How To: Replace your front wheel stud

[Hazwan]

I don't recall seeing a how-to on this subject so I thought I'd take pics when I was doing mine.

I'm replacing my one stripped wheel stud without pressing out the hub. Keep in mind this is NOT the right way to do it but it worked and many people have done this before without any issues. If you can afford to get your hub pressed out and replacing your wheel bearings, it is wise to replace your old studs with new ones since they're cheap and the old 30 year old ones may or not break on you.

I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU FOLLOW MY DIRECTIONS AND DAMAGE YOUR LUG STUDS, HUBS, WHEELS, WHATEVER ELSE OR IF YOUR CAR CATCHES FIRE AND EXPLODED.

Tools needed:

Ratchet, torque wrench. I have my impact so it made things faster/easier
17mm socket - caliper bolts
19mm socket - your lug nuts, or whatever size that you're using
Phillips head impact screwdriver - Rotor retaining screws
Hammer(s)
Jack, stands and common sense

Start by jacking and securing the car with a jack stand and remove the wheel. No pics of that unless you really don't know how to get your tires off...

Wheel off


Here's the 2x 17mm caliper bolts holding your caliper to the knuckle.


Use your 17mm socket and ratchet like so




Caliper off with the pads and everything still attached to it


Get a wire/rope or whatever to hang the caliper to the UCA or anything so the caliper won't be held by the rubber brake hose - that would damage the hose


Here's the two philips head screws that is holding your rotor to the hub. I didn't have mine, they're already missing. PO already had them removed and can't be bothered to put them back on. They're not important but it is nice to have. They can be bitch to get out without an impact screwdriver though so you might have some trouble here. Your rotor might be stuck to the hub if you're unlucky. Just bolt 2x 12mm bolts into the other 2 holes and slowly tighten each of them till the rotor separates from the hub. No pics of that since mine isn't stuck.


Here's the offending stud. Some idiot already had this replaced and yet they managed to strip the same stud again??


Hammer it back out from the front. Mine doesn't take much effort since the splines are all rounded from that same idiot


You'll notice how it won't come off the back as it hits the knuckle. This is exactly why hub removal is needed but there's another way to do it if you're cheap like me. Bend or cut the dust shield out of the way then cut the damaged stud in half and knock it out from the hub. No pics of this sorry I suck at making a how-to

[Hazwan]

Out


You'll notice why I didn't take pics of the stud being cut out because the idiot that replaced this same stud already did this using the same method like I did by grinding the back of the stud head flat so it would clear the knuckle.


New stud into the hub. It won't go back in because of the rounded head hitting the knuckle. DO NOT hammer it back in. You're going to ruin the threads.


Grind the stud a little like so. Do not cut too much


Test fit, might need a few tries. If you're grinding the splines away then you're grinding too much. I didn't even touch the splines.


Push it back into the hub


Get a thick washer or in my case I used a nut that is bigger than the stud then put your lug nut on to pull the stud into the hub. I don't recommend hammering it back in because lack of room behind there besides you might get the stud in crooked and damage the splines. Then you just gonna spin the stud when you tightened your lug nuts later. Not something you want lol!

[Hazwan]

Its going to be tight but I just tightened the lug nut by hand and then hit it with my impact


Done! All secured. Nothing is spinning or moving




Put your rotor and calipers back on. Installation is the reverse of removal




Remember to torque your lug nuts properly else you gonna end up with stripped studs/nuts again


This isn't a complete how-to but should get you the idea on how its done

[derolph]

Thanks for posting that. I have a front wheel stud that is slightly damaged and I might need to replace it.

[Dr_Snooz]

^^^ x2!

Thanks Haz.

[lostforawhile]

if you end up replacing all four by taking off the hub, the ARP really weren't much more then auto parts store studs of unknown origin, much stronger and the end is rounded to help prevent cross threading