Help my rear driver side lug nut stud sheared off

[macker123]

Help my rear driver side axle sheered off

I was noticing some funny noises this morning so when I got home I parked the truck.

Of the 5 lugs on my rear driver side one is completely broken off and my entire tire is loose. I have no idea how this happened as I am 100% sure they were very tight a few months. perhaps somebody loosened them as a joke.

How much is it going to cost as I know only have 4 lugs that are left? Any idea what I should do? This is aweful.

 

[macker123]

I guess my follow-up post. Is it drivable with four until I get to the mechanic in 4 days. The other lugs seem to be strong, it is just that one that broke off. I took the tire off and then re-tightened it and everything seems to be fine, but just one broken lug bolt.

Does anybody know if these screw in or do I need to replace some large assembly?

 

[Blee1099]

I believe you can replace any of the lug studs on the rear quite easily. Haven't tried it on an Explorer but did on a full size Ford Van. Most auto parts store should have them in stock, your looking anywhere between $1-$2 for one.

 

[Doug]

wheel studs arent to bad to replace i did it last week on the rear of my truck, it just takes some paticience getting them in and out. it sounds like your lug nuts werent tight.

 

[lonestar]

my rear driver side axle sheered off

not exactly, it's a stud dude.

 

[Rhett]

hehe. Yeah, I read the subject and thought, dam! He must have gotten in a BAD accident to shear an axle clean off!

 

[Crankcase]

Originally posted by lonestar
not exactly, it's a stud dude.

I fixed it to eliminate econfusion...

I think the old studs can be knocked out, and new ones knocked in place...

 

[reichhartkg]

They're double ended bolts (threads on both ends). I've done it before but needed a broken bolt remover. Got it at Sears for about $20.

 

[macker123]

Thanks for all your help. This is great to know. The wheel stud broke off at the brake disc so I will need to drill it out or get a garage to. I could then replace the stud as you guys said.

I have never taken these wheels off and I did check the tightness a few weeks ago. I have a feeling somebody loosened them, but of course have no idea who or why.

Do you think it would be safe to drive with four lugs that are tight? I really need to get through the next 3 days and then I have lots of time to play with it.

 

[JDraper]

Originally posted by macker123
Thanks for all your help. This is great to know. The wheel stud broke off at the brake disc so I will need to drill it out or get a garage to. I could then replace the stud as you guys said.

I have never taken these wheels off and I did check the tightness a few weeks ago. I have a feeling somebody loosened them, but of course have no idea who or why.

Do you think it would be safe to drive with four lugs that are tight? I really need to get through the next 3 days and then I have lots of time to play with it.

DO NOT DRILL IT OUT!!!! If you drill it out, you will probably open up the hole in the axle flange and you won't be able to seat the new stud. You need to pound or press out the old stud, which is not hard to do. As for driving it on 4 lugs for a couple of days, you'll be fine. Just don't go doing any racing or wheeling........

 

[Howard]

If they are screw in and it broke off at the disc. You may find that if you take off the disc there will be enough stud showing to get a pair of grips on and undo it.

 

[Muskrat]

here it is, there is a flanged end on the wheel studs, and it has a knurl to help keep t in place, they are press fit, but if you have a hammer, and a good punch, you can get it out. first thing once you get the wheel off, make sure the truck is on a stable jack STAND. now, remove the caliper, there are 2 10mm (I think) bolts on the back side of the bracket. Next, take a prybar, and start putting pressure behind the rotor,. and while doing this, use a hammer, and give the center of the axle a few good shots. the first time you do this, it's not easy, takes a little bit of trial and error, but that's what worked well for me. Now, once you have the rotor off, punch out the stud, and then you can replace it. Get the new stud started, put a few thick 1/2" washers on it, and a lug nut, and with a tire iron, tighten the lug nut, and keep an eye on the back of the bolt. When it bottoms out, you are done, andn can reassemble the truck. I suggest that you go to the auto parts store first, with one of your lugnuts, and get 2 wheel studs, and 2 new lugnuts. It will make life a bit eaiser, and when you pull the stud through, the lug nut may get messed up. Good luck

 

[os1kne]

While getting my tires rotated and car inspected, I had a guy at the place break 2 of my studs. Of course, he blamed my tire store, accusing them of cross-threading the lugnuts. Anyway, each place did some finger-pointing and I had 2 studs that needed to be replaced. I wasn't happy but I wasn't too concerned about replacing them, because I had heard that replacing studs was no big deal and inexpensive (which is usually true).

Muskrat pretty much nailed the explanation. The 1/2" washers are a good tip.

A good thing to do while you're buying the parts is to get a plain lug nut that is threaded the same as the big Ford lug nut. I strongly suggest buying the studs from the Ford dealer. (you'll hear why in a minute!)

I originally purchased my replacement studs from a popular chain auto parts store. The studs didn't look identical to the oem Ford studs, but replacement parts usually don't look identical. They did look "very close". As it turned out, they weren't close enough - the auto parts store sold me the wrong studs, the knurled part was about .02" too narrow to grip in the axle flange (not a visible difference). Anyway, I didn't realize I had the wrong stud until I had tightened down the (deep) factory lug nut on the stud to the point where the stud wouldn't seat and there wasn't any part of the stud sticking out of the long factory lug nut for me to grip with Vise-grips to reverse the lug nut (using a not-so-deep lug nut would have prevented this). So, I was stuck with a stud and lug nut that would spin freely either direction and no way to grip the stud to unscrew the lugnut. I ended up having to cut the stud and lugnut off with a hacksaw.

Anyway, this simple repair became a very frustrating experience for me due to the guy at the auto parts store picking my studs from the wrong bin (which could probably happen anywhere.) I expected the parts from the Ford dealer to be more expensive, but they were exactly the same price as the chain store (and the studs appear to be a higher quality).

Good luck.

 

[AdamsGuitar]

muskrat, by "bottom out", what exactly do you mean? I'm going to be doing this tomorrow, so I need to know where to stop ;D

 

[jsun]

I]Will I be safe driving on four lugs for a couple of days?[/I]

I had this happen to me with a four-lug application, left with only three... Is it safe? Not recommended, but yeah you'll be safe as long as you don't exceed speeds of ~75-80k/hr (Canadian eh)...once you reach these speeds you will notice that the rear end will shake a bit like the tires require a balance. But nonetheless... Keep it reasonably slow, and you'll be fine!

Also, the lugs are not that bad of a job, and cheap too!!!

 

[BigDave]

I sheared one off the exact same way that you describe except I noticed the truck was swaying in the rear from side to side...at 80 MPH going down the freeway to school. Pulled over and one was gone and the other four were loose enough to take off with my fingers.

I tightened the other four and kept driving...at 70 MPH to get to school (I dialed it down a bit ).

Moral of the story....You'll be fine driving with four lugs, I did it for almost a week before I could get it into the shop. I tried replacing it myself, but it was impossible. They got it changed out in about 10 minutes....How is still a mystery to me.

Dave

P.S. I have drums in the rear.

 

[KPT]

They're really not hard to change. The hardest part is jockying the stud around, theres just barely enough clearance between the spindle and the drum brake backing piece to get the stud in the spindle.

 

[Strike12]

Ditto , easy with a drift and a hammer

 

[Nicaraguense]

I think

I think Sears charges a flat rate of $40 to do the work. Most shops around here anyway charge at least 1hrs worth of work to do anything ($50-$60 around here) and they charge by the hour. So the good news is it makes no difference, how long it takes Sears Automotive is just going to charge a flat rate.