Stud broken on front hub? Lug spinning.

[redciv1]

So I'm jacking up the car for the swap. Move to the passenger front and start taking off the lugs. Get to the last one and the whole stud and lug are turning . So I realize that the stud is obviously broke off from the hub and I can't get the lug off because it is not fixed to the hub. So the problem is now what to do. I remember when I did my civic swap that I could have left the axles on when I pulled the engine out. So what am thinking is to take the axle nut off and when I pull the engine out the axle with the broken stud should come off. I need advice pleeez.

[StraightSix]

Here's what is really happening with you lug and stud. The knurles at the base of the stud are spinning in the hub.

So, what you have to do is get the stud to stop spinning. One way to do that is to pull out on the tire/wheel to put the stud under tension and, if you're lucky, when you trigger the impact gun the lug nut will back off the stud. Oh, and be sure to have all the other lug removed so that you have some freedom of movement.

If that doesn't work, get a pry bar and do basically the same thing. The pry bar though will go between the hub and the mounting face of the wheel. You'll be able to get more leverage with the pry bar.

Hoopefully, one of those two methods should work. If they don't, you'll have to get creative.

[redciv1]

Thanks for the response. Hmmmm, well I tried to wedge a piece of metal in between the lug and wheel but that did not work. One more thing. The car cannot be moved, not because of the swap, but because I bought the car non running. So I had the car towed to my house and put in the garage. You said that the prybar would go between the hub and mounting surface of wheel. do you mean the back side of the wheel then. Also would it be possible if nothing works to try and take the whole knuckle assembly off?

[speedminded]

Went through this about 5 months ago, ARP studs stripped out the hub...how on earth?


You have two options, don't do the second one unless you HAVE to.

A) Take a pry/crow bar and jam it between the spindle and back of the stud (not the wheel!)...you'll still need some serious leverage on it to keep it from spinning. With it held, back off the lugnut with an impact wrench...it should come right off after a try or two. If you don't have an impact handy and need to take it to someone go with plan B.

B) Remove the wheel, hub, & spindle from the upper and lower control arms...this is the biggest PAIN in the ass with the wheel still attached but should only take about 20-30 minutes without air tools (you should still be able to remove the axle nut and pull the axle out w/o a problem). I had to do this bc i couldn't get enough pressure out of my air tank to get the maximum torque with my impact (thank you AutoFAB for the assistance ) With the entire assembly off take wherever you need to and follow Plan A above.


Then you'll need to press the hub out and put in new bearings and replace with new hub, good times

[StraightSix]

IIRC, when I worked in a tire shop, there was usually too many other things in the way to get a pry bar behind the stud. We always applied pressure with a pry bar to the edge of the wheel/tire and it usually worked. We never had to pull the knuckle assembly out the car.

If the stud that is giving you problems is a factory stud, a dorman, pik-a-nut, or some other aftermarket company like those (Bal-kamp may be the only other), the metal of the stud is somewhat softer than the hub it's going into. So, you shouldn't have to replace the hub unless you just really want to. If it's an ARP stud, you might need to replace the hub because those are made of a harder steel than other replacements.

[speedminded]

IIRC, when I worked in a tire shop, there was usually too many other things in the way to get a pry bar behind the stud. We always applied pressure with a pry bar to the edge of the wheel/tire and it usually worked. We never had to pull the knuckle assembly out the car.

If the stud that is giving you problems is a factory stud, a dorman, pik-a-nut, or some other aftermarket company like those (Bal-kamp may be the only other), the metal of the stud is somewhat softer than the hub it's going into. So, you shouldn't have to replace the hub unless you just really want to. If it's an ARP stud, you might need to replace the hub because those are made of a harder steel than other replacements.

