break apart at high speeds. For $100.00 I would go with the authorized shop.

Benjamin Choi

the ones i have are aluminum, not the magnesium.

and i called BBS and they tell me the sequence is not important.

just the torque specs they wouldn't give out.

good points, though.

my best bet is to take the time to measure the torque specs as i unbolt several of them...

A930Rocket

Looks like I was wrong if BBS said they weren't stretch bolts.

I was going by what I was told several years ago by a guy who specialized in them.

Good to hear because I have the mag centered type in 18".

Mike Buck

I recently bought some BBS mag race wheels from Bill Gregory. He'd just installed new bolts on all the wheels. IIRC, the torque setting was low. He definately said I should buy a torque wrench that read in in-lbs to check their tightness.

maybe Bill will chime in here

Bill Gregory

On the BBS 3 piece racing wheels, the BBS bolts are grade 12.9, are installed dry, and are torqued to 145 inch pounds. I don't know if these are the same bolts or the same torque values that other BBS non-racing wheels would use.

Benjamin Choi

Thx to everyone who has contributed so far to this thread.

Bill, a couple of questions for you:

1) Are the grade 12.9 bolts used both on the magnesium BBS 3-piece racing wheels and the aluminum BBS 2-piece wheels (e.g. the ones sold thru the Tirerack)?

2) What does installed dry mean? When the authorized BBS dealer--speed shop here in Redmond, WA that did the work previously on my wheels--performed the work, they told me sequence was not important and that the only thing you needed to do is use lock-tite on each of the bolts.

The quest to find the value is proving to be rather challenging.

Bill Gregory

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the street BBS wheels, so I can't answer if the bolts are the same or not. Installed dry means without any Loctite or other fluids. Remember that the BBS racing wheels are easily taken apart, whether to change seals, replace halves, or refresh bolts, and carry no warranties at all. They are very light weight, and are not intended for road use, only for the track. I suspect the reason that BBS is mum on do-it-yourself street wheel rebuilding are the potential liability issues.

Benjamin Choi

Tried to contact BBS Atlanta again to see if someone would spill the beans, but no. You're exactly right why they're keeping it on the DL re: torque settings.

I can't imagine it's any special kind of science. It's just regular bolts on aluminum. So it looks like I'll have to fork over $75 to have the local "BBS authorized" speed shop do it. I say it's worth it just for peace of mind.

But then I feel like I'm getting bent over for some monkey to use a torque wrench and some loctite doing some menial screw job while sipping on a Bud.

A930Rocket

Damn! That sounds just like me. Do I know you?

Benjamin Choi

Going by the input I've received from various sources, it looks like the value is right around 18-20 ft/lbs for the BBS LMs. Not installed dry. Use Loctite.

FisterD

I have 2 piece 18" Sport design wheels that are made for Porsche by BBS. I took them to a local sport tuning shop. The guy there, told me he finally talked to someone at BBS and found out that they should be tourqed to 25lb/ft. He checked all of mine, andmany where loose!

A930Rocket

How does inch/lbs compare to ft/lbs?

What is the conversion formula?

Just wondering how 145 inch pounds compares to 18-20 or 25 foot pounds as stated above?