How to remove and install new Lug Studs DIY

[hotwls13]

Picked up some centerline wheels this weekend on my way down to Pomona swap meet this weekend. Tried installing today and my studs are too short. Anyone have a diy method to remove old studs and install the new longer ones? All while leaving rear axles installed as well as doing the fronts (drums all around).

Been shopping for studs and they are about $2.50 a piece so $50+ for 22 of them (6 bolt hubs and 2 of the driver rear studs have already been replaced with longer studs).

[rvrfoot]

Yep no problem, Get a big hammer and drive out the old ones. Then start the new ones end. Put a washer over the new stud. Get a stock lug nut and impact it on.

[hotwls13]

Originally Posted by rvrfoot

Yep no problem, Get a big hammer and drive out the old ones. Then start the new ones end. Put a washer over the new stud. Get a stock lug nut and impact it on.

OK sounds simple enough.

[70CHEVYBB]

Buy a stud installer from matco or snap-on. Its has a bearing in it so no undue stress is put on the threads as you pull the stud through the flange. If you just do the washer make sure you use lots of lube and never tighten past when the flange of the stud touches rhe back of the axle. If you do it will stretch the stud and ruin b the threads.

[beadblaster]

You can also use et(extended thread) studs.

[beadblaster]

You can also use et(extended thread) wheel nuts

[hotwls13]

Originally Posted by beadblaster

You can also use et(extended thread) wheel nuts

Not sure those would work on my wheels. My wheels have the angled surface that meets the lug but. If my wheels had the flat surface (that accepted a skinnier flat shank lug nut with washer) they would work. As trying to use my standard lug nuts maybe 4 threads are engaged. My drivers rear hub has 2 replaced studs which are about 1/4” longer. Those allow enough threads for the lugnuts to be safe.

[demian5]

Originally Posted by beadblaster

You can also use et(extended thread) wheel nuts

What kind of half-assery is this?

[special-K]

Drift punch them out, knock new in from behind, draw tight with all lug nuts, use larger nut or socket for spacer if no thread to bottom, remove lug nuts, install drum/rotor and wheel. When you are slipping the new studs through, move right and left to feel the splines align and tap in easy to start them first. Then smack them in tight. You can use a fat punch to knock them tight as possible, but I always do the lug nut thing from the front after. I now have a press but have not needed to replace any studs since buying

[beadblaster]

The et lugnuts have a conical seat.

[rvrfoot]

A stock open end lug nut.

[HO455]

Pay close attention to the size of the spline on the old studs. There are lots of different sizes and it is easy to get one that is too large or small. If you have access to a micrometer taken some measurements of the hole and the old studs before you go to the store.

[special-K]

I had to replace studs on the roadside in a Blazer with Auburn Gear posi. I only had one jack so there was no spinning the axle. One stud was left intact and I had my lucky day since that was the one lined up with the wheel cylinder and the other five were clear to back out and go back in. All I had were my carpentry tools and my son had left the jack crank out. I took a pair of tin shears opened up to a cross and put the tip of one side in the slot in the jack to crank it up. Slow process but got it in the air. I had a straight claw hammer and my trusty drift punch. Got a ride to the parts store and back from a passer by, drew the studs up tight, put wheel on, and down the road I went.

[HO455]

Had a similar experience on the highway between Spokane and Moses Lake. Car began vibrating. Pulled over and found i had only one stud left on the right rear. I fortunately had more tools than you did, but no parts were to be had. I pulled one stud out of the other three wheels and installed them in the missing holes and got back home with 4 studs on each wheel. It wasn't very long after that I ditched the aftermarket wheels.

[davepl]

When you can buy a U-joint press or a full upright Harbor Freight press with jack for $99, I don't think there's a lot of excuse for hammering them out or impacting them on.

I had all 32 to do, and installed them by hand with a u-joint press. Pushed them out with a upright press. I had to drill for larger studs at the same time, but that's another story.

Long story short, I don't think zipping them on with their nut is the hot ticket. It'll work in a pinch but might as well do it the "right" way if you're so inclined.

[beaterku]

I've got one of these in the toolbox. Works wonders for only $20

http://a.co/8U0Ltji

[HO455]

In my mind installing them on the car is less of an issue. But removing them? I really don't like hammering on the axle when it is still on the vehicle. Depending on the type of axle the force of the blow is transferred directly to the bearing or the C-clip retainer in the differential. It doesn't leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling as to their future lifespan. But lots of folks have done it with no issues.

[special-K]

Originally Posted by davepl

When you can buy a U-joint press or a full upright Harbor Freight press with jack for $99, I don't think there's a lot of excuse for hammering them out or impacting them on.

I had all 32 to do, and installed them by hand with a u-joint press. Pushed them out with a upright press. I had to drill for larger studs at the same time, but that's another story.

Long story short, I don't think zipping them on with their nut is the hot ticket. It'll work in a pinch but might as well do it the "right" way if you're so inclined.

