Broken Wheel Stud

In all my years of auto repair never broke a wheel stud...until today. Years ago I bought a good Craftsman Digitorque wrench(not a beam type but adjustable) just for this purpose and never ran into trouble till this afternoon. Was changing my oil and rotating the tires for the 10k service. Hand tightened the nuts first...then ran them up to about 35-40 ft lbs then went to do a final torque of 85 ft lbs when I noticed a few of the nuts just kept turning. Wasnt putting a hell of a lot of effort into it. So I loosened the nuts and tried again. This time one stud snapped before I acheived the proper torque value.

Has any body else had the same problem? Does Toyota use cheap studs, is it common with the 2nd gen...or I should I be looking at a new torque wrench. Also whats involved in replcing the wheeel stud? Does the hub need to be removed or can it be done with the hub on the vehicle?

 

Just yank the caliper off, rotate the hub so the stud you want to remove is where the caliper was (so it has clearance to come out) then hammer it out.

 

Only had this happen when one time I thought to grease the studs. Bad move.

Re hammering them out - NO! you can damage the wheel bearing from the shock, or damage the hub. We have a cheapie tool store here - Princess Auto. You can get a stud press for about $10. This is like a small heavy duty c-clamp with a split end so the stud can go past it.
Pulling the stud in - use a wheel nut, and preferably a few heavy washers to take up some of the bolt slack,and spread the force across the washer, vs against the hub.

Otherwise, what you are doing is dead on.

 

x2

 

Ill look into the tool you are talking about. Looks to be an easy job. Thanks all for your replies.

 

On my old honda accord the dealership cross threaded my aftermarket wheel locks and lug nuts. They ended up breaking off 3 lugs trying to get the wheel off. They used heat and a gentle tap of a hammer and they came right out...

 

If you're damaging the wheel bearing when hammering out wheel studs then you're hitting way too hard. It doesn't take much force to dislodge them.

 

I broke a stud on the front left after ecgs install. I cannot figure out how to get a new one in.

 

7 yo thread revival. Congrats.

Have you got the old one out?

Get the new one started, a touch of lube on the splines. If you can tap from behind that will get it going.

Put a lug nut on it and pull it through. If the threads don't go deep enough to get it all the way in, put a spacer over part of it, a close fitting thick washer, the lug nut back on and finish it off.

 

It is the front. I cant see the back where there is one. It looks like it needs to be drilled and tapped.

 

So you don't have the old stud out nor a new stud in hand, correct?

If you look at one here you'll see the spline part is what creates the press fit. Drill and tap will ruin things. Only tapping that should be happening is with a hammer.

Pull off the caliper and rotor. Rotate the hub until the backside of the offending stud is clear, and drive it out with a large punch and hammer. Doesn't take excess pounding.

Or you can take it to a pro. It's ok to drive it with the remaining lugs holding the wheel.

 

@SGTCap ?!?!?!?

 

id reaplace all the studs that you felt you kept spining.

Also goes without saying get a new torque wrench... its likely you left it adjusted to a certain ftlbs and that messed the spring up, always undo them all the way.

 

The dust pan thing looks like it's in the way. I pulled the calipers off and hung with a bungee cord. Looking where that was I cannot see where there are any stud ends. I looks like they are part of the drum.

 

Just punch the damn thing out already. It isn't rocket science.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX9te2iFH3E

 

I have a 2006 4x4 TRD offroad, shortbed, crew cab. I experienced 5 of 6 lugs breaking off on the front right wheel. I was able to stop my truck on the highway before the last one snapped off. I * thought* I over torqued my wheels when I Installed my lift kit. Had all the studs replaced ( and lugnuts) and thought my troubles were over. About 2 years later, same thing happened again. On the freeway, wheels felt like they were way out of balance so I pull over. 5 out of 6 studs snapped off and missing. Wheels were only balanced/ rotated once since the last time, and completed by Discount tire. I do have aftermarket wheels, but front left wheel has had no issues. Any thoughts ?

 

I used an air hammer to replace all OEM studs with longer studs - cut off end of a HB chisel to make a 1/2" punch. They come out like butter. As has been said, it doesn't take much force to push them out. I think the culprit are mechanics that use air guns to tighten the lugs instead of using a torque wrench.

 

Please make sure you are using the correct style of lug nut with those wheels. You can ask over on the wheel forum if you haven't already. There are guys there that will know from the wheel type and advise you.You may need some type of hub adapter too.

Years ago a kid from school had a '66 Chevy Impala. He got chrome rims and fat tires from some other car and his father re-drilled the rims to fit the Chevy bolt pattern. He broke wheel studs constantly. He probably had the holes misplaced slightly and/or could not make the proper seat for the lug nuts