Outer Limits 4x4 Board

I've been busy servicing the triton this weekend and decided to finish by rotating the tyres. Found one of the wheel nuts really tight on the front passenger side (six stud wheels)so I used a short piece of pipe to give a bit more leverage and snap- one of the wheel studs snapped off in the nut. My question is how safe is it to drive now? I've got a 1800k drive to Brisbane next saturday and don't know whether I can get a mechanic to fix it before then. It always has to happen at the worst possible time .

if its just one i would say it will be ok but would get it fixed asap

It is reasonably safe to drive on in an emergency but I would try and get it fixed before your big drive for sure.
before you do your wheel nets up next time throw some anti seize on them first.
I snapped one of the ones on my Lux a couple of days before a 4WD comp was a major pain in the ass.

how many nuts does a triton have, 4/5/6 ? if 5 or 6 then it will probably be ok.

I would be more concerned as to why the thing snapped in the first place. Were they done up with a rattle gun ? done up with a breaker bar?

I would be replacing all your wheel studs, at least on that wheel, they are probably all shagged.

sounds like whoever changed the tyres last time cross threaded that one on you...i would be getting it fixed before you drive 1800km

dave

the wheel still resting on the stud of do the studs screw into the hub.

If the wheel is still resting on the stud and it is just sheered off level with the rim and there were 4 or 5 other studs holding the wheel in - I wouldn't necessarily stress about getting it repaired before you drive to brisbane. I had a 626 mazda that I drove around for 2 years with 4 of 5 holding it together.

Probably bad advice but you make up your own mind

Tom

RaginRover wrote:the wheel still resting on the stud of do the studs screw into the hub.

If the wheel is still resting on the stud and it is just sheered off level with the rim and there were 4 or 5 other studs holding the wheel in - I wouldn't necessarily stress about getting it repaired before you drive to brisbane. I had a 626 mazda that I drove around for 2 years with 4 of 5 holding it together.

Probably bad advice but you make up your own mind

Tom

wheel doesnt rest on the stud, the wheel nut is a cone shape which is what contacts the wheel.

the only worry i would have is hopw good the other studs are.

Shadow wrote:

RaginRover wrote:the wheel still resting on the stud of do the studs screw into the hub.

If the wheel is still resting on the stud and it is just sheered off level with the rim and there were 4 or 5 other studs holding the wheel in - I wouldn't necessarily stress about getting it repaired before you drive to brisbane. I had a 626 mazda that I drove around for 2 years with 4 of 5 holding it together.

Probably bad advice but you make up your own mind

Tom

wheel doesnt rest on the stud, the wheel nut is a cone shape which is what contacts the wheel.

the only worry i would have is hopw good the other studs are.

True - something that needs taking into account,

Tom

change it yourself
they are a peice of piss

ausyota wrote: throw some anti seize on them first.

This is a NO-NO... Can cause a false torque reading and then you see your wheel bouncing down the highway minus the car. Nothing should ever be added to wheel stud threads, they are designed to work "dry"

Bluefreak wrote:

ausyota wrote: throw some anti seize on them first.

This is a NO-NO... Can cause a false torque reading and then you see your wheel bouncing down the highway minus the car. Nothing should ever be added to wheel stud threads, they are designed to work "dry"

ive always used a bit of grease on my threads they go on easy come off easy and never had any problems with comming loose

Bluefreak wrote:

ausyota wrote: throw some anti seize on them first.

This is a NO-NO... Can cause a false torque reading and then you see your wheel bouncing down the highway minus the car. Nothing should ever be added to wheel stud threads, they are designed to work "dry"

Fair enough.
I will still be doing it on mine though.
As for it being a piece of piss to do, its not hard to do but is a pain in the arse (on an IFS Lux anyway).