Judging by his posts he has a '95 Civic DX...which happens to be the exact same upper & lower control arms and spindle as both the Del Sol and Integra. I think I know what's behind that wheel, I bet his rotor and caliper take up alot less room than mine too

As for removing the knuckle, of course you didn't have to remove the spindle...You worked at a tire shop, everyone knows you have a 300lb.+ impact with a gigantic compressor because 99.9% of tire shops are more than happy to "put" lugs on with it...do you know how many times i've been told by someone their impact guns are calibrated for 85lbs? HAHAHA! Makes me want to slap them up the side of the face with a jack handle...I always take my own torque wrench if I need tires put on.

You obviously didn't read my post, I couldn't ask a shop to bring their compressor and impact to my house/shop and i'm not about to tow my car for an issue with a few lug studs. 20 minutes later I had the assembly off and on the way to get assistance on removing the lugs...

[redciv1]

THANKS FOR THE INFO. Actually, when I signed up to IA I had a 95 DX coupe but sold that last October and bought a 93 CB7 so I could do the H22 swap. I wanted to replace the hub anyway because my car has the rotor-over-hub disc so it is a pain trying to change rotors. I am looking for the hubs now from a 98-99 Acura CL 2.3 Premium. They have the "normal" style rotor. I live in Covington and did not want to drive all the way up to Buford for the salvage yard but maybe so.

[Silver280zx]

Hey man, from experience, never take your car to sams club to get tires put on, trust me i know from expirience. They stripped out 6 of my studs, one time, then three, the next time i got it aligned and balenced, i highly recomend sears.

[redciv1]

BTW Speedminded, I just went through the whole impact gun situation with my wife's car. Seems like the car went in for transmission work and they obviously used a impact gun. Went to change the brakes and could not get 3 of the lugs off. Have a Chrysler Concorde so they have those "caps" on the lug nuts. Those broke off. A simple 1 hr brake job took 4 days to complete. People don't realize that it doesn't take a lot of muscle to tighten the lugs.

[speedminded]

Hey man, from experience, never take your car to sams club to get tires put on, trust me i know from expirience. They stripped out 6 of my studs, one time, then three, the next time i got it aligned and balenced, i highly recomend sears.

BTW Speedminded, I just went through the whole impact gun situation with my wife's car. Seems like the car went in for transmission work and they obviously used a impact gun. Went to change the brakes and could not get 3 of the lugs off. Have a Chrysler Concorde so they have those "caps" on the lug nuts. Those broke off. A simple 1 hr brake job took 4 days to complete. People don't realize that it doesn't take a lot of muscle to tighten the lugs.

The best part is they aren't liable for broken studs, isn't it great?! They crank them down with the impact and for the ones that do use a torque wrench I see them bouncing on it like it's an inflatable blow up doll. They have no concept of what they are doing...com'n, it's not that hard to properly use a tool!

I went to Harbor Freight and picked up a 36" breaker bar for like $20-25 then a 1" to 1/2" converter for the impact sockets, not to mention the handle from my steel jack will slide over the end of it...that's what I use to break axle nuts loose and undo retarded peoples mistakes

[redciv1]

lol that's funny Speed. When I replaced my Civic motor I did not have a "breaker bar" so my brother-in-law just happen two have to still pipes, one to fit a smaller 3/8" rachet and a bigger one for a 1/4" rachet. So we use the bigger and longer bar for the axle nuts and it was soooooooo simple. Not to mention that when the nuts are torqued right, it doesn't take that much to break them with a breaker bar. Breaker bars work great on suspension parts I bought the CB7 with the sole intentions of swapping an H22 so I was basically looking for a shell. It's aggravating but for now I am working around the stuck lug nut.

[StraightSix]

FWIW, I've never told anyone that the impact uns we used were "calibrated" for 85ft-lbs. of torque. The procedure we adopted involved using a "torque stick" to run lugs down and then checked them with a torque wrench. All of our guys knew how to use the tool. Really, that's not neither here nor there.

I agree tire shops that don't know how to properly torque lugs are really aggravating. It really baffles me how something so easy to do right gets done so wrong all the time.