i was rotating my tires this morning, and on the front drivers side i somehow how BROKE two of the five nuts thats keep the locks on the rim.
also, for the life of me i cant get a third lock off, which is stupid since i put them on hand powered.
i dont know how i managed to break two pieces of metal clean off but, im scared to drive it on three lugs, much less three lugs that could break off any second. I'm about to tear everything off again to put new rotors on, is this something im going to be able to take care of myself?
Don't need to buy new rotors u just gotta get new studs from a parts store and replace them but make sure u torque them down to 100 ft-lbs because thas all they need
To fix that ur gonna have to take off the rotors anyways so u can do it all at once.
yeah thats the plan i guess. well. im going to try driving it i guess.
That happened to me when changing wheels. #$@% cross threaded them.
Should be alright don't drive crazy fast but they are easy to get out just hit them with a hammer when u got the rotor off or if they are flush with a screw driver should just drive out and then slip the new ones in and tighten a bolt onto it everything up should suck it into place so they aren't a difficult thing to do just make sure not to over tighen them even when u do it by hand u can get them to tight.
its not that big of a deal. they usually break and their only like 2 bucks at pep boys
ive been beating the snot out of the studs with a hammer off and on for like two hours now and i cant get any of them out.
any suggestions?
This isn't an issue caused by GM or cheap lugs or anything else other than not properly maintaining them.
You say they were only hand tight. As opposed to what? You can WAY overtighten your lug nuts without power tools!
Those tuner nuts should have been set to 90 ft-lbs. Go out and buy yourself a torque wrench before doing anything further to your car! You'd be amazed at how often you need it when you're doing things properly.
Stock nuts should be at 100 ft-lbs.
There's a reason for these specs.
Good luck with getting them off. Frank posted a good link there for replacing them.
dont misunderstand, i know its completely my fault. i put them on really tight because im a little paranoid. my passenger rear wheel fell off once while i was cresting a hill.
thank you for the advice though, i think im going to buy one soooon
Not saying you're wrong, Weas, but I've been torquing mine since I noticed the problem was recurring, and they are still doing it. Granted, they aren't doing it nearly as often as before.
Neutiquam erro.
now im having a hell of a time lining up the hole with bolt so i can take the assembly off and remove the broken studs. does this ever end?
Slow down, maybe drink a beer. Think about it a little more, curse as frank the tank would. Try again
Rick wrote:Slow down, maybe drink a beer. Think about it a little more, curse as frank the tank would. Try again
BEST ADVICE EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Neutiquam erro.
i did it all. i think there was a little emphasis cursing. still no luck, i just cant seem to rotate it enough to line anything up.
Did you try blocking your wheels and putting the car in nuetral?
Neutiquam erro.
It never hurts to put a light coat of grease on the studs so that they don't rust together from all the heat and water. I've done that on all my cars and have never had a problem.
okay. finally. all done. now i have to hope my car survives overnight on the jack until i get the studs in the morning.
putting it in nuetral and reving seems to have done the trick.
a couple of the studs were broken so short they just stuck in the holes and couldnt be hammered out anymore, so i clamped tiny c clamps to them and hammered on the clamp until they popped. hopefully putting everything back together will go a little more smooooothly.
Good luck with the install man. I hope it goes easier for you.
BTW, if you work on your car much, go to Wal*Mart and get a set of jack stands. They'll be the best $10.00 you'll ever spend, trust me.
Neutiquam erro.
I use a 5lb sledge getting the studs out. No problem, but I'm a big guy too.
As for putting anything oil based on lugs, that a dumb idea, don't do it. If you're cheap, use soap, normal bar soap. If you're fancy use a very small amount of silicon caulk.
I haven't brake a lug in a long time, mostly due to making sure the threads are clean and not cross threaded, and proper torquing.
when i broke mine my stud came out in just a few taps. but getting them back in...didnt have the tool to do it so not in yet. gonna be changing all the lug nuts to new ones bc the original ones were peice and rusting up in the threads. and will be changing my studs also eventually
MY 2003 SUNFIRE
"A N/A ecotec is not gonna give Honda's and Mitsu's that much of a run for their
money unless their blown or bottle fed.GM is still smokin crack!"
~1QWKZ24
www.streetracing.org, 08/2001
