[NYCDahon]

My tire was very low - has a slow leak. Tire shop stripped one of my lugnuts - two really - but one that would not come off. I left the shop. Next place couldn't get it with any tools they had - so they torched it. Ruined my rim and my stud. Now have the spare rim on and 4 lugnuts. I am getting a new stud and new lugnuts - should I get 20 and what brand? These that failed were MOPAR factory - I do think the first guy was a dope and I am not happy with second shop either. Any advice? Can I drive on the highway with 4? What a crazy day. Cheers

 

[peva]

There's a large safety factor in the lugs - not reasonable to design the system such that a wheel's going to come off because one lug nut is left off or one lug breaks.

To be on the safe side, don't drive at high speed or over pot holes while going around sharp curves (that's when your lugs are under worst-case stress) until you get the lug and nut replaced.

However - it sounds like you only have 3 lug nuts clamping the wheel - probably should park it until repaired.

BTW, if your hub/bearing assembly is original or otherwise has a lot of miles on it, consider replacing the hub/bearing, which comes with 5 brand new studs, for not a lot of $$. (Bearings do wear out, and you might end up replacing it in the next couple of years anyway for a worn out bearing.)

 

[NYCDahon]

There's a large safety factor in the lugs - not reasonable to design the system such that a wheel's going to come off because one lug nut is left off or one lug breaks.

To be on the safe side, don't drive at high speed or over pot holes while going around sharp curves (that's when your lugs are under worst-case stress) until you get the lug and nut replaced.

However - it sounds like you only have 3 lug nuts clamping the wheel - probably should park it until repaired.

BTW, if your hub/bearing assembly is original or otherwise has a lot of miles on it, consider replacing the hub/bearing, which comes with 5 brand new studs, for not a lot of $$. (Bearings do wear out, and you might end up replacing it in the next couple of years anyway for a worn out bearing.)

Hi

I do have 4 lugnuts on - just one of those four is not pretty - the 5th one is no more. He quoted me $115 total to change that stud. Is it a big job?

Would you change all 20 the lugnuts since 2 of mine had issues? Though it really might have been a bad mechanic.

Any advice on brand of lugnuts?

 

[peva]

OK. You said two lugnuts were stripped. You replaced one of those to get full torque on the 4 remaining studs?

I have no opinion on any particular brand of lugnut. You could go with the Dorman ones at the parts store listed for your car in the Dorman apps list. Someone else may be able to recommend some that are fancier or have better plating, but it might be overall less hassle and cost to replace with the Dormans every few years if perfect appearance is that important to you. My experience is that no lugnuts are going to look perfect after being wrenched a few times, so why spend a lot of money on fancy-schmancy ones. YMMV.

If the tire shop messed up the lugnuts working on that one wheel, why are you expecting to have problems with the ones on the other wheels. Consider replacing all the lugnuts on only one side of the car if slight visual mismatch of factory vs. aftermarket nuts is going to bother you - people can only see one side if the car at a time. Or if you want to replace all 20, have at it.

$115 to replace a stud sounds kind of high, but I don't know what labor rates are where you are. A stud costs well under $10, and it takes less than 10 minutes to whack the old one out with a 4 pound hammer, and pull a new one into place by tightening the nut. Consider it might take 45 minutes max. getting you in and out the door plus them going and getting the part (less if they keep them in stock). But since I do almost all of my own work, prices always seem high to me.

Again, consider that for maybe $150 total you could get a new hub/bearing assembly installed and end up with new bearing, hub, and all pre-installed new studs (the part itself is $20-50).

 

[KxWarrior]

Pretty much everything Peva said.

 

[Ronbo]

X3 ^

 

[NYCDahon]

Great - I am not worried about looks - I thought these might be defective with age. Happy to get Dorman and just a new stud. Is the new stud easy to get in? It looked like there is a dust guard or some metal plate covering the back.

 

[peva]

Should be nothing preventing you getting the new stud into the hole from the back side of the wheel-mount disc of the hub using the correct length stud. You may have to rotate the hub to get that stud hole to a position where there is nothing in the way of inserting the stud into the hole.

You might also buy an open-end (not "acorn" type) M12 lug nut and some 12mm or 1/2 hardened washers to use to pull the stud fully into place. You want to pull it so that the underside of the stud head is fully seated to the back side of the hub disc. It may take a little more torque to accomplish that than is good for the wheel, hence use a stack of washers (without the wheel) and a plain (open ended) lug nut to do that, then discard that nut when done. Put some axle grease on the stud knurls and between the nut and washer to make it easy to develop the pulling force to pull the stud fully into place. Without the grease, you may have to apply way more torque - enough to do some damage. The grease will make a huge difference in reducing the effort needed to pull the stud fully into place. Using your conical lug nuts to pull the stud into place will not work - it will totally bind up against the ID of the washers - trust me - I know this from experience. Use the flat side of a simple lug nut against hardened washers, plus grease.

You want washers between the nut and the hub disc to keep from scarring up the surface of the hub disc. You might need a stack of maybe 3 to 6 washers so the length of the stud doesn't prevent the lug wrench from engaging the nut, or you could use a 1/2"-drive deep-well socket (19mm) instead.

