Broken wheel studs...

[ENafziger]

Needing some advice here...

Working on the truck over Thanksgiving, I went to remove the front wheels, and there were 3 studs that were sheared off!

There were 2 studs broken on the passenger side front, and one on the driver's side. Any thoughts as to what could have caused this?

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I have never pulled heavy with the truck (max gvwr of 21k one time), and have never abused it offroad.

An air gun has never touched these lugs, coming on or off. I've always torqued them with a 1/2" drive torque wrench to 120 ft-lbs. The break doesn't indicate that the lugs were over-torqued; rather, the break is a clean shear break.

Since 3 of the studs have already broken, I'm somewhat reluctant just to replace them without finding the root cause.


Thanks, Eric

 

[ekroman]

Were they already broken, or did they break while removing them?



I've only seen wheel studs break one time. It was a set of cross threaded lugnuts, they broke the studs when I tried to remove them.



Studs were cross-threaded by the geniuses at the local tire chain store.



Do you lube your threads before torquing them? I always put a drop of oil on each stud when installing, then torque to spec. Never had one fall off, and never had one break.



Eddie

 

[ENafziger]

Were they already broken, or did they break while removing them?

I've only seen wheel studs break one time. It was a set of cross threaded lugnuts, they broke the studs when I tried to remove them.

Studs were cross-threaded by the geniuses at the local tire chain store.

Do you lube your threads before torquing them? I always put a drop of oil on each stud when installing, then torque to spec. Never had one fall off, and never had one break.

One was completely missing, and the other two were still there, but nearly fell off in my hand.

I've always used copper-based antisieze to prevent corrosion, fully threaded the lug nuts on by hand, and then torqued with the torque wrench...

--Eric

 

[SSell]

I;ve seen this on a buddy's jeep before, he would switch between sand paddles and street tires maybe 10X a year----end of the 3rd year he just started snapping lugs (always used a torque wrench, aluminum wheels). He broke 4 or 5 before replacing ALL of them. Always figured it was metal fatigue from high horsepower but maybe repetetive loosening/tightening has something to do with it???

 

[fox]

The only broken studs I have seen were greatly over torqued. Some took up to 300+ ft lbs to remove.

 

[ROCKJEEP]

What torque wrench are you using. We hag a guy at our shop that had a cheep harbor fright one and it was almost 70lbs off and was over torquing everything.

 

[rbattelle]

Waaaay back someone posted about shearing off all (or most) of his studs during a panic stop. [Of course, there's no chance of finding that thread now].



Any chance you did a panic stop you don't remember?



In fact, you can see what looks like a gouge in each of the studs that are still present, on one side (the same side on all the studs). This would be consistent with damage caused by the wheel. Do you have aluminum or steel wheels?



I know you say you've never "abused" the truck off-road, but I notice you have limit straps. Have you been jumping the truck?



Ryan

 

[jelag]

I've never seen over torquing do the damage your seeing... . but I have seen a lot of it.....

And the only time I've ever seen a broken stud from stopping is when all of the nuts are loose and the edge of the wheel has worn into the stud reducing its diameter... .

Often when the shops use an air wrench to remove and reinstall the nuts they will drag dirt and rust across the threads... and in some cases a small bit of steel will drop off the nut and damage the stud... . than when its installed this damage will cause the stud to either strip or break... . sometimes this damage to the threads on the stud will strip off 2 or 3 wraps of the thread...

We always remove our own wheels when possible, we keep a tap and die to clean the threads and than lube them with an anti-seize material before installation... Nuts are the easy part... its the studs that we really care about...

Your repair is not an expensive one if you can do it yourself... I'm guessing $2. 50 a stud plus the new nuts... . but I'm guessing your going to have at least 3-5 hours of time invested in pulling it down, pressing out the old stud, pressing in the new stud and putting the thing back together.....

We like to keep our work trucks for 500K miles... and to keep them working right we always take the time to do as we mentioned above if we think we have a problem... . On a new truck, we pull it apart and lube the studs before it gets 5K miles on it... . to prevent the problems later... .

Hope this helps...

 

[rbattelle]

but I'm guessing your going to have at least 3-5 hours of time invested in pulling it down, pressing out the old stud, pressing in the new stud and putting the thing back together.....

