| We've never had the studs produced. We simply buy them from Brett Ramey in large batches and have them plated for corrosion resistance. If we did produce upgraded idler studs, we would change the design and use a proper material specification. At that point of course, they would not be advertised under the Ramey Z name. We would not intentionally misrepresent a product in that fashion. No reason to open ourselves up to the potential consequences of that when it would be just as easy to come up with our own design and sell it under the Z1 name (which we have not done and have no current plans to pursue). I am with Ash on the fact that idler studs break because of installer error of some sort and not because the OEM studs aren't strong enough (even high mileage used ones). Either the tension on the belt isn't set correctly, or the nut on the front of the idler pulley is not secured properly and works loose (loctite recommended) . The tension on the stud is then gone, the load is no longer on the wider base of the pulley secured against the block, the stud is no longer working in tension and breaks under the side load placed out near the end of the stud. I have seen this mode of failure several times. The "upgraded" studs should be less likely to fail in the event that the nut and pulley come loose because of the wider "base" of the stud that bears against the block. However if the tensioner is improperly set, resulting in very high tension on the belt I would expect some additional resistance to failure (if there are actual gains in tensile and shear strength over OE) but most of the time the outcome in that situation would probably end up the same. It's best to focus more on proper installation procedures than on questionable insurance policies to protect against improper procedure.
Russell Floyd Z1 Motorsports
www.300zx.com
1990+ Nissan Z specialists Used Parts, New parts, Service/Repair and Performance
Z1 Motorsports Exclusive Parts Line 2877 Carrollton Villa Rica Hwy
Carrollton, Ga 30116 770-838-7777
770-832-9253 (fax) 
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