Buy this nut to pull the stud home. Use the back (flat) side of the nut against the washers, not the conical side. Unfortunately it looks like you have to buy 4 nuts just to get 1, but it's worth the $10 to make the job much easier without causing damage:

Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance

 

[peva]

To keep the hub from turning when applying the torque to the nut to pull the new stud into place, you can put a long rod or pry bar diagonally between two non-adjacent studs. Might be good to have a helper apply that countertorque. You could loosely put two of your old lugnuts onto the studs that the countertorque rod will be contacting to protect the threads of those two studs from damage.

 

[NYCDahon]

Nice! Gonna order the Dorman (610-369.1) M12-1.50 and 46mm Long Serrated Wheel Stud. Hope the is the right length.
Thanks again!!

 

[peva]

That should be the one.

You're welcome.

 

[NYCDahon]

So my lug nut saga continues - I now have a vibration at about 65 MPH - my rim from my spare might have something wrong with it. It was used and I do not know the history. I guess I need to find a place that can test it at high speeds. Anyone selling one that matches my set?

 

[Ronbo]

Those are the Shitty Chrome Clad wheels I believe. Kind of like a plastic chrome plated hub cap over a wagon wheel alloy underneath.

Look on Ebay.


04782296AB 4 WHEEL, [WGK,WGW] - 10 Spoke
Chrome, 17 x 7

 

[NYCDahon]

Thanks - I know they are crap plastic - my mechanic melted mine with a torch trying to remove my bad lug nut... Now I think this spare one has a bend... I need a shop with real equipment that can test this rim. Any chains have this? Does pepboys?

 

[peva]

Thanks - I know they are crap plastic - my mechanic melted mine with a torch trying to remove my bad lug nut... Now I think this spare one has a bend... I need a shop with real equipment that can test this rim. Any chains have this? Does pepboys?

Search on "rim straightening service" or "wheel straightening service". They are around. I used one once, and the rim came back like new. IIRC, costs run around $100, but if they're not local and you have to ship the rim to and from, add probably $25 to $35 x 2. Buying used in good condition may be the better option if the model you need is available.

 

[NYCDahon]

I found a place that has the Hughes "Road Force Balance" machine - they will test the rim for $25. I am also thinking of buying the hub/bearing assembly like you recommended is the Moog 512029 - ok - or will any brand be fine? Any recommendations?

 

[peva]

I found a place that has the Hughes "Road Force Balance" machine - they will test the rim for $25. I am also thinking of buying the hub/bearing assembly like you recommended is the Moog 512029 - ok - or will any brand be fine? Any recommendations?

If "test" means to check for being bent, that's a good idea to verify if that's the problem. (Have you ruled out the tire being the problem - broken belt or out of round?)

My opinion on Moog is that the name Moog is no guarantee of quality even though some people think otherwise, though it would probably be OK. When I don't know for sure if there's a particular brand that is good on a particular part, my rule of thumb is to go NAPA, but don't get the cheapest version they have - go one price step above the cheapest. I would also trust A.C. Delco in their "Professional' line, but not their "Advantage" line - but I don't know if they have (or still have) the bearing/hub assembly for our cars.

 

[NYCDahon]

All the tires are new 2,000 miles ago and were feeling great prior to this lug nut nightmare. Hey - could the missing lug nut and half of the stud be causing this vibration? Also the tire guy mechanic was a real hack - he was beating on it and using lots of heat - could he have deformed the hub/bearing assembly? Could that be causing the vibration?

 

[peva]

It would take a real gorilla to mess up (distort) the hub, but I'm sure a determined gorilla could make it happen - heat makes such things much more possible.

Here's something worth trying: I see from your Moog part number (512029) that your problems have been on a rear wheel location. So take your spare that you suspect may have a problem and swap it with one of the front wheels and see if the nature of the vibration changes. If a wheel/tire is the problem, you should feel a shaking in the steering wheel when that wheel is on the from of the car. but not feel the steering wheel shaking when the bad wheel/tire is on the rear of the car. So if the shaking feels the same when you move that wheel to the front, then the problem is likely in that rear hub/bearing. If the shaking changes when you move the wheel to another location (particularly when changing it from rear to front or front to rear), then the problem is likely in that wheel or tire, not the hub/bearing.

One thing to check is that the dome-shaped cap attached to the outside end of he hub (keeps grease in, keeps water and dirt out, of the bearing) is still fully in place in the end of the hub. My factory wheels had the problem of the hole (Wheel ID) that fits near to the end of the hub actually had a slight interference fit to the OD of that domed cap, and when I pulled the wheel off, the domed cap would stick in the wheel and pull out of the hub, causing fit problems of the wheel when the domed cap was still in the wheel when the wheel was was installed, but the domed cover went back into the hub crooked.

Also check that the details of the hub disc (both the flat surface and the raised diameter that fits to the ID of the wheel) that fit to the rotor and wheel aren't damaged such that the wheel and rotor don't fit perfectly flat with the mating surface of the hub disc (IOW, leaving the wheel with a tilt to it).

An uneven thick buildup of rust between hub and rotor and between rotor and wheel can cause a tilt to the wheel. If any thick/scale rust, remove it.

I'm just trying to cover all the possibilities.

 

[peva]

The Dorman stud part number you gave is for a front hub; the Moog hub/bearing part number is for the rear wheel position. I don't know whether the problems you've been having are on the front or rear.