I never use an impact. I also do this with hub off vehicle, except for roadside emergency (where's the press when you need it?). I do things by hand so my well experienced hands can "feel" what I'm doing. Not sure how old you are Dave, but there is a perfectly good excuse for doing it the way I have been for about 45 years and learned from old mechanics that would put most anyone here to shame. The ones who can do magic with whatever is available to them, no matter how primitive. The perfectly good excuse I give is real simple, It works perfectly fine...never spun a stud in my life. I'm not offended, but I have a habit of setting things straight when they fall out of line. No offense intended either.

[hotwls13]

Well, I spoke too soon. The new lug nuts I purchased (with the 1/4" shank on them), fit great.... but on the box it say's "don't count the threads in the shank towards minimum safety specs". So, I'm back to swapping studs. The fronts I'm going to take off and take them to my friend with a shop press. The backs, I think I can get off with a Clamp and a properly place socket. I'm hoping that works and I can replace them the same way. If manual doesn't work, I'll go either air hammer and impact gun or possibly big hammer.

I'm not removing the rear axles.

[rvrfoot]

You dont need to remove the axles. Just do like i said in post #2.

[davepl]

Originally Posted by special-K

I never use an impact. I also do this with hub off vehicle, except for roadside emergency (where's the press when you need it?). I do things by hand so my well experienced hands can "feel" what I'm doing. Not sure how old you are Dave, but there is a perfectly good excuse for doing it the way I have been for about 45 years and learned from old mechanics that would put most anyone here to shame. The ones who can do magic with whatever is available to them, no matter how primitive. The perfectly good excuse I give is real simple, It works perfectly fine...never spun a stud in my life. I'm not offended, but I have a habit of setting things straight when they fall out of line. No offense intended either.

There's a lot of stuff I learned from old mechanics that was wrong. Now 96% of it was right, but this part is wrong.

Not my intention to offend either, but once a stud has been overstressed it loses its tensile elasticity. Hammering out is probably fine. But pulling in can wreck a stud.

What really matters, however, is whether drawing it through actually overstresses it. Without a torque wrench or digital block to go out and measure it, I can't -prove- to you that it stretches them. I just worried that it does. But I can't prove it, so call me a worry wort or whatever, but...

Tell you what - I haven't looked in the shop manual. Odds are whatever they say is the right way to do it.

[rvrfoot]

Its just like when you go to a tire shop to get new tires. Is the guy behind the impact gun hammering on the lug nuts REALLY putting them on toooooooo tight?

[HO455]

Originally Posted by davepl

There's a lot of stuff I learned from old mechanics that was wrong. Now 96% of it was right, but this part is wrong.

Not my intention to offend either, but once a stud has been overstressed it loses its tensile elasticity. Hammering out is probably fine. But pulling in can wreck a stud.

What really matters, however, is whether drawing it through actually overstresses it. Without a torque wrench or digital block to go out and measure it, I can't -prove- to you that it stretches them. I just worried that it does. But I can't prove it, so call me a worry wort or whatever, but...

Tell you what - I haven't looked in the shop manual. Odds are whatever they say is the right way to do it.

Having done this several times is why I mentioned measuring the hole and the splines on the stud to make sure they are correct. Who do you trust the counter person or your micrometer? In my experience a correct stud with anti-seize on the splines, on the threads and the sufaces of the puller nut that is moving against the axle will pull the stud in with less torque than the lugnut should be torqued to. With the wrong size splines then I believe you are correct that the stud will be stretched and subject to failure. We are talking in the range of .020 to .040 between being correct or too large. (Differences in stud diameters mean different tolerances) I had to have the axles on my GTO redrilled to allow me to install longer studs to pass NHRA tech. None of the aftermarket studs available in 1983 matched the Oldsmobile axle in my Goat. Fortunately I asked a friend if the studs should be soooooo hard to pull in with a nut. He set me straight and maybe saved me a pile of misery. Using a torque wrench to install them is a good safety. If it won't go in with the normal torque for the size of stud being installed then something is not right. I should have included this in my first posting.

[hotwls13]

Thanks for all the input/advice guys. I have access to my friends air hammer and impact wrench (I have air at the house). I really don’t want to remove the axles etc.

The standard Dorman part for my truck is the stud size I need. Guess from the factory they were like 1/4” shorter? Picking them up from autozone after work and may get the air tools also. Maybe get started on getting a stud out this evening.

Trying to keep at it everyday. This wheel thing has pushed back my gas tank relocation project. I will be glad to have this done.

Question on he fronts (drums also). I haven’t pulled the front drums off yet. Am I going to have enough room to remove/install the studs on the fronts once the drums are removed??

[hotwls13]

Speaking with a friend who has previously installed wire wheels on an impala. He recommended gorilla lug nuts (I guess they have various shank lengths). I started looking into them, and it looks like Beadblaster may be onto something. I only need like another 1/4" to get enough threads engaged. These add that and a little more. Would be a heck of a lot easier than replacing all my studs.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/SET-OF-24-7...pXMVt5&vxp=mtr