Conical vs. Ball Lugz

**IamEzraM** · 11-01-2008 02:39 PM

aftermarket B5 RS4 replicas; do they take conical-seat lug nuts or ball-seat lug nuts ? I've heard from some people they take OEM ball-seat lug nuts, but I swear it looks like they have a conical seat after a closer look. I measured my stock lugs and they are 14x1.5x35mm and definitely ball seats, yet seem to tighten just fine on the RS4 rims. Any input is appreciated!

**audimeister** · 11-01-2008 02:48 PM

Depends on the manufacturer. Hartmann and some others use ball seats, others don't. You can definitely tell by looking/feeling.

Ball seats are better, b/c you can install your spare without needing an extra set of lug in the car. I'm sure there's an engineering reason why Audi uses them in the first place.

**mholme** · 11-01-2008 03:17 PM

Originally Posted by audimeister

Depends on the manufacturer. Hartmann and some others use ball seats, others don't. You can definitely tell by looking/feeling.

As far as I know, Hartmann and most aftermarket wheels are conical seat, not ball seat. Don't know if that's a typo in your post or what, but my Hartmann RS4's are deffinitely cone seat..

**audimeister** · 11-01-2008 06:57 PM

Their B7 Rs4 wheels are ball seats. I shouldn't have generalized to their entire line.

**IamEzraM** · 11-01-2008 09:21 PM

They are not the Hartmann DTS, they have center caps and have both 5x100 and 5x112 bolt patterns drilled. They do say Made in Italy on the inside, im not even sure what they are.

**mholme** · 11-01-2008 09:52 PM

Originally Posted by IamEzraM

They are not the Hartmann DTS, they have center caps and have both 5x100 and 5x112 bolt patterns drilled. They do say Made in Italy on the inside, im not even sure what they are.

If they are B5 RS4 replicas, then they are conical, even the non Hartmann replicas I've seen are conical. Just looked on Hartmann's site and saw they have quite a few wheels that take a ball seat, which was news to me, but B5 replicas are conical.

**Skyler@Achtuning** · 11-03-2008 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by audimeister

Depends on the manufacturer. Hartmann and some others use ball seats, others don't. You can definitely tell by looking/feeling.

Ball seats are better, b/c you can install your spare without needing an extra set of lug in the car. I'm sure there's an engineering reason why Audi uses them in the first place.

Hartmanns new wheel styles are ball seat so they can take OEM Audi lugbolts. A ball seat bolt provides more surface area to distribute load vs a cone seat bolt. It costs quite a bit more to machine ball seats into the wheels than it does to machine cone seats and that's why you see many manufacturers using cone seat bolts as it is cheaper.

Most importantly you always want to use the correct bolt for the wheel, never use a cone seat bolt in a ball seat wheel or vice-versa as it can loosen or even crack the wheel.