Late model (2004) wheel studs

[Doober]

So I did the front brakes and had the rotors turned on my aunt's Rendezvous today... not too daunting of a task, right?

Wrong.

I broke 2 adjacent studs, and a third has the starter portion of its threads messed up. I knew I should've followed my better judgment and had the guy take off the nut soon as I saw him trying to run it down with an impact ](*,) #-o Luckily they said they would replace them "this time", otherwise we would have had other issues.

My question is this: how often do you really have that bad of an issue with wheel studs? I mean I know the threads stretch a little when you torque them down, and over time they may not be as easy to turn as originally, but so bad that they have to be run down with an impact, then want to break when you try to remove them? This was on one hub, the other side didn't put up as much of a fight, though there was still some difficulty (couldn't turn it with my fingers, but wasn't much problem with a ratchet).

I didn't get any pictures of it, but the 2nd one that broke was the first one counter-clockwise from the already-broken one.

 

[RatMalibu]

100ft/lbs...either use a torque wrench or buy a torque stick for the impact....anyone that doesn't is doing it wrong

trucks are 120ft/lbs.....most foreign cars are 80ft/lbs

worked at a dealer for 12 years....never broke a stud accidentally

 

[78maliburat]

anti seize [-X

 

[axisg]

I think it was GM cheaping out on the metal. Wifes '03 imp I have broken 3 wheel studs in the last 4 years. On my '03 AWD Safari I have broken 1 stud and stripped another.

Alum wheels on both and I never use an impact and they are torqued down from 80 to 90 then 100 ft/lbs. The studs have all broken on the sequence approching 100 ft/lbs

 

[Doober]

100ft/lbs...either use a torque wrench or buy a torque stick for the impact....anyone that doesn't is doing it wrong

trucks are 120ft/lbs.....most foreign cars are 80ft/lbs

worked at a dealer for 12 years....never broke a stud accidentally

In all the years I've worked on cars I never had as much trouble as I did after taking it to this brake shop (Brake Masters). They seem to be making good on it though, so I don't really have any issue with them... I know stuff happens but at least own up to it if you know it's your fault :? Thing is if I was some Joe Blo off the street that didn't know what they were talking about, they probably would've tried to charge me :x

 

[cttandy]

I used to have a 96 GMC Jimmy 2 door 2wd. Everytime you took a wheel off the rear, one of the studs would snap. I was driving a lot then, and had my tire rotated every oil change, that was generally every friday (it would actually be over due, 600-800 miles a day). We could never figure out why it was happening. This continued to happen for 3 years and some 300,000 miles.

I finally hit a man hole cover that bent the rear axle. When we replaced the axle, it never happened again. We are still clueless as to why it happened.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

anti seize [-X

Not on wheel studs. It increases the measured torque values & in turn weakens the studs from stretch & the accompanied fatigue. It's a REAL good way to lose a wheel...


Tommy

 

[Doober]

I used anti-seize once, never again... I stopped because it too much of a mess though :lol:

That was one of the nice things I noticed about the caliper brackets though... the sliders were integral to the bracket, and sealed from the elements, so no need to apply anti-seize to them 8) Just a pair of short 10mm bolts for the calipers, and I'm guessing 13mm (15mm bolt head) for the caliper brackets.

 

[tiedyemike8]

100 ft/lbs seems high for a car with aluminum wheels. Is that what the book says?
In my experience, galled threads, stripped threads, and broken studs usually come from over torqued lug nuts. Tightening the lugs with an impact is a good way to gall the threads in the nuts. It seems that the threads in the nut always gall first, and then when people continue to use the bad nut, it ruins the threads on the stud. And then when they still continue to use it, and have to hammer the nut down with an impact, it causes a lot of heat and stress to the stud, which is then probably about to break.
If you are having other people work on your car, probably the best thing to do is request that they don't use an impact to put the lugs back on, that they thread them by hand and torque them to spec with a torque wrench. If you want to be picky, you can ask to see the torque wrench to verify the setting, as some guys will still try to over torque them. I've seen this first hand in more than a couple shops.

That being said, some shops have their employees torque all lugs on cars to say 100 ft/lbs, regardless of the actual spec. They do this to try to minimize mistakes in their shop and to keep tires from flying off of cars. But they are ruining your studs and nuts in the process. ](*,)

 

[Doober]

It just has steel wheels, and Autozone's site says 100 regardless of wheel material. Checked for my truck (1/2 full size) and it says 120.