Broken Wheel Stud Advice

[joelachr]

I’d been noticing some vibrations on the last few drives I’d taken with the Jeep. Got back from the store earlier today and decided to check the lug nuts. Started at the drivers rear wheel and found the problem immediately. One nut was missing and at least two were loose enough to be turned by hand. The missing nut appears to have gone on vacation with part of a wheel stud. I put Centramatic wheel balancers on a couple weeks ago and had a problem with one nut on that wheel. I ended up using a breaker bar after my impact gun wouldn’t loosen it and I’m guessing I damaged the stud in the process.

My question for those with more wisdom & experience is should I be replacing anything in addition to that broken wheel stud? In the nearly 8 years I’ve owned this Jeep, just about every part I’ve removed has looked like it was the factory original part. I wouldn’t be surprised if these are the original rear axle shafts that are now 17 years old with over 225k mikes. Good time to upgrade?

 

[JEEPCJTJ]

Since part of one stud is missing my guess is that it was overtightened but I'm not sure why the other two ended up loose.

Depending on your impact gun experience and/or the gun's quality, it may have caused the issues.

At this point I'd take one or probably a couple of the nuts and screw them by hand all the way on and off each stud to check of any of the remaining studs are somewhat stretched or twisted. If any stud causes issues with the nuts I'd replace them.

It might not be a bad idea to run the nuts up and down all the other studs too.

 

[EzPeezy]

Take out the axle shaft and make sure the splines and bearing surfaces look okay. There's a chance that your shafts are fine and you can just put new studs in, but there will probably be some wear from the wheel bearings. If I was going to pull a shaft to replace a stud I'd do all 5, and probably the bearings and seals too. A ball joint press works really well to drive out and put the new studs in.

 

[Tonyjustin]

I just finished a body off rebuild of my '99 and in the process, I was surprised at how short the OEM wheel studs were. I always thought you should have available threads equal to one and one-half times the diameter of the bolt. I don't think my OEM studs were equal to one times the diameter. I replaced all 20 of them with ones that were about a half inch longer. They were a Dorman product (DOR 610-499) that I got from the local O'Reilly parts store and it was worth it. Make sure you torque the lug bolts to the manufacturer's specifications and after you replace the wheel studs, you should do that every few days until they stay within the torque spec.

 

[TrueTexas]

Agree on using a ball joint press to remove and replace the studs. However, you do not need to remove the axle to replace a rear wheel stud.

Here's a simple writeup I did a few months ago.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/rear-wheel-stud-replacement.31326/
I also was surprised how short the rear wheel studs are but didn't go thru the process of replacing all of them as I got about 10-12 full turns when tightening the wheel down. But if you are going to replace all of them, I think the advice from @Tonyjustin above is good.

 

[EzPeezy]

Agree on using a ball joint press to remove and replace the studs. However, you do not need to remove the axle to replace a rear wheel stud.

Here's a simple writeup I did a few months ago.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/rear-wheel-stud-replacement.31326/
I also was surprised how short the rear wheel studs are but didn't go thru the process of replacing all of them as I got about 10-12 full turns when tightening the wheel down. But if you are going to replace all of them, I think the advice from @Tonyjustin above is good.

That's good to know! Definitely don't do it my way then

 

[JMT]

You might check your hub bearings. If they’re fine, get a new stud, hammer it in, torque to 85-110ft-lbs.

 

[Goatman]

As a rule, run the nuts snug and hand tighten them. Too many just hammer them home with an impact. Got my Jeep back after getting new tires mounted and they were so tight (this is actually true!) Had to use a 3/4 drive breaker bar with a 4 foot cheater pipe and have my brother-in-law (200 lbs) jumping. Not stepping on, not bouncing on, not leaning on, JUMPING on the cheater pipe for every tire. Normally 1 would loosen when he stepped on, but the other 4 required repeated jumping to get them to turn. Isn't there a spot where you can remove the studs 1 at a time with an impact chisel? Most every rear axle I've seen has that opening. Use the impact chisel to pop it out and then draw it in with a spacer and grade 8 nut. Makes life a whole lot easier than pulling the axle out. And be sure to measure the thickness of your rim at the lug hole to make sure you have enough lug length to properly tighten and hold the rim on.

