Broken wheel stud... AGAIN!!!

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Tue Dec 10, 2002 2:10 am

Anybody have any experience with a broken lug nut bolt on a rear wheel and any tips on how to get it out?

ciper · Post by **ciper** » Tue Dec 10, 2002 2:31 am

I have partially dissambled the rear and I spoke with eastbaysubaru about this very topic recently.

You can press the stud out but the parking brake gear may get in the way, so you may need to remove all of it. Eastbaysubaru replaced one of his on a turbo wagon.

eastbaysubaru · Post by **eastbaysubaru** » Tue Dec 10, 2002 3:29 am

Yup, PITA!!! You'll need some C-Clamps to press it out of the hub. You'll also need to remove the entire parking brake assembly in order to remove the ABS sensor ring. Unless you don't have ABS that is. If you've got any other questions, just shoot 'em my way.

-Brian

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Tue Dec 10, 2002 6:32 am

So if I don't have ABS, I don't necessarily need to remove the parking brake assembly? It'd be great if I only hafta take off the wheel!

Also, any special procedures to putting a new one in?

eastbaysubaru · Post by **eastbaysubaru** » Tue Dec 10, 2002 6:41 am

I just pressed it in as much as I could with the C-Clamp(s) and then just tightened it to proper specs. I just kept checking it and making sure it wasn't getting loose the first week or so after I did it. It shouldn't be too tough since you don't have ABS. You may still have to remove the parking brake mechanism though if you can't get the nut out far enough. Good luck!

-Brian

Aaron's ej22t · Post by **Aaron's ej22t** » Tue Dec 10, 2002 7:43 am

I have yet to replace my broken wheel stud. i bought the car with it already broken. it is on the front right wheel.

eastbaysubaru · Post by **eastbaysubaru** » Tue Dec 10, 2002 8:05 pm

I don't think the front is going to be as difficult as the rear as there's no parking brake to get in the way behind the hub.

-Brian

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 5:23 am

To bring back this ancient thread, while doing my rear brakes today, I replaced my broken wheelstud in a matter of minutes.

You need to take the rotor off, but that's it, unless you have ABS which I don't

. You will find plenty of space between the hub and parking brake to remove the broken one and even to install the new one. Just grab a hammer and don't be shy; pound the hell out of the broken stud. A few hits and it should come out. Put in the new one, it might take a little maneuvering to get it in, but I did without any difficulty. Then (I haven't gotten this far yet) you can put the wheel on, make sure your stud is lined up with the grooves in the hub, and just tighten the lug nut down on it and pull it into place.

So those of you that have broken wheelstuds, they're really easy to do while you're doing a brake job!

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 6:24 am

That's more or less how I changed mine (all 10 front studs were pretty much useless when I got the car). One should note, though, that Subaru says never to use a hammer to remove them because it could damage the wheel bearing.

I didn't pull them in the same way, though. I went to the hardware store and got an M12x1.25 hex nut and a bunch of 1/2" washers (since SAE hardware's much cheaper than metric), and pulled the lugs in by stacking the washers on and then threading the nut on. I was just concerned about putting too much force on the wheels or actual lug nuts.

Oh, and the lug stud part number is 28055AA002. It lists for about $2.50. AutoZone had aftermarket studs for 99 cents apiece. They looked identical to the OEM ones except for the color; the OEM ones were silver in color while the aftermarket ones had a kind of goldish color. I don't know if the metal is different at all.

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 8:15 pm

Ewww, I hope I didn't damage my bearing!

I got my stud from the dealer, for about the price you quoted. And it's golden-colored too

All the orig's are silver though...

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Sat Oct 18, 2003 9:02 pm

Well, like I said, I changed all ten of my front studs with a hammer... I have had no problems with the wheel bearings at all for the 12,000 miles since then.

It's easy to understand how it could damage the wheel bearings, since there's so much more impulse with a hammer than with a hydraulic press, and if the ball bearings get slammed against each other they could go slightly out of round, but... it seems to me that it's probably not that much more shock than some of the other abuse I've put my car through.

I recall reading some posts on NASIOC where some people remarked about how they broke lug studs all the time while rallying or something and had made a habit of hanging onto some extras to replace on the spot with the hammer-them-out method. If it works alright for them doing it often, I don't mind doing it once or twice in my car's lifetime. :) That's just my opinion, though... read my experience and others' and know what Subaru says (keeping in mind that they have to cover their rears) and then make your own educated decision.

For me it took a lot more than a few hits to get the old studs out, because at first I was scared and was hoping a lot of small light hits would get them out. That didn't work at all; it really did take just a couple strong hits.

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Mon Oct 20, 2003 9:22 pm

AAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

My Legacy is quickly losing her privilege to go to the Subaru Challenge in Tampa, FL, this weekend...

I had the front wheels on the ground, and the rear up on jackstands. I need to bleed the brakes still, so I bought another set of jackstands to put all 4 wheels off the ground with. I put it up on them, and proceeded to take the front wheels off, and lo and behold, I strip the threads on one of the front wheelstuds!!!

