legacycentral bbs

Tire shops. Grrrrr.
This is what I did for the rear.

Nice write up!

Getting the parking brake back together sucks.

Sweet write up man! What the hell did the tire shop do?

Nice write up!

The one thing I'd like to add...MAKE SURE and re-tighten your lug nuts after a few miles. Just in case the stud wasn't pressed in all the way...don't forget!

Not sure exactly what the tire shop did, but I assume it had something to do with monkeys and impact wrenches. The first time I pulled the wheels after the tire shop installed them I could tell it would be the last time I would be able to do that without more damage. I was in a pinch so I begrudgingly forced the lug nuts back on, knowing they wouldn't come back off in one piece. I just made plans to fix the damage as soon as I could.

I wish this thread existed when I had to replace a stud on the rear of the old Legacy. What a PITA w/o this helpful How-To. Good work!!!

-Brian

Excellent writeup and pictures.

When I replaced my lug studs, though, I didn't disassemble the parking brake. If I remember correctly, I just took the wheel and brake rotor off and then removed the tone wheel bolts and there was enough room to wiggle the studs in and out around the loose tone wheel.

Yeah, I have never disassembled the parking brake to remove/install a wheel stud. I don't have ABS, so I don't have a tone wheel to worry about, but it appears that you can even get around that, as Vikash has said.

However, I do want to give fair warning about hammering wheelstuds out, or taking a hammer anywhere near the hub:

Subaru wheel bearings are crap, and if you look at them the wrong way, they go bad.

Four of the six I've replaced have been due to 1) hammering wheelstuds out or 2) hammering against a stuck-on wheel.

My advice is this:

Grind the broken wheelstud down until it's just a small piece. Reinstall the wheel on the remaining 3-4 lugs, and lower the car to the ground completely. Then, grab a socket extension and align it against the wheelstud remnant in the wheel hole. Then have at it with the hammer.

I've done that before with much more favorable results. It seems that by doing so, you're using the weight of the car as leverage against the wheelstud, not the wheel bearing.

That's good advice there, and a really smart idea!

Of course, the right way to remove these studs is with a press, not a hammer, because hammers are unkind to bearings.

But that's clever about putting the car back on the ground... Never woulda thought of that.

I would have bought a new car.

It is true that hammering out the studs is a good way of brinelling the bearings. I do this type of stuff for a living and have developed over the years (and many damaged bearings) a good feel for how much is OK and how much is too much.

One "medium-sharp" hit should get it moving, if it does not then placing the wheel (and rotor to add more mass) back on will help it to absorb the beating.

For the perfectionist, lug studs are usually made of very soft material and can be drilled out much easier than most bolts.

When I get the chance I will re-edit the pics to add your contributions.