Broke a stupid lug bolt!!!

[4Sport]

Hey guys, quick question... Well, two I guess.

So when finishing up from replacing my front brake pads I guess I got a little carried away tightening one of my front drivers side lug nuts, as it broke right off. So I haven't gotten a chance to buy a new one from the dealership and figure out how to replace that bad boy. So here are my questions:

First, I had plans for a road trip this weekend to PA (400 miles or so each way). Is it a big no no to do this while driving with only 5 lug nuts on one of my tires?

Second, can anyone walk me through the process of replacing a lug bolt when I get around to it? Do I pound it through and out the back? or are they threaded? Also, say I want to replace one or two others that look a little rusty while I've got the caliper off, would intact lug bolts slide out the back the same way?

Appreciate the help,
Mark

 

[rook]

you need to replace what is called a wheel stud. it is a relatively inexpensive diy. all you need is a new stud and lug nut. remove the wheel, rotor and caliper leaving the studs and wheel bearing exposed. drive out the old stud with a bfh and a punch. place the new stud in from the back and press into place. if you dont have a way to press it, use a lug nut and a stack of washers and tighten the nut drawing the knurled portion of the stud is seated inside the hole completely. throw away the lug nut and replace with a new one.

 

[Jacobzky]

if you can, borrow a torque wrench and torque the lug nuts to 81ft. lbs.

 

[jeober]

great pics and info for the wheel stud repair.

also a good suggestion for the torque wrench especially to get the feel for 81 lb-ft of torque.

I hope no one asks what a bfh is

 

[4Sport]

Thanks guys. So do you think I'm ok to drive a few hundred miles this weekend before fixing this?

 

[TheBlueWave]

Thanks guys. So do you think I'm ok to drive a few hundred miles this weekend before fixing this?

I wouldn't. But that's because I've had a wheel fall off a truck before while on a bridge towing a boat. Scarred the hell outa me! Missing a lug puts extra load on the remaining 5, so I would get the stuff you need on the way home from work today and do the repair before the road trip.

 

[JP4RNR]

If for nothing else take care of the repair to have peace of mind before you take the road trip.

You won't enjoy your trip as much if you got the idea in the back of your mind that a wheel might fall off. :bash:


There is a good chance nothing would happen but who want's to breakdown especially if you are going to be traveling long distances. I would not especially after seeing the movie "The Hills Have Eyes"
:biggrin2:

 

[GSGALLANT]

If your other 5 studs were all healthy, I would say no problem driving for a while with just 5, but since you say you want to replace some of the others because they're all rusty, and since you've probably weakened the rest of the studs when you over-torqued them (you should really get a torque wrench ), I probably wouldn't risk driving very far or fast without fixing it.

 

[4Sport]

It's been a few weeks but I thought I would post my experiences doing this DIY. As it turned out that trip of mine was cancelled and I replaced all 6 studs on that wheel. Pictures were a comfort to have, and the stack of washers technique worked well - ended up going through a whole bunch of them since a few get completely bent out of shape with each stud you pull into place.

Seemed a bit odd to me, but my entire tire/brake assembly was siezed up. I had trouble getting the tires off when I did my brakes, what I had to do after removing all the lugs was to lower the jack until the cars weight pushed on the tire and it poped off, then raise up again. All a real PITA with the Toyota jack.

So when I was doing the studs, I undid the caliper and moved it aside (by the way the bolts holding the caliper were insanely tight, almost gave up on this little project alltogether) Then the rotor was stuck on so tightly I had to put in ear plugs and whack the heck out of it with a hammer to get it off, no amount of kicking or pulling or prying would budge the thing.

After all that the studs pushed through with a hammer with no trouble at all. Just had to put the truck in neutral to rotate the wheel at one point to get enough clearance to get all the studs out. I used anti seize on the studs to prevent any trouble in the future when putting everything back together.

All in all I'd say replacing studs is a piece of cake brain-wise, but man that took every ounce of strength I had to get everything unstuck.
For anyone else attempting studs for the first time - I really wish I had a baby-sledge to pop the rotor off instead of a regular hammer, and perhaps a beefier socket wrench to loosen those caliper bolts. If you have those you should have an easier time, Good luck!

 

[bft4.7]

I thought I was the only one!! I posted this problem over on yotatech and they all gave me shit about not using a torque wrench. So I went and got a torque wrench and guess what, I broke another one off a year later. So far I have broken off three of them, though toyota fixed it the first two times at no cost. I think toyota messed up in their design. I had a chevy truck and I would give it hell and did not break a lug nut stud. I have heard from one shop that it might actually be caused by our lug nuts having that stupid washer on them. The washer moves a little bit and it binds while putting them on, then snaps the stud. Don't know if it is true but I am a little more careful now. You did the right thing replacing all 6, next time I am going to do them all.

 

[ukbgblue]

lug nut size

I have a 2004 4runner Sport edition and broke a wheel stud. what is the exact size of wheel stud for this this model?.... please help asap

Thanks
Bobby

 

[Uneek]

I picked them up at the dealer.

Here's some info for alternative studs like ARP,
Tacoma Lug Nuts