 

[steelhd]

That sounds a lot like an over tightening issue. Stretched studs result in reduce clamping force allowing nuts to back off and can also cause the stud to fail completely. Both things happened to you. If one corner was over tightened the chances are that all four corners were over tightened. If it were me Id be considering replacing the studs on all four corners.

 

[joelachr]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to have a local shop replace all 5 on that shaft tomorrow. I pulled the Jeep into the garage earlier to retorque the remaining 4 on that driver's rear wheel so I can drop it off at the shop. I checked the other 3 wheels and every nut on all 3 took an 1/8-1/4 turn to click the torque wrench I had set at 95 ft-lbs. When I'd reinstalled the wheels previously, I hand threaded them to snug and torqued them to 95 ft-lbs in sequence going around 3 times on each wheel. No impact gun during install.

It's possible my torque wrench is out of calibration and over-tightened them. When removing the stuck nut mentioned in my first post, I initially tried alternating the impact between forward and reverse to try breaking it loose. Maybe that damaged that stud? I should have checked the torque sooner after the initial torquing to be sure they were snug. Could under-tightening have been the cause of the broken stud? Perhaps that combined with damage during initial removal?

Should final torque be done with the tires on the ground? I torqued them all while each corner was still in the air on the jack.

 

[pagrey]

You might have had the impact wrench set on tighten for the one that gave you problems, it happens. Most people torque the lugs on the ground because it is so much easier, suggesting you did it in the air is a bit of a red flag. Part of using a torque wrench is the reality check that you are applying what it says. Are you sure it isn't reading in-lbs?

 

[joelachr]

You might have had the impact wrench set on tighten for the one that gave you problems, it happens. Most people torque the lugs on the ground because it is so much easier, suggesting you did it in the air is a bit of a red flag. Part of using a torque wrench is the reality check that you are applying what it says. Are you sure it isn't reading in-lbs?

I definitely had the impact on tighten for that stuck nut. I initially had the impact in reverse and the nut wasn't coming loose. I then attempted a quick jolt in forward a couple times with more reverse attempts in between each before moving on to the breaker when the impact wasn't successful. It's possible I mistakenly used forward for longer than I intended.

I just went and checked the torque wrench I used. It ranges from 25-250 ft-lbs and the only other markings are N-m, no in-lbs.

 

[pagrey]

Is it possible that the Centramatic things are binding somehow? It sounds like almost all the lugs came loose. I wouldn't expect it to take 1/8-1/4 turn after just a few days.

I wouldn't think a couple shots either way with the impact would damage a stud especially considering it wasn't able to take the nut off anyway. Way more likely it was damaged the last time it was installed.

 

[bruceco]

When they safety checked my jeep they used a big f##@ air impact gun.I know because after driving for it for the summer 5,000 kms I thought I would check the new pads I had put on.One side front and rear came off like I put them on. The other 10 must have come off to check the brakes. I got off 4 with a breaker bar and long 4 ft extension.The other 6 I stripped the nut heads and had to drill them out to relieve the pressure enough for the heads to snap off.I tried the reversal nut removal sockets but just stripped them.I then had to replace the 6 studs. I guess I will always ask them to torque them when they are removed again.

 

[reddvltj]

Should final torque be done with the tires on the ground? I torqued them all while each corner was still in the air on the jack.

All you ever wanted to know and more about torquing your wheels...

Final Torque
Brace the wheel to prepare it for final torque. Especially on heavy vehicles with high torque specifications, completely lowering the vehicle and putting all of its weight on the wheels is not recommended. Only lower it down enough to prevent the wheel from rotating during final torque. Wheel chocks can be used if necessary to lock the wheel in place.

https://www.tirereview.com/the-right-torque-procedures/

 

[joelachr]

I checked my maintenance record and I put over 500 miles on between installing the Centramatics and checking the wheel nut torque after discovering the broken stud. I definitely should have checked them sooner. I'm thankful that wheel didn't come off while driving.

I'm guessing the broken stud was over-tightened during the last wheel rotation at the shop and the problem with the loose wheel was either my loose lugs contributing to that stud breaking or that stud breaking and allowing the others to loosen. I'll check the torque frequently for a couple weeks to be sure they stay tight and the Centramatics aren't somehow causing a problem.