wheel lug stud broke at 90 ft lbs on 2010 4runner

Kevin -- Any luck getting this TSB yet?

My apologies, there is NOT a TSB for this... I had been browsing the TSB's on Identifix and thought I saw one for the wheel studs. What I saw were complaints or concerns from repair shops about how they are snapping. I will continue to check back on them and post any updated findings. I will say however (and others have commented the same), the problem appears to be more likely related to the speed and torque of an impact wrench. Highly recommend hand tightening with a good torque wrench to the spec of 84 ftlbs (I think that is the spec)
 
Old thread brought back to life . Just had my tires rotated for the first time under the 2 year maintenance program . Talking to the tech about this thread on broken lugs he said that Toyota specs the torque at 75 lbs . I told him what the manual says and he said that might be why alot of people are snapping them . 75 lbs ? Heck my kids Civic takes 80 lbs .
 
Old thread brought back to life . Just had my tires rotated for the first time under the 2 year maintenance program . Talking to the tech about this thread on broken lugs he said that Toyota specs the torque at 75 lbs . I told him what the manual says and he said that might be why alot of people are snapping them . 75 lbs ? Heck my kids Civic takes 80 lbs .
Yes ,the repair manual states......
FRONT WHEEL
Torque: 103 N·m (1050 kgf ·cm, 76ft·lbf )

REAR WHEEL
Torque: 112 N·m (1142 kgf ·cm, 83ft·lbf )

Your civic probably has 4 maybe 5 studs instead of 6 plus the 4Runners are hub centric meaning the weight is on the hub and not the lugs.Most vehicles are lug centric meaning the weight is on the lugs,
 
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Hey, this was a nice read. I got a torque wrench to keep mine at the 83 that the manual says. The shop was putting them on as tight as possible--and being a moron like I am that seemed the best idea for something as important as the wheel. Now it's just one more thing that I keep track of on my Runner.
 
Me too

While putting on new BFGs last week, I watched the tire guy snap a stud on my TE using a hand torque wrench. Not very confidence inspiring after reading these posts.
 
While putting on new BFGs last week, I watched the tire guy snap a stud on my TE using a hand torque wrench. Not very confidence inspiring after reading these posts.

Did he use the hand torque wrench to torque them after he ran them down with an impact as most do?
Or did he run them down by hand evenly and then use a torque wrench to bring them up to 75-76 ft/lbs?
pattycakes............Anyone know the socket size for the factory lug nuts ?
21MM
 
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Yes ,the repair manual states......
FRONT WHEEL
Torque: 103 N·m (1050 kgf ·cm, 76ft·lbf )

REAR WHEEL
Torque: 112 N·m (1142 kgf ·cm, 83ft·lbf )

^^Attention.....This is wrong torque spec info I believe and was a misprint in one part of the factory repair manual!!My bad!
The right torque for the front and rear wheels is 82 FT/LBS according to the "torque specifications" section of the manual,page 201. Unless the manual has been updated,tsb came out or such of course.

Pic of the manual page 201
Picture032-3.jpg~original


Funny..........I used the html version of the manual to look up the specs the first time and there is'nt a search function so I just flipped thru and found the one that listed 76ft/lb . I have the manual in pdf and html here at home and of course adobe has a search function for pdf files.

Doing a right click and search"wheel torque" in the pdf format,I came up with 24 hits and they were for re-installing the wheel after a repair or check.

7 of them said it was......... 4. INSTALL FRONT WHEEL
Torque: 112 N·m (1137 kgf ·cm, 82f t·lbf )

16 said it was 9. INSTALL FRONT WHEEL
Torque: 112 N·m (1142 kgf ·cm, 83f t·lbf )

and finally one of them said 9. INSTALL FRONT WHEEL
Torque: 103 N·m (1050 kgf ·cm, 76f t·lbf )
 
I'm curious if Toyota updates the FSM; if so do they state where the updates take place. TSB's??
Not sure how Toyota does updates. Maybe a Toyota employee on here can check to see if it was updated.
We work out of the Rolls Royce engine manuals and they are updated in real time online on their version of Tech Specs called Aeromanager Technical publications - Rolls-Royce. Then click on Civil but you need a password to get to the manuals.
If anything is updated or changed it will underlined and highlighted,I think for a year. If it's real important it will come out as a Service Bulletin or Airworthiness Directive usually if the feds get involved.

