Ok yesterday i had two left rear wheel studs break on me and almost lost my wheel on the tonic in upstate NY. Drove home on three studs cause i had no other choice. Has anyone changed out the wheel studs before and how hard are they. especially when two of then are snapped. It is raining here today so i can't get to look at it but need to know if it's going to be a pain in the ass or should i just take it to Jeff hill to do. If they are not that hard i will do it my self but someone help me out in the direction......
TIA :7

They are a pain in the ass. You have to hammer them out (easy part) and basically press the new ones in (PITA part). You better do them though. Taking the car to a DSM shop to change wheel studs is pretty pathetic :)

so how long would you think it would take........... and how the hell did they snap in the first place. is this a common thing with dsm's

It isn't common, but it isn't uncommon either. Lots of stuff can do it. Loose lugs, improperly balanced wheels, a bent strut or control arm, etc. Anything that makes the wheel wobble when driving can snap a wheel stud.

could it have been from over torque with the air gun. cause i just had the brake's done not that long ago when i had just gotten out of surgery for my knee....

Yep. Too much torque could strip the threads, causing the lugs to actually be looser rather than tighter. If they are loose enough for the wheel to wobble at all, stripped threads can be the result for sure.

C'mon Jeff, They aren't THAT hard to put back in.
After you hammer the old ones out, put a new one in and give it a SLIGHT tap to get it lined up. Then just thread on a nut all the way to "pull" the stud in to place. After the wheels are on, torque it to 90-100 ft lbs and they should be in there just nice. :)




-Tony
98'GST (soon to be neglected)
92'TSI AWD (soon to be modded) ;)

eclipzgst@charter.net
http://eclipzgst.webhop.net
http://www.newengdsm.org/

turboclipz on AIM

Try it with ABS ;)

Yeah Jeff helped me replace my broken wheel studs when they snapped just before last year's shootout. With ABS it's a HUGE PITA but otherwise it shouldn't take more than a couple of hours to change them.

Ok i don;t have abs so it shouldn't take long correct...........

Nope not long at all. Just tap em out with a hammer and put the new ones in. Not very involved at all. Use plenty of WD40 before hand so they come out easier. Good Luck.

shit these were the easiest thing to change out on the car so far..... one knock of the hammer and they were out...... used the inpact gun to pull the lugs in... put the brakes back on and i was back to normal.......
thanks Guys