So now I have to take the brake apart on that wheel all over again, and change that stupid-ass stud!! GRRRR I am so @#$%^& mad right now!!!

It's not like I don't know how to take lug nuts off either, I've done it on both my cars more than 10 times. Lemme guess, these studs are made of aluminum...

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Mon Oct 20, 2003 11:15 pm

I'm pretty sure they're steel, but... I guess it might be aluminum. If I can find one of my old ones I'll find out.

They seem to be quite sensitive to mistreatment. Any tiny piece of debris can lock them up for good (so snapping them off is the only option left). Overtorquing them stretches the threads until they don't match up anymore.

Now, whenever I remove my wheels, I leave the lug nuts soaking in ethanol, and I carefully clean them with a wire brush and let them dry before reinstalling them. I give the studs a good spray with brake cleaner and clean them off with a wire brush too. They seem to appreciate that treatment. :)

For what it's worth, subyluvr2212, I drove around for a long time on only 3 lugs while waiting for the dealer to get some before I realized I could just buy them from AutoZone. Didn't seem to be too big a deal for the short term. I don't know if you'd want to race that way though.

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 2:38 am

The Legacy is going to sit and look pretty for the Challenge, so I'm not concerned about that... Even the XT is merely going on a "scenic" run, no balls-out racing... I just wanna go to an official Subaru sponsored event in Florida, doesn't happen too often

The only reason I want to do it now is because the wheels are still off of it, I can re-remove the caliper without losing brake fluid, etc etc. Now is the best time to do it.

Post by **Legacy777** » Tue Oct 21, 2003 3:57 am

they're steel.

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Thu Oct 23, 2003 1:06 am

Okay they're steel. What is the hub (or the part that the studs actually attach to) made of? Is it another metal?

I'm pondering heating up the hub using some yet-unknown method

which would cause two different metals to expand at different rates (hopefully, the hub expand more than the studs

), to the point where one bop from a hammer will send the stud across the room, doing little damage to the wheel bearings...

Is that feasible, or am I just speculating?

Post by **Legacy777** » Thu Oct 23, 2003 3:32 am

they're both steel......probably different grades though.. Just heat it up a little and whack at it.

Only issue i will warn against is not to nuke your bearings

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Thu Oct 23, 2003 4:19 am

Yeah, heat on the bearings would probably be bad... Not only would you risk liquifying the grease so it leaks out, but also you'd risk having the ball bearings expand until they rub too much.

So be really careful if you use heat!

I wonder if you could adapt a gear puller for the task... that would closely approximate a hydraulic press, although it wouldn't be able to put as much pressure on the stud.

Or maybe you could drill out the center of the stud so that it would lose structural integrity and be pushed out easily.

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Thu Oct 23, 2003 4:24 am

Or maybe you could drill out the center of the stud so that it would lose structural integrity and be pushed out easily.

I think this might be the best idea. As much as the car can piss me off sometimes, I don't like beating the crap out of it and risk damaging something else... I'm just gonna do what you did, vrg3, and replace all the studs, none of them are really worth saving as the threads drag on every single one...

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Thu Oct 23, 2003 4:28 am

If the threads drag and no amount of cleaning you do can fix that, then, yes, I agree that you should definitely replace them. If you don't get a clean dry smooth thread engagement then you won't get the right clamping force, even if you can still get the nuts on and off. You ought to replace the studs and nuts together, too.

An M12x1.25mm tap and die pair could be a good investment, too, since you can use them to clean out and straighten up the threads whenever you remove the wheels.

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 5:00 pm

Here we go again...

I was having my tires rotated and balanced today (hey, it's free!

), and they stripped off one of my Autozone front wheelstuds and broke off one of the originals in the back...

I think it may have been a bad idea to pull the new studs into the front hubs by tightening the lug nuts against them, probably damaged the threads that way...

Doesn't matter to me though. When I take my hubs off to have new wheel bearings pressed in, I'll just have the shop put 20 new wheelstuds in while they're at it. Then I can start fresh.

Post by **Legacy777** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 5:33 pm

I don't see how pulling new studs in by tightening them would damage them, unless you overtorqued them.

I think you just need to stop letting people rotate your tires

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 4:11 am

I'm sure I was applying waaay more than 70lbs of torque pulling the studs in. In fact, some of them were already being difficult when I put the nuts back on the first time...

The reason I have them rotate my tires is because then I have an invoice on record of the tires being maintained at the proper interval, so no questions would arise if I had to use the warranty. I did pay $400 for those tires after all

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 5:17 am

Yeah, the torque spec for Subarus is fairly low. Too many hits from a maniac with an impact gun could easily over stretch them.

Steve

entirelyturbo · Post by **entirelyturbo** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 6:12 pm

I hold the all-time record.

I stripped one off the wagon's right front as I was rotating tires today.

I believe that makes for 6.

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Broken wheel stud... AGAIN!!!

Broken wheel stud... AGAIN!!!