Studs are very easy to replace, if you dont get a chance I wouldnt worry too much as the 5 out of 6 will hold the wheel in place. IF you have incorrect wheels then you have every reason to worry. The centre bore of the wheel should be matched to the hub. If the studs are taking the entire stress of the wheel this is why you have broken one

D-lux wrote:Studs are very easy to replace, if you dont get a chance I wouldnt worry too much as the 5 out of 6 will hold the wheel in place. IF you have incorrect wheels then you have every reason to worry. The centre bore of the wheel should be matched to the hub. If the studs are taking the entire stress of the wheel this is why you have broken one

I would disagree with this as the centre bore of the wheel is not a tight fit as it would make putting the wheel on impossible.

i drove my cruiser with 35's for 6 months minus a wheel stud and gave it hell, if it has 6 studs there is no reason for it to fall off but in saying that get it fixed as it should be there, but you could drive it the 1800kms iof you wanted with no worries

I'm with vorno no worry driving 1800kms on but make sure you get it fixed asap and wheel stud been left dry is the biggest load of crap I have ever heard anti-seize is the only way to go ever car I remove a wheel have anti seize put on it before the wheels go back on.

Ive been driving/4x4ing with only 5 studs on one wheel for a year now with no dramas. But I dont recommend this.

While im not saying you definately should, ie dont blame me if anything happens, but ive always given the studs a light spray with silicone spray before i put the nuts on. Never failed me

I just put a light smear of grease from my grease gun on the threads everynow and then. Old bush remedy

Cheers

Shadow wrote:

D-lux wrote:Studs are very easy to replace, if you dont get a chance I wouldnt worry too much as the 5 out of 6 will hold the wheel in place. IF you have incorrect wheels then you have every reason to worry. The centre bore of the wheel should be matched to the hub. If the studs are taking the entire stress of the wheel this is why you have broken one

I would disagree with this as the centre bore of the wheel is not a tight fit as it would make putting the wheel on impossible.

ummm, ok mate....I suggest talking to any mechanic. The weight of the wheel is supposed to be on the centre bore NOT the studs! This is called hub centric. If your car comes out with lug-centric wheels than fine.

Either way I would not be worried about it too much

D-lux wrote:

Shadow wrote:

D-lux wrote:Studs are very easy to replace, if you dont get a chance I wouldnt worry too much as the 5 out of 6 will hold the wheel in place. IF you have incorrect wheels then you have every reason to worry. The centre bore of the wheel should be matched to the hub. If the studs are taking the entire stress of the wheel this is why you have broken one

I would disagree with this as the centre bore of the wheel is not a tight fit as it would make putting the wheel on impossible.

ummm, ok mate....I suggest talking to any mechanic. The weight of the wheel is supposed to be on the centre bore NOT the studs! This is called hub centric. If your car comes out with lug-centric wheels than fine.

Either way I would not be worried about it too much

AFAIK, this does differ from vehicle to vehicle (and from wheel to wheel).

Just my thoughts, but:

(a) I would drive on 4/5 or 5/6 of wheel studs reasonably confidently; certainly wouldn't let one missing stud cost me a vital deadline or anything
(b) I always use anti-seize on wheel nuts if I have it handy
(c) torque reading for wheel nuts... tee hee
(d) bastards who put wheel nuts on with rattle guns should be sacked from whatever tyre place they work at

ive been using neverseize on wheelstuds for over 10 years and never had a problem. I allways tighten the wheelnuts myself and never ever use a rachet gun.

D-lux wrote:

Shadow wrote:

D-lux wrote:Studs are very easy to replace, if you dont get a chance I wouldnt worry too much as the 5 out of 6 will hold the wheel in place. IF you have incorrect wheels then you have every reason to worry. The centre bore of the wheel should be matched to the hub. If the studs are taking the entire stress of the wheel this is why you have broken one

I would disagree with this as the centre bore of the wheel is not a tight fit as it would make putting the wheel on impossible.

ummm, ok mate....I suggest talking to any mechanic. The weight of the wheel is supposed to be on the centre bore NOT the studs! This is called hub centric. If your car comes out with lug-centric wheels than fine.

Either way I would not be worried about it too much

might be true on carolloas or in general semi floating hubs where the centre of the wheel only has to slide over 3-5mm of the hub centre, but it cant be on a full floater or you would never get the wheel over the hub. Slightest bit of rust or extra paint = wheel off for good.

