Abstract

An apparatus to reduce the difficulty in tire wheel aligning/mounting in stud/lug nut applications. The apparatus is a detachable two-part mount stud extension assembly comprised of an extender and an adapter which is screwed onto a mount stud, thus extending the outward extension/reach of this mount stud beyond that of the unextended mount studs. The extender is a headed shaft, The adapter is a hollow cylinder whose one end has an internal thread which fits that of a mating mount stud, and whose other end has an extender alignment hole. The unheaded extender end is inserted into the threaded-end cavity of the adapter, on into the extender alignment hole. The adapter is screwed onto a mating mount stud, thus capturing the extender in one axial direction by the mount stud, and in the other axial direction by the adapter structure. An absence of extender axial end play signals safe and secure adapter/apparatus installation. Initially aligning and mounting the tire wheel onto the apparatus reduces the number of studs required to be initially aligned/cleared/mounted, thus reducing the align/mount difficulty. After the initial align/mount, the tire wheel is easily pushed onto its final mount position. The apparatus is then removed and the lug nuts installed.