Snapped Wheel Lug, very easy fix.

[CJ3Flyr]

I had my tires balanced yesterday. They did the "on car" balance which worked fine. Just as they were finishing up the last wheel (drivers' front) the manager came to me holding my lugnut with half the stud hanging out.:sobbing: Of course the next five minutes was spent explaining that everybody who has rotated the tires before them was at fault. Right... Not having time or the emotional strength to deal with them anymore I said thank-you and left.




I went to NAPA to get a stud. NAPA said 'dealer only' which I knew was wrong. When I changed the model year from '07 to '03 they had 3 in stock, $1.99ea.




I parked the vehicle with the broken stud in the 9 o'clock position because I had studied the back plate/caliper layout and knew there was good clearance. (Side note: When doing the balance they actually turned the wheel a couple of times looking for the best balance prior to adding weight. Because of this I marked the rim with a Sharpie to preserve the effort.) Next up a long punch and a full-sized sledge hammer. With punch on the stud and a couple of light to medium swings and clang-clang, the stud dropped into the rotor***. :bigok: Next I loosened the remaining lugnuts, jacked it up and removed the tire. I was expecting to have to remove the caliper, pull the rotor off, remove the old stud and position the new stud. I pushed the caliper pistons back all the way. This allowed the rotor to wiggle around enough that I was able to remove the old stud and position the new one:dancin: I didn't even have to remove the caliper.



Overall it was much easier than I thought it was going to be. The longest part of the process involved jacking and tire R&R. It, honestly, took me longer to type this than it did replace the stud



Point of all this is don't despair if you break one....


*** Note: I did it in that order purposefully so as to avoid beating an unsupported flange, bearing etc. The energy from the sledge was "absorbed" into the rim/tire rather than into the flange & axle. Is it necessary? I don't know, that's just how I roll...

:cheers:

 

[Uneek]

Yup it's a very easy repair. I rather replace a stud than do an oil change.

I did this about two months ago on my Tacoma. Toyota has switched some really crappy studs (2nd gen Taco's and 4th gen 4R's). A search on the forums, it seems broken studs are almost as common as the driveline clunk. I know there are a few 4th gens here with broken studs as well.

What was suppose to be a routine and normal tire rotation left me with two studs for replacement. I always hand thread the lugs back on. The driver's front felt like something was wrong as the particular stud required more turns than usual. I left that one alone and would come back to it after the passenger side. Then the same thing with the passenger side front, same issue. I thought maybe I'm over thinking it. Next thing I know, I got a lug and with a sheared off stud in it. I picked up four extra studs from the dealer. I contemplated switching to ARP studs, which are much stronger. But they're expensive, $7+ per stud. The Taco have different part numbers for front and rear studs.

A broken stud is much harder to pound out with a BFH (10-15 min) vs a stretched one (2 min tops). I removed the, pads, caliper and rotor, marking the rotor and hub position for run out purposes. If the rotor is seized on to the hub, there are two threaded holes where bolts can be screwed into to push the rotor out. I used a lug nut and stacked a bunch of washers over the stud and tighten it down, pulling the stud through the hub. (It's a lot faster with an impact gun, if you have it.) Replace the rotor matching up the previous marks and then the caliper. The caliper bolt torque on the Tacoma is 89ft-lb, should be very similar on the 4R. Reinstall the brake pads and wheel, torque the wheels down (83ft-lb for the 4R) and done. Retorque the wheels after 25 miles.

What's strange is the lug with the broken stud, the threads were damaged. After I removed the broken stud with ViseGrips, that lug would not thread fully over the new studs. The broken stud sheared off with about 3/8" of threads protruding from the lug. While the lug from the stretched stud worked just fine with the new studs.

Chris,
Good to know, it's just as easy with 4WD. My Taco is a PreRunner (2WD).

 

[004Gunner]

I would've never guessed that you could replace a stud without removing the caliper and rotor. I broke one of my studs using my brother's massive (1,000 ft/lbs. of torque) Snap On impact wrench. This was the same impact wrench that zipped off my crank bolt like it was an oil drain plug. Not exactly the best tool for tightening lug nuts. . .

So Chris, have you ever been to a shop where real men work? You know the kind that don't blame others and tell it to you straight?

 

[CJ3Flyr]

Yup it's a very easy repair. I rather replace a stud than do an oil change.

...What's strange is the lug with the broken stud, the threads were damaged. After I removed the broken stud with ViseGrips, that lug would not thread fully over the new studs. The broken stud sheared off with about 3/8" of threads protruding from the lug. While the lug from the stretched stud worked just fine with the new studs....

