Snapped a wheel stud!
Heyas.
Spent a few hour lowering my car on SL's today, all went well untill putting the wheel back on and accedentally put a nut on wrong with the fingers - then used a rattle gun to screw it on, but the damage was done and the stud stripped. Bolt got stuck on, snapped the stud in half using a touque wrench to get it off.
How hard is it to replace myself or should i get my mechanic to do it? Its the back right wheel on my VT sedan.
cheers
Also - ill be right driving round with 4 bolts on for a few days yeh?
Band
yep....Originally Posted by sprocket
Tells it like it is.
Just go to your friendly auto spareparts supplier and buy a new stud. They just belt thru and then slide the new one on. Is it the front or rear wheel? You will need to remove the brake disk/drum to get at the rear one mean while the front rotor backing plate guard thing will probably need to go on the front one. Check if there is anything else in the way before you smack it thru.
Reaper
Bit of advice.
After you put your new stud in, and before putting the wheel back on, use a Wheel Nut and Screw it onto the Stud Backwards. ie the flatter side towards the hub. Then tighten it with a wheel brace, which will pull the stud firmly all the way into the hole. This is the safest way to do it.
If you dont do it this way, and you put the wheel back on, you risk the stud loosening over time, and if you try to tighten it whilst the wheel is on, you can damage the stud thread.
Yes, easy job. Stud & nut cost $6 but most importantly remember to use the nut to pull the stud through to its stop otherwise it ends up being too short
and here is another big hint....
always ..always always clean the wheel nuts in petrol and clean the studs every once in a while..
and lube them with high speed wheel bearing grease...and keep the thread well lubed...
the main cause of studs and nuts doing that..dry full of dirt dust..
2nd hint...dont let any service centre racket the nuts...all the way!
then can racket them on to firm ..then use a brace by hand...
GRA = REAL HP
2nd hint...dont let any service centre racket the nuts...all the way!
then can racket them on to firm ..then use a brace by hand...
WTF is this
just my opinion but i would never put grease onto wheel studs or nuts i work with caravans and have seen some very bad damage because of this, agree 100% with not using the rattle gun to run the nuts all the way in
GRA = REAL HP
hmmmm red neck fix for sure wonder if he welded the rim back together
Fun IS easier with an 8
I had 4 out of 5 studs snap at one time.... HONEST!
I ended up replacing all 20 studs on the car. The new studs and nuts were much better hardened steel. Held together easier and the nuts don't round off.
I haven't lost my mind, it's backed up on tape somewhere
ok we grease the studs or lube them..because if we live in the country where there is bulldust or travel of dirt roads etc...
the wheels get hot and get dust filled...
we are for ever cleaning the insides of the wheels to remove axcess weight of mud and dust which left on stuffs up wheel balance..
but given it easyer to remove a lubed wheel nut then a dry one...
saves tring stupid things like travelling on less than right amount of studs while you go buy some studs..
this is good tip for boat trailers and the like as well which often get left standing ..and get less care ....
if you lube the nut ....and stud thread.....you have every chance in getting it off regardless how long since you last removed it
in 1 complete part...
ratchet guns are not ment to tighten wheel nuts ever !
wheel nuts are ment to be pulled down to set poundage in fact with allot of cars..4wds etc..
you do realize that dust is attracted to grease yea? if anyone is planning on greasing there studs i strongly advise you check them every 500k's at the most,ok we grease the studs or lube them..because if we live in the country where there is bulldust or travel of dirt roads etc...
the wheels get hot and get dust filled...
we are for ever cleaning the insides of the wheels to remove axcess weight of mud and dust which left on stuffs up wheel balance..
but given it easyer to remove a lubed wheel nut then a dry one...
saves tring stupid things like travelling on less than right amount of studs while you go buy some studs..
this is good tip for boat trailers and the like as well which often get left standing ..and get less care ....
if you lube the nut ....and stud thread.....you have every chance in getting it off regardless how long since you last removed it
in 1 complete part...
ratchet guns are not ment to tighten wheel nuts ever !
wheel nuts are ment to be pulled down to set poundage in fact with allot of cars..4wds etc..
Should do a google on lubricating wheels studs or lugs, most places advise against it and suggest clean and dry, if done up to the correct tension with a torque wrench a lubricated stud can give false readings resulting in broken studs or loose wheels, I used to lube mine until I read up on it, now just keep them clean and dry.
well....i going to say the google answers are wrong....
and to show the reasons behing such a remark...i going to give 2 little storys....
1) grease ...and in the main marine greese and high speed grease and chain lube grease......are designed to repel
they have a string feal to them.........
eg where used in the bearing buddies of axles of everything down to boat and general purpose trailers...