Shadow wrote:

D-lux wrote:

Shadow wrote:

D-lux wrote:Studs are very easy to replace, if you dont get a chance I wouldnt worry too much as the 5 out of 6 will hold the wheel in place. IF you have incorrect wheels then you have every reason to worry. The centre bore of the wheel should be matched to the hub. If the studs are taking the entire stress of the wheel this is why you have broken one

I would disagree with this as the centre bore of the wheel is not a tight fit as it would make putting the wheel on impossible.

ummm, ok mate....I suggest talking to any mechanic. The weight of the wheel is supposed to be on the centre bore NOT the studs! This is called hub centric. If your car comes out with lug-centric wheels than fine.

Either way I would not be worried about it too much

might be true on carolloas or in general semi floating hubs where the centre of the wheel only has to slide over 3-5mm of the hub centre, but it cant be on a full floater or you would never get the wheel over the hub. Slightest bit of rust or extra paint = wheel off for good.

I would have to disagree. I know my landrover rims are hubcentric and I've been told most tyre/rim shops will fit hubcentric rings to new wheel packages if the centre bore of the rim does not match the hub. To have a hubcentric rim does not require a precision fit. I think 4 runners/hiluxes on the other hand use lug centric wheels. When you have a lugcenric wheel it is vital to torque the wheel nuts corecttly because the lugs centre the wheel rather than the hub.

Shadow wrote:

D-lux wrote:

Shadow wrote:

D-lux wrote:Studs are very easy to replace, if you dont get a chance I wouldnt worry too much as the 5 out of 6 will hold the wheel in place. IF you have incorrect wheels then you have every reason to worry. The centre bore of the wheel should be matched to the hub. If the studs are taking the entire stress of the wheel this is why you have broken one

I would disagree with this as the centre bore of the wheel is not a tight fit as it would make putting the wheel on impossible.

ummm, ok mate....I suggest talking to any mechanic. The weight of the wheel is supposed to be on the centre bore NOT the studs! This is called hub centric. If your car comes out with lug-centric wheels than fine.

Either way I would not be worried about it too much

might be true on carolloas or in general semi floating hubs where the centre of the wheel only has to slide over 3-5mm of the hub centre, but it cant be on a full floater or you would never get the wheel over the hub. Slightest bit of rust or extra paint = wheel off for good.

I would have to disagree. I know my landrover rims are hubcentric and I've been told most tyre/rim shops will fit hubcentric rings to new wheel packages if the centre bore of the rim does not match the hub. To have a hubcentric rim does not require a precision fit. I think 4 runners/hiluxes on the other hand use lug centric wheels. When you have a lugcenric wheel it is vital to torque the wheel nuts corecttly because the lugs centre the wheel rather than the hub.

I dont like grease or anti seize much as it goes hard and makes the nuts tight.
I always like to use a drop of engine oil, it can make a mess throwing out on the rim with the air gun that I have used for the last 20 years though
J Top

Always supprises me as to how rediciously tight ppl do up their wheel nuts....... If ya open the "OWNERS MANUAL" and read up there will e a tension setting for the wheel nuts which is no where near as tight as what what most ppl do em up to.

The over tightening usually leads to sheered of studs, stretched studs etc.

When I was playing in the NASCAR scene we used a rattle gun to fit the wheels with and the same to remove em....... the rattle guns ran a much higher pressure than your stock gun does and also ran off of a cylinder of liquid oxygen, the guns were ported and had no mufflers fitted so they would litterally scream their tits off......

One day we were playin around with settings and we found that if the wheel nuts were tensioned to the correct tension using a tension wrench then it was heaps faster to remove the wheel in a full race pitstop .....

Our team was allways atleast a full second faster than any other team at a wheel change simply because of this ...

Kingy

p/s
I'm with J Top on this too, a drop of engine oil is the Gee Oh.

RaginRover wrote:the wheel still resting on the stud of do the studs screw into the hub.

If the wheel is still resting on the stud and it is just sheered off level with the rim and there were 4 or 5 other studs holding the wheel in - I wouldn't necessarily stress about getting it repaired before you drive to brisbane. I had a 626 mazda that I drove around for 2 years with 4 of 5 holding it together.

Probably bad advice but you make up your own mind

Tom

6 stud with one snapped off, 18months of daily driving!! was all stressed and checking the others religiously at first... then just thought ahhh bugger it.... and it was on the front..

YMMV