Are wheel studs routine for tire shops, or..

[GreeCguy]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
Originally Posted By: Bottom_Feeder
Originally Posted By: GreeCguy
Cut remains of broken stud flush with wheel hub with saw.
Drill out broken stud.
Collapse said stud with chisel and hammer.
Pound out remains of collapsed stud with hammer and punch.

Why did you need to do any of this? A solid smack on the end of the broken stud with a decent-sized hammer should have made all of these steps irrelevant.

+1

I've done a few of these in about 20 minutes. Of course, there may have been more to the story.


Definitely, at least on what I'm now calling "The Van from Hades."

One, I'm a firm believer that an object with bearings shouldn't be "nailed" with a hammer. Hence the reason I drilled out the old one till it was paper thin around the edges and I could collapse what was left and tap it out very gently.

Two, there's a large dust shield behind the hub which has so little clearance that even a broken stud will not clear, (therefore, welcome the saw as you would an old and helpful friend).

Three, Even though there's a little "D" in the dust shield which I assume is there for such events, the new stud will not pass through said "D" and allow new stud to be installed, (I tried, I REALLY tried in many and various positions and configurations. Blue words were used in this process).

Solution involved bending the dust shield out of the way, installing stud and then bending shield back in position.

That sudden moment of clarity came after some REALLY blue words were used. Thankfully, I was alone.

 

[Gokhan]

Buy the $20 Harbor Freight ball-joint separator tool I mentioned two posts earlier. There is no hammering, no drilling, no impact, no clearance issues. It works beautifully, easily, and fast, and you need it to properly (completely) seat the new wheel stud anyway.

Wheel studs break because they are not completely seated, often leading to serious accidents. They are not completely seated because they are installed without a tool, using only the wheel nuts. A tool is a must when installing a wheel stud in order to completely seat it. Otherwise, it will fatigue and eventually break.

 

[HangFire]

That's a nice tool and I'm sure that procedure works well.

A Goodyear Tire & Auto center cross-threaded a half-dozen lugs on my Dakota about 10 years ago. After getting them to pay for new ones from the dealer, I installed them all using the lug nuts (flat end not the conical end) and a few washers to get them to seat fully.

They seated fully. They are still in service today. Not a single one of them has broken. Not a single one has backed out.

 

[Gokhan]

Originally Posted By: HangFire
That's a nice tool and I'm sure that procedure works well.

A Goodyear Tire & Auto center cross-threaded a half-dozen lugs on my Dakota about 10 years ago. After getting them to pay for new ones from the dealer, I installed them all using the lug nuts (flat end not the conical end) and a few washers to get them to seat fully.

They seated fully. They are still in service today. Not a single one of them has broken. Not a single one has backed out.

Some wheel studs could be easier to install than others, depending on how tight they are against the hole. In my case, OEM wheel studs are impossible to fully seat using a nut, even if you risk stripping or fatiguing them by overtorquing. Fully seated means there is zero clearance between the wheel stud and wheel hub.

Here is a wheel stud that is not seated:

Here is a great article (PDF file) on wheel-stud failure, from which the picture above was taken:

http://www.metalconsult.com/pdf/wheel_stud_bolt_failures.pdf

I would definitely recommend everyone to get that tool for both removal and installation.

 

[Fordtrucktexan]

Interesting thread. I've never heard of installing wheel studs with a tool, but it's a sound principle.

Fwiw, 97-early 99 F150 and Expeditions had smaller wheel studs than 99.5'+ models, and were far more prone to breaking. I replaced 5 or 6 on my 97 F150, but I was constantly changing wheels and tires too. The studs themselves were 25 cents each at autozone and I hammered the old ones out, and pulled the new ones in with the lugnut too. I'll probably press new ones in correctly from now on after reading the article.