Anyone get lug stuck on a wheel stud, then the stud splines strip? Now I have a wheel stud that just spins and moves back and forth. I cant get it out cause the lug is cross threaded on the stud. Any Suggestions before i take a torch near my $2000 wheels? thanks

 

bueller? bueller? anyone?

 

Yes, those studs are fairly soft and will stretch if overtorqued quite easily which may mimic cross threaded lug nuts when trying to remove. To remove the stud in question, try removing the other 4 nuts and see if this gives you the miminal clearance between the rotor face and rim hub to get a bimetal hacksaw blade in there, sawing while using a visegrip on the seized lug nut to keep the stud from spinning. You will need to rotate the rim to get the best position for saw use.

If the affected stud/nut is so tight that the rim can't be loosened enough to access a hacksaw blade, unlikely usually, grind down the top of the acorn lug nut flat, wedge a piece of wood so the nut is reluctant to spin, and Dremel a slot down the side of the nut...slow and tedious but will eventually split the nut allowing removal. Usually you can drive a chisel or already beatup flat head screwdriver down the slot to relax the nuts' grip enough to remove without slotting down the entire length of the lugnut.

If the affected stud is on the rear wheel, remove the disc rotor, loosen the top parking brake spring and that little circular midshoe clip, so you can move one of the parking brake shoes laterally, and rotate the hub so you can hammer out the stud where it can clear. Put in the new stud (antiseize on splines), add a couple thick washers, and use a lug nut to draw tight. If the stud is one the front, the added pain of removing the front drive shaft is needed to access the backof the hub to gain enough clearance to remove/install a new stud. The studs are fairly cheap from the Dealer..I think $1.95/each. I torque them to 80 ft/lbs now (Manuel says 73) since my usual 88-90 ft/lbs stretched 2 of them.

Cheers,

 

good stuff. thanks. ive already been trying the dremel route. spent an hour and a half on it yesterday. didnt think about the hacksaw. i try that. i have arp studs, so my obsessive use of an impact gun hopefully wont be a problem in the future.