2) grease is used in exhaust studs....and heads and gaskets.......because of its ability to form a seal with the aid of unwanted....
such as dirt and grass and and whatever...whilst leaving in tak the value of grease insiide and sealed...
its seen everyday ..when grease is used as barrier.....that it can be used in a wild range of temp controlled situ
eg..... in a nut and bolt that wont let go...and in heated by a blow torch.....the grease melts but still gives lube...and enables removable with both sides thread in tac....
wheel stud nuts come in different forms....sealed vented opened....
opened dont need any specail care...when greased....
vented dont either
sealed do...limit the grease to the depth of thread and dont pack the end of the nut with grease...if you do effectively you are making a pressure cap......
has anyone tried to hit on a bearing cap full off greese when the axle etc is well coated...
it traps air and the air pressure forces off the cap when it heats up..from running...
i dont think its too much to ask people to check there wheel nuts every 10000kms when they should be rotating the tyres anyway...and checking the pads..etc...
Donating member
The principal of the shape of the nut that holds the wheel rim to hub, is the taper grips the corresponding taper in the rim. The nut thread isn't supposed to grip the stud so it won't undo, it only pulls the two tapers together so they do the locking. So lightly lubricating the stud, as recommended by some Jap car makers in their hand books, is recommended to prevent seized nuts, galled threads, and broken studs, as we seem to read about on this forum.
And, I can't see how dust can get into the greased thread when screwed together, perhaps only when the nut is dropped on the ground.
pablo.....great support...i was not even going to go into the slight tapper on stud and nut....
mainly cause not all have that....
and i was not going to go into the seated ...self centreing of nuts either.....for the rim location...
because not all have that either....
even though some seal off with it i seen poor made ones that dont...
eg some racing nuts....and some mags
and when i say dirt seals the deal on the nut and stud thread....i refer to dirt attaching its self to the exposed grease of an open wheel nut or vented wheel nut...
a closed head wheel nut....is jamed in....nothing will get in them...
the reason for greasing closed headed nuts...is as you pointed out.....to stop seizing etc...should the type depart from the rim....and the rim
run on bitu or gravel road etc.....or even if the rim leaves....often seen on boats not cared for...and rim is rusted...
and your 100 % correct if you drop a greased wheel nut on the ground....and that is the maindraw back with a greased wheel nut
you have to take care when you take them off ......and place them....
its the faliure to have sliping compound within the thread of stud and nut that causes it bind....and seize....
its also been know......that a un lubed wheelnut and stud ....is usually not just dry....but dirty!
Hence the use of grease....or chain bar lube.....petrolum jelly.....anti rust spray that does not dry ou...even oiled..is good !
codeunknown...i have had a think about this and what your saying does make perfect sense, the only thing i can suggest is using silicone spray instead of grease, i personally will never lube my studs as i'd rather break 20 than risk writting off my car but thats just my opinion, each to there own and if its worked for you then well done and goodluck
kewl....
my added point would be ...to you personally....is this....i am a old f#rt 50 year old this year...
i had tyres and rims come off and seperate....and blow outs ....
i had a tyre let go and pull a spare alloy rim threw the stud hub on a boat well cared for by hitting a engine mounting block
at 100kms on a corner and then or before ..i can not tell i also picked up the rest of the rubbish which was a mile or so of fence wire....clearly an untighted down rubbish dump load had spilled on the road....
i never saw it... it was dusk...and did not have my lights on.
the boat was 20ft with 90 hp on the back extended pod mount...the trailer a single axle dunbar all gal ....
the studs stayed on...it was the nuts that came off.....and yet the otherside which took all then the load and weight offset
on the good only tyre...also had the same setup....
wheelbearing buddies..with heavy greased wheelnuts on new studs....on alloy rims
The point is if the greease caused the weakness...then when the otherside had to carry both sides weight it should gone even worse....
i dont say grease is the only ...best lube either...and silicon could be way better...but dry.....dirty ....wheelnut threads on dry ...dirty wheelstuds....somewhere down the track are goin to hurt you...
and i always carry spare wheelnuts for every car ...in the car ...and for my trailers in the trailer..
a 200km trip for toyota 4wd ones or 200kms for boat trailer ones....at risk ...is not on...
dam i can not even get a holden or anything like that local without a 100km trip...
and the same for studs...
One day my wife took in the 4wd for free tyre rotate and balance and suspension check...
great...
6 months later ...i had to change 2 tyres on the same day because of constant rubbish on the road
first tyre snapped every stud
second one all but 1...1 only had 2 dam spares !...and the kids had borrowed some of tools again from dads truck...
dam hot day over 38-39...i had the drama middle of a road zero friggin trees...""OH what a feeling""
and the same dam day i was on my way to the wreckers to get a replacement fan for the air con...
at the time i had to limp on---flooded roads on that 4wd at 60km/hr 100kms to buy a complete car set..of studs and nuts..
and visit the wreckers for the fan motor...
covered in mud and sticky from heat..cranky as hell...swearing like a trooper...
