So I am supposed to be doing my first brake check and suspension bushing check as a total newbie. I end up shearing off the lugnut bolt and having to buy a new hub. This is my story. I am writing this so you can call me a dumbass and tell me what I need to fix. I jacked up the car and put it on a jackstand on the side I wanted to check first. My friend loosened the lugnuts a bit before we jacked it up. once it was up and supposedly loosened I sheared off the bolt. I didn't know about stud replacements till it was over and I had replaced the hub. We got the caliper off and I put in in a potted plant I had grabbed for this task. After a lot of futzing around with neutral and lifting the other wheel and finally to far loosened hub assembly bolts that were blocking the lug nut bolt ends we finally got the hub loose, after a lot of hammering and hammering we got the hub out. The new temken hub I bought at autozone for 70 bucks. It came with a rubber wire and some jar lid seal thing which I did not end up using. The rubber wire I put around where the inscription line is around the hub shaft. It didn't stay there and is now all splayed out on the outside where it didn't quite fit in. I think I also sprayed anti sieze compound on the brake parts accidentally thinking I had the bottle of brake cleaner, I sprayed them with the real brake cleaner a little, I hope they will be ok? So I kinda blew my food budget on the hub and a 30 mm socket for the hub nut, a t55 extension socket because the original t55 I bought for this wouldn't fit through the hole in the hub and a c-clamp to squeeze in the caliper piston. The car runs fine so far, I tooled around a little and everything seems normal but I know I need to do something with this leftover seal part and the messed up rubber band but what?


2002 cavalier 4 door, automatic with 2200 SFI motor, custom carputer installed.

I replaced my wheel hubs about a year ago with no problems still. My originals did not have any seals... so I never bothered to install the included seals. The seals (rubber band lol) are used on earlier model GM cars all the way back to 1984. They are included for other applications. Throw both seals away. Just make sure you torqued your axle nut and hex bolts to the correct specs. Simple enough.

A touch of a learning curve you had there.Just a tip when I prepare to do work on my rides I always have all said parts and tools ready long before I do the job.Especially brake cleaner and lots of it.This is super product for messy grease stuff,and having a manual with the specs is handy for torque applications.It seems you had some issues but,we all find out sometimes the hard way.I run into drama sometimes doing my resto work but,at least my j stays in doors so,one advantage and not a daily.Good luck with future knuckle busting.

So today I heard some alarming rubbing noises coming from the area of the hub I replaced a while back. Just a few intermittant rubs, so I took off an hour and a half from work and jacked up the car. There was a lot of horizontal movement in the wheel like the tie rods were bad, but it wasn't the tie rods. The hub bolts were coming loose because I sprayed them with penetrating oil before I installed them. The rain and the oil made them nice and loose and they were coming out. This time I dried them with a towel and put anti-sieze lubricant on them and reinstalled. Do you think they will come loose again? This time I did the job very quicky with hand tools and I'm glad I keep a floor jack and everything else in the trunk despite the increased weight. I'm still a noob but learning from ones mistakes is very helpful.


2002 cavalier 4 door, automatic with 2200 SFI motor, custom carputer installed.

bramlet abercrombie wrote:So today I heard some alarming rubbing noises coming from the area of the hub I replaced a while back. Just a few intermittant rubs, so I took off an hour and a half from work and jacked up the car. There was a lot of horizontal movement in the wheel like the tie rods were bad, but it wasn't the tie rods. The hub bolts were coming loose because I sprayed them with penetrating oil before I installed them. The rain and the oil made them nice and loose and they were coming out. This time I dried them with a towel and put anti-sieze lubricant on them and reinstalled. Do you think they will come loose again? This time I did the job very quicky with hand tools and I'm glad I keep a floor jack and everything else in the trunk despite the increased weight. I'm still a noob but learning from ones mistakes is very helpful.

... did you torque the bolts wet? Generally over torquing occurs when bolts that aren't meant to be torqued wet, are.

You did torque the bolts with a torque wrench right? hub to knuckle and the axle nut?

I would say if they hint at coming loose again, bring it to a mechanic.

I used a torque wrench for the axle nut when I first did it, but didn't touch it this time. I don't have the right size torque wrench for the hub to knuckle bolts so I just tightened them with a small wrench till they seemed good and tight. Maybe I should make sure the axle nut is still tight?

When I installed the bolts I dried them with a towel and put the silver goopy anti-sieze on them. I am supposed to drive three friends to an amusment park this weekend, maybe I will make sure everything is still tight before I leave.


2002 cavalier 4 door, automatic with 2200 SFI motor, custom carputer installed.

you can do the loan a tool thing at many auto stores, you put down the price of the tool, when your done take the tool back and get your money.