How do I remove my wheel studs?

Pfarmer

Pfarmer

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I've got some mangled wheel studs on the driver front of my '02 TJ. How do I remove them?

I've read countless times to just bang them out with a hammer.
I've also read to only use C-Press and that a hammer will DEFINITELY bend or break stuff.

Open to suggestions. Just got new gears and RVC axles, so I don't want to mess anything up.
 
Pfarmer said:
I've got some mangled wheel studs on the driver front of my '02 TJ. How do I remove them?

I've read countless times to just bang them out with a hammer.
I've also read to only use C-Press and that a hammer will DEFINITELY bend or break stuff.

Open to suggestions. Just got new gears and RVC axles, so I don't want to mess anything up.
Click to expand...
Just bang them out. If you don't want to pancake the threads put an old lug nut on the end so you have a larger surface area to bang, then remove as it breaks free from the threads that hold them onto the shaft mount.

Also, why do you need to remove them if you just got new axles?
 
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Pfarmer said:
Open to suggestions. Just got new gears and RVC axles, so I don't want to mess anything up.
Click to expand...
When was the last time the unit bearings were replaced? $15-40 bucks for new studs depending on where you buy vs $50-70 for a new bearing. After beating shit out of those studs, instead of pressing, do you still like your old bearings?

New axles, new gears… new bearings?
 
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Harbor Freight press is cheap. Makes this job and many many others easy.

Hammer will work...press is nice... especially with mangled studs...can torch or cutting wheel off most of it and press out the rest.

A press can also be used as a brake for fab work. I have mine on wheels and it rolls into a corner when it's not in use.

-Mac
 
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Kid Mechanic said:
When was the last time the unit bearings were replaced? $15-40 bucks for new studs depending on where you buy vs $50-70 for a new bearing. After beating shit out of those studs, instead of pressing, do you still like your old bearings?

New axles, new gears… new bearings?
Click to expand...
They're original. 135K on the Jeep. How often should they be replaced?
 
like Jerry said. put a old lug nut on it and knock the shit outa it with a BFH ! later you can use another old lug nut with good threads and a stack of washers to pull the new studs in place ...
 
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macleanflood said:
Harbor Freight press is cheap. Makes this job and many many others easy.

Hammer will work...press is nice... especially with mangled studs...can torch or cutting wheel off most of it and press out the rest.

A press can also be used as a brake for fab work. I have mine on wheels and it rolls into a corner when it's not in use.

-Mac
Click to expand...

Hmm, I'm interested. Do you have a link? I could search but am too new at this stuff to know if I've found the one you have in mind.
 
SSTJ said:
Hmm, I'm interested. Do you have a link? I could search but am too new at this stuff to know if I've found the one you have in mind.
Click to expand...

Here's the 12 ton for $169. They have a 20 ton as well...$259 currently...I bought mine on sale for $130 and put $20 worth of wheels on it.

https://www.harborfreight.com/12-ton-shop-press-33497.html
I made that tooling there to press 90s into flat stock to make bullet proof signs for our efforts to clean up our local forests.

IMG_20220119_084830257.jpg


IMG_20220119_084835734.jpg


IMG_20220119_084830257.jpg
 
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BFH, or if you want to get fancy.......Brrrrrrrrrwaaaaaap! Use an air impact hammer.
 
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Jack the jeep up and get the wheels off the ground...if you can wiggle the tire you've usually got a bad unit bearing.

Other signs are noise.

Spin the tire too...you can hear it and feel it. Harder on a jeep since there are no hubs to disengage the diff and driveshaft.

-Mac
 
Tob said:
What are the signs of a worn unit bearing? What happens when it fails?
Click to expand...
It makes things a bit loose and sometimes makes noise. It normally takes months for people to realize they have an issue. When they go it is a non-issue, you wont get stuck on the side of the road or anything. This is exactly like ball joints and water pumps, failures aren't a big deal and new parts are just as likely to fail as the old ones. These things don't have a service life, you replace them when they fail.
 
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