Found just one place open that sold the dam nuts and studs...
it was a sunday.....6 studs was $60 and 6 nuts $30 ...so paid 4 lots of $90..plus the 3 on the spare on the swing door
took the car back to 7 day open free tyre rotate and sus place....and told them they cost me 180 so far plus 180 to come..
and they can remove the the other 2 on the car and swing door..
He was laughing....i was not...because he thought i was bunging it on for freebee studs and nuts..
but when he had to use the breaker bar .....after the racket did nothing..so he used a bigger racket drive size ..and the nut snapped..
I yelled $ 15 right there dipstick!
breaker bar snapped 3 - 4...with effort...while i laughed..then he racketed off the rest for speed...
but the swing door he had to take off and remove welds and reweld...
Now at the end i was laughing...sitting inside his customer seating making it dirty...using the coffee machine..and having air con...
and i scored a shower out of it there too...
in the end he worked out how this all happened...i got money back...
i dont know if he sacked the little apprentice...
now the little apprentice was told remove the wheels ..wash them in the kero bath..blow and dry them....and lube them...
he did the wash ....
he did the blow dry...
he did not do the lube ....
it cost his company $390 bucks
and if i had not been able to limp in with the part damaged ones..
it cost them $265 to have the toyota trailered
So there is a massive cost to getting it wrong...
So the added point here is keep a spare set of studs.....and wheelnuts...you wont be sorry
and check that service work you get on the car wheels...who knows what you might end up with...
Donating member
I have driven many hundreds of thousands of miles, then kilometers after that, on rough corrugated dirt outback roads to fast smooth highways, fully loaded and on occasions dragging a trailer. I ALWAYS have greased the stud threads on pressed steel or mag wheel rims and have never had a nut work loose. As I said before, it's not the thread that stops the nut from un-doing, but it's the outside flange of the nut OR the taper that does the gripping on the rim nut hole!
Perhaps, the 'nut' who fits the nut needs to be looked at if they are cominig loose!................only joking to those applicable!
pablo......you hard core....
i think there is allot of people out there unsure above about following advise...
and i would say allot of the times a wheel comes off apart from a rust or fracture issue or incident..impact....
its caused by incorrect fit and tight
ever seen hubs with gunk on them...and you place a wheel rim on and lock it...and find you need to relock it later...
cause the gunt keeps pushing it loose... yep i seen hubs that bad...mainly boaties..who dont care...
i have even seen nylon inserted nuts used on wheel studs.......LOL
i seen people apply locktite to them....LOL
i seen people place spring washers in there too..............LOL
the main point is wheel nuts need to checked as often as you should do your tyres believe it of not...
oh how often is that ???
well 1 a week --1 a fortnight
of course far less often if you used a sealing compound in the tyres......
and when do you do them prefered is cold...but you can do them hot...just dont overdo it ...
checking the wheel nuts as late as every 5000-10000km at service time and rotation time ..could be a bit late...
Donating member
Good one 'codeunknown', I am a softy deep down...really!.LOL?
I now always torque the nuts down to 70 ft. lbs. (factory mags) and always find it takes a good hard jerk of the nut wrench to get them to 'crack' off when I want to do a wheel rotation. I also run a Mitsy Magna with factory mags, and after tightening the nuts to the same torque as the Commy, I have to use a 50cm length of pipe on the bloody nut wrench to dislodge those barstewards!......LOL!
Back in the saddle....
I bought my VX wagon from a bloke in Qld back in 2006, fitted with ROH Snyper mags - even including the spare in the boot. I had it checked by the RACQ who were the last to touch it. I drove it back to Sydney and ran around in it for a week or so, then one night coming home down the M4 the car started vibrating - not much at first, but got more noticeable over the 1/2 hour trip home. Got home & went to look at the rear wheels, turned out that the wheel nuts on one side were loose, and that wheel was quite hot to touch..... after checking & re-tightening ALL the wheels, I had the studs on that wheel replaced soon after. I would never have suspected a crowd like the RACQ would fail to tighten up wheel nuts properly but there you go.
I didn't think much of it after that, until I was washing the car just before Xmas last year and noticed two hairline cracks around the base of a spoke on one of my mags..... yes, it was the offending rim from the earlier incident.... the vibration had done damage that took a few years to show, I was damn lucky I spotted it as I don't drive the car all the time now and never credited that would happen. No need to guess who now does a regular check of his car for all sorts of things....
How do you know that the RACQ were responsible for the loose wheel nuts. I believe that it is the responsibility of the driver (strange thing isn't it R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y) to ensure that the vehicle they drive is in fact roadworthy - which would HAVE obviously include checking that the wheel nuts were tensioned appropiately. No good blaming anyone else. How do you know that the 'hairline' cracks around the base of the spokes is as a result of the 'alleged loose wheel nuts'. It's more than likely the cracks in the wheels caused the wheel nuts to work loose. I'd be checking and most likely replacing any wheels that didn't check out 100%. Happy easter.
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