Stripped wheel studs..

[Dre]

I went to the dealer today to have them rotate and balance wheels and align the front on my 98 Sport... problem is they stripped two studs, one in front and one in back. They are saying that this is due to the fact that whoever changed my wheels tightened lug nuts too much..... are they kidding me? Did anyone else have problems with stripped studs? I changed wheels myself and only tightened lug nuts with a regular wrench.... no power ar air tools... too much? impossible. I say it's the material... what would you say?

 

[Alec]

It's Ford's fault, parts or labor.

Also in my experience Ford's alignments suck and don't stay true.

 

[Alec]

Hmmm, a thought: If the lugs were too loose that could also cause problems with the threads. However, I doubt they were too loose. If you remove your wheels often though, I'd invest in a torque wrench.

 

[Dre]

I do own a torque wrench but never ever have I thought to use it to tighten lug nuts... now.... as for their wheel balance.... it sucks big time cause my wheel shakes more now than it did before ... alignment? I don't know...it's OK now...

 

[BradE.]

Torque the lugs to 100 ft/lbs. :redexp:

 

[taxx]

I had Discount tire strip mine by crossthreading them. What really sucks is it isn't an easy fix to do it right. For the rear you have to pull the axle shaft and the front remove the hub.

 

[Dre]

well..... I'm going back to the stealer tomorrow. They will replace studs and will have to do something about balance...

I though that if I take to the dealer I get decent service... for some reason I don't trust guys at NTB or Discount tire or whatever local shops... I thought that if I take it to proffesionals I get proffesional quality workmanship.... I guess this was the first and last time I ever took it to the dealer for service...

 

[Alec]

With Discount tire you can have a balance and rotation with lifetime warranty for $50 or less. NTB's alignment was $44 for me for 6 month warranty.

 

[dogfriend]

Originally posted by Dre
I do own a torque wrench but never ever have I thought to use it to tighten lug nuts...

I always use a torque wrench to tighten the wheel nuts, because its possible to warp the rotors if they are tightened unevenly. This is probably less likely on the separate rotor/hub setup on the Explorer, but it can't hurt anything.

BTW - I was going to check the link in your signature, but Yahoo/Geocities says that you exceeded your bandwidth limit. I guess you have a popular homepage.

 

[Dre]

yeah..... lately Yahoo has been shotting down my page... I'm selling my J**p so I get lots of people looking at the pics.....

check my gallery though.... there are some there.