Again IMO though,the majority of broken studs are caused from over torquing with a impact at some point and then breaking later even if a torque wrench is used.The damage had already been done.Yes , just about every auto shop uses impacts to tighten the lug nuts for the sake of time . It depends on how fast they let off the trigger on the impact to how much torque it delivers.If they lay on the trigger ,it can deliver over 500ft/lbs easily.
 
I had 2 lugs up front snap off. Over torqueing anything can lead to problems, yes, but this is not normal. I have been at this game many years with GMC's, Jeeps, and 4runners, and I am telling you that the toyota lug is garbage. I am pissed and am calling toyota out on it. I am worried about the amount of stretch on the ones that are holding. I wounder how much margin they have before yielding?
 
I had 2 lugs up front snap off. Over torqueing anything can lead to problems, yes, but this is not normal. I have been at this game many years with GMC's, Jeeps, and 4runners, and I am telling you that the toyota lug is garbage. I am pissed and am calling toyota out on it. I am worried about the amount of stretch on the ones that are holding. I wounder how much margin they have before yielding?

whole-heartedly agree. had my wheels off and on hundreds of times on my Jeeps and several times on my '03 4Runner and never broke a stud. also had many garages/tire shops have my Jeep and '03 4Runner wheels off and on and they never broke a stud.
 
I had 2 lugs up front snap off. Over torqueing anything can lead to problems, yes, but this is not normal. I have been at this game many years with GMC's, Jeeps, and 4runners, and I am telling you that the toyota lug is garbage. I am pissed and am calling toyota out on it. I am worried about the amount of stretch on the ones that are holding. I wounder how much margin they have before yielding?

Bummer. I've had basically zero resistance getting them replaced by the dealer, they even opened up a case with Toyota (although they never contacted me when they said they would).

Make sure you take it in and ensure they fix it.
 
I've been doing body work for 13 years and IMO, the twisting from a torque wrench on the wheel studs is harder on them than using an impact wrench with a torque extension bar. Yes, I have broke a few wheel studs using a torque wrench, and these wheel studs (and other bolts) are getting very soft. I have never broken a wheel stud since I started using a torque extension, and they are surprisingly accurate once you figure out how to use them correctly.

For those of you who are concerned about bad wheel studs, there is a fairly easy way to inspect them...
1. Remove wheel from vehicle.
2. Visually inspect the wheel stud. You are looking for an area where the wheel stud is thinner (stretched) than the rest of the stud. It is usually close to the rotors.
3. Take a lug nut that you know has good threads (preferably a new one) and screw it all the way on by hand. If it feels like it is binding a little (again this is going to be on the lower end of the stud, close to the rotor) the stud is stretched.
 
Well I just broke a rear stud last night SOB! I did not have a lot of time to really look at it GOOD but I did see a black plate that would keep me from getting the studs out. From what I seen you can't bang the rear ones out because of this black plate, it's about 1/4 in off the back of the stud. Am I missing something? Is there a slot in that black plate so you can line up the stud and switch it out? At work now can't get to it until Saturday. Just wanted to see what kind of replys I get from you guys.
Thanks Guys!!
 
Wheel stud replaced! I have no clue what I was looking at. Like I said I did not have much time to play around with it. There was no black plate. I was able to remove and replace stud with out removing the drum brakes.
 
SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME WHEN TRYING TO MESS WITH PLASTIDIP! :ak472:

Took it to the dealer (after removing said plastidip) and they fixed it free of charge. So cant be too upset.
 
Well, I broke 2 wheel studs tonight (1 on each front wheel) while putting on my FJ Cruiser wheels. I removed the OEM wheels/lug nuts with an impact gun, but when putting on the new wheels/tires, I used a ratchet/21 mm socket to snug the lug nuts, (lowered the jack) then used my torque wrench set at 85 ft/lbs. I read this thread a couple of days ago, and realized that Harper dug up the correct torque spec (82 ft/lbs) so I assumed that 85 was OK. WRONG ! I didn't think that a couple more ft/lbs would matter, but apparently it did. OR, the OEM wheels studs are soft, weak, or if you prefer, junk. My 2010 4R has 19750 miles on it, and now wears Cooper Discoverer AT3's, LT 265/70/17 (6 ply) mounted on FJ Cruiser 6 spoke graphite powdercoated wheels. Its going in to the dealer for a 4 wheel alignment, and to replace the 2 broken studs next week. I will mention to the service writer the complaints about these wheel studs on this forum. I don't know if it will do any good tho'.
 

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