That is strange, did you try another lug to see if the nut was messed up? Please educate me, ARP studs? Are they stock length, super strong studs or are they longer for specialty wheels?

...So Chris, have you ever been to a shop where real men work? You know the kind that don't blame others and tell it to you straight?

:lmao:True...

 

[Uneek]

That is strange, did you try another lug to see if the nut was messed up? Please educate me, ARP studs? Are they stock length, super strong studs or are they longer for specialty wheels?

Yup. It was the lug nut that was an issue. It wouldn't smoothly thread on to another stud, existing or a yet to be installed new one. I used another lug and all was fine.

For the ARP studs, I found a bunch of links while looking for info about replacing them myself. There was one write up, which the owner needed longer studs for auto-crossing on his X-Runner. Here's one of the sites I came across with good details on various replacements for the Tacoma, http://www.hunt4steve.com/05TacoExtLn.html.

As for others who may come across a broken stud, I saw in one of the forums someone was quoted $400 from the dealer for a replacement. After reading that, I was determined to replace it myself.

 

[CJ3Flyr]

Yup. It was the lug nut that was an issue. It wouldn't smoothly thread on to another stud, existing or a yet to be installed new one. I used another lug and all was fine.

For the ARP studs, I found a bunch of links while looking for info about replacing them myself. There was one write up, which the owner needed longer studs for auto-crossing on his X-Runner. Here's one of the sites I came across with good details on various replacements for the Tacoma, http://www.hunt4steve.com/05TacoExtLn.html.

As for others who may come across a broken stud, I saw in one of the forums someone was quoted $400 from the dealer OMG!:wtf:for a replacement. After reading that, I was determined to replace it myself.

Awesome, thanks. Bookmarked the studs page

 

[CJ3Flyr]

Another broken stud experience: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/60111-broken-wheel-stud.html

 

[Elton H]

yep thats why i tighten mine to 83ft lbs

 

[seanzorio]

I snapped one of mine Friday night putting a wheel back on, and this thread has given me hope that it's a quick fix. lol. I've got the replacement stud in the center console, but don't have time to get it done tonight. You guys don't think it's the end of the world to drive to work and home tomorrow on 5 lugs do you?

 

[Uneek]

I snapped one of mine Friday night putting a wheel back on, and this thread has given me hope that it's a quick fix. lol. I've got the replacement stud in the center console, but don't have time to get it done tonight. You guys don't think it's the end of the world to drive to work and home tomorrow on 5 lugs do you?

I've driven around for a week (100 miles or so) with just five lugs on my Taco.

 

[seanzorio]

So my broken stud is on the rear. I've got it all torn down, but can't figure out how to either get the hub out, or get the broken stud out of the hub without removing it. Any advice?

Edit: Found some info in the other broken wheel stud thread about getting them out at the 6 o clock position. Got them out, got the new one nearly all the way back in, and am going to finish after dinner.

 

[jeffreykb]

Thanks for this thread..it helped for part of the repair! My experience...I noticed that tires needed rotating on the 2007 4runner. A wheel stud snapped while tightening a lug nut on the first 2 tires in the rotation. The lug nut seemed to be taking more turns to tighten than the other lugs then the wheel stud snapped. I took a break then finished the last 2 tires with a torque wrench. The next day...I followed steps the first few steps in the first post of this thread, but the the brake pads were fairly new and rotor would not budge after several minutes using a rubber mallet and a hammer & a block of wood. In other words, the brake caliper and rotor had to come off to replace the stud.

Disclaimer: Use the info below at your own risk. You do not want to break a brake caliper mounting arm.

A video named "How to Remove a Stuck Rotor WITHOUT a Hammer!" popped up in a search. For the steps in the video, there was just enough clearance for a 3/8" nut to fit between the rotor and brake caliper mounting arm. One nut fell between the rotor and backing plate, but I bought 3 nuts and 2 bolts. After working with it for approximately 10 minutes, the rotor popped loose to allow access to the studs. Also, I am glad that I had a bottle of anti-seize to apply to the contact surface of the wheel bearing assembly and rotor to help the next person that needs to remove the rotor.

I also found a video about removing a stuck rotor on a 5th gen 4runner. Apparently, Toyota added a threaded hole(s) on the rotor that can used to help remove a stuck rotor. I wish that Toyota had added this feature on the 4th gen 4runners.