Nah, piece of cake. Whack it with a hammer and it'll pop right out.



Ryan

 

[Bob4x4]

I would suspect maybe a non hubcentric wheel. With all the use my friends and I do with our trucks here and in Mexico I have yet to see that on a hubcentric wheel.

Are you running h2 wheels?

 

[Bessler]

My 2nd gen wheel torque is 150-165 Ft-lbs. I think you may be under torqued, with the 37s theres a lot of mass turning, hard starts & stops could be stressing the lugs @120 Ft-lbs.

 

[Bob4x4]

3rd Gen

TORQUE



DESCRIPTION N·m Ft. Lbs. In. Lbs.

1500 Series

Lug Nut 9/16 X 18 with 60° Cone

LD 176 130 —

2500 AND 3500 Series

Lug Nut 9/16 X 18 with 60° Cone

HD SRW 190 140 —

3500 Series

Lug Nut 9/16 X 18 with Flat Washer

HD DRW 197 145 —





Bob

 

[Bob4x4]

2nd gen

TORQUE CHART

TORQUE SPECIFICATIONS DESCRIPTION N·m Ft. Lbs. In. Lbs.

Lug Nut BR1500 (5 Stud Wheel) 130 95 —

Lug Nut BR2500 (8 Stud Wheel) 180 135 —

Lug Nut BR3500 (8 Stud Dual Wheel) 195 145 —



Bob

 

[BDaugherty]

Torque specs posted in the service manual are DRY torque specs. Adding oil or antisieze will reduce the friction needed to turn the nut and increase the stretch of the stud.

My best guess without looking at your broken studs is that they were stretched beyond the yield point of the material which will GREATLY weaken them. Once they started to stretch beyond the intended amount, they loosened up and then broke. If it were me, I would replace them all and get new nuts if your budget permits. Inspect the wheels closely to make sure they aren't worn out. The mating surface between the hub and wheel should be clean and dry.

Personally, I wouldn't be afraid to use a VERY small dab of antisieze on each stud the first time I run a nut down it. You shouldn't need to reapply unless the threads are washed.

Also, after the new stud install, drive it 50-100 miles and do a quick re-torque after you know for a fact that everything is seated.

 

[Grizzly]

Nah, piece of cake. Whack it with a hammer and it'll pop right out.



Ryan

That's exactly what I've done when I've had to replace studs, then take the same hammer to beat the new studs in. Just make sure the new studs are seated completely.

 

[ENafziger]

Hmmm, thanks for the help everyone.

I am running aftermarket wheels, XD Hoss 795 17x9 with 5. 71" backspacing. The wheels are aluminum, and are a lug-centric design. I've been using a Craftsmen 1/2 torque wrench, and recently checked it against another torque wrench as well... it was within 1-2 ft-lbs.

I carefully checked the wheels, and there is no evidence of the wheels being loose, as the aluminum is not galled or deformed at all around the stud holes.

However, I think I may have found the answer on another site. If you remove the wheel and look closely, there are some small one-way spur retaining washers around the studs... . evidently to hold the rotor assembly together during the factory build-up. There are 4 of these washers on each front wheel and 2 on each rear wheel.

The OEM wheels have a recess to allow clearance for these washers... and most aftermarket wheels that are lug-centric do not. These washers must be removed if running aftermarket wheels!

Someone else had this same issue, removed the washers and replaced the studs, and everything is fine.

I've got the front end torn apart right now building a front axle truss, so replacing the studs shouldn't be that difficult. I ordered some from RockAuto last night and used the TDR 5% discount...

Thanks again! Eric

 

[cclark746]

i had the same problem with after martket wheels mkw 20x9 with 35 toyos glad to hear that the retaining nuts are the problem was getting alittle worried myself. well i am bout to put it back together and see how she does. thanks for the post

 

[WMonroe]

Glad you found the problem. Surprising that small washer on there makes the difference.

Will

 

[tkerrigan]

Like post # 14 said, except don't use any anti seize or lube at all. Dry is the way.

 

[B.G. Smith]

Yeah, it's the never sieze, you are just pulling them in two. The studs/nuts all see basically the same forces in service. If it was braking/off roading or cargo loading that caused it they would all have failed. bg