one lug stud left

[Lt.Del]

Well, just wrapped up 9 days in the shadow of the blue ridge mountains, below Shenandoah Nat'l Park and listening to Bluegrass music--my son and my annual trip.  www.delbridge.net/graves

Well, on the way back today (about 100 miles one way) pulling my 30 foot long trailer camper, about 25 miles from home, i apply the brakes going around a turn to slow a little and felt one heckuva vibration.

I immediately turned her off the road and onto a gravel area at a store along side the highway and looked at my wheels.  My right rear wheel had only one lug stud left!  Now, this is a 3/4 ton 2500 sub, with 8 lugs per wheel.  7 lug studs busted off the dang axle. I was lucky the 8th didn't break.  I walked about 15 feet behind my trailer and saw where three lug studs with nuts still attached had landed along the highway.  Apparently they broke when i used my brakes to come to a stop.  I was lucky.

So, I unhooked the trailer, jacked the left rear up and pound two studs out of that axle shaft.  Then put those studs in the right rear wheel allowing me to have three studs to limp home.  The broken studs were almost flush w/ the axle facing requiring a punch and hammer to knock two of the busted studs out.

I don't know if the nuts were loose or why the studs would break off, but that was weird. 

I went home and picked up my 79 chevy w/ the 383 stroker and picked up the trailer two hours later. No mo problems.   

[beastie_3]

Wow! Glad you guys made it without anything worse happening!

Happened to a buddy of mine, we think someone was pissed at him. Front driver side wheel took off like a bat outta heck as his disc skidded along the freeway. It was on a 7in lifted 93 chevy 2wd. Found his tire about a half mile down the freeway and threw it in the back seat of my mustang.

[jaredts]

Glad you're o.k.  That's creepy, almost seems impossible.  8 lugs should be a heck of a lot of peace of mind.  Did you pick up the lugs you found and look them over?  If there's rust in the break then they were cracked for a while..that kind of thing.

[VileZambonie]

They must have been loose or too tight. Do you torque your wheels with a torque wrench? Luckily you didn't actually lose the wheel.

[Lt.Del]

no, i don't torque them.  I use one of those cross (4 way) lug wrenches and put my weight on it when tightening.  That should always be plenty tight.   I dunno, i kinda hate aluminum wheels and those long lug nuts.  I have seen where the shop i go to to get the truck inpsected tighten those nuts up so much i have to put allllll my weight on the wrench to loosen it....too much if you ask me.  Heck sometimes i found that they put so much torque on them the lug nuts strip.  They have then just spun around the stud and never again will tighten down.  I think this may be what happened. And after time, and the stress of the extra weight of the 30' camper, they just worked themselves loose to where a few of the studs couldn't withstand the pressure.   Just a hunch.  I HATE SHOPS!  I wish i could inspect the truck myself.

Anyway, gotta get about 7 new lug studs.  At $2.50 each, I don't think it'll break the bank.

[beastie_3]

I have aluminum wheels, and i finally got around to buying a torque wrench. When I torqued the wheel after my axle shaft job, i was amazed at how much i was cranking on the lug nuts before I got the torque wrench. 80ft lb is nothing compared to what i was doing. Now you got me scared!

[bgctrading]

The main thing is to tighten your lugnuts up in the correct pattern so that they all have even pressure. I have seen them waaaaaaaaay over tight and waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay loose and as long as they are tightend up in the correct pattern and evenly tightned I havent seen any problems really. I am not saying not to torque them though. But even if you torque and do not do it evenly and do not get the wheel straight it will still come off.

[VileZambonie]

120 ft lbs on yours sgtdel in a crisscross pattern. I ALWAYS torque wheels on. At first I use a torque stick just below the spec and then when it's on the ground I go around with the torque wrench. With aftermarket wheels and lug nuts it's a good idea to periodically recheck them also.

[Blazin]

I check my 1 ton often as it has aluminum wheels. I lost the right rear pair the first week I owned the truck. Lug nuts just loosened up and the wheels passed me. I found 7 out of the 8 in the road about 200 feet back.

[Mr Diesel]

I lost an aluminum wheel off my '76 while towing 10k lbs worth of hay and trailer. Almost threw me off the road. The wheels had been torqued properly, but I only had 7 lug nuts on it. That one missing lug nut caused enough uneven torque to cause the lugs to work loose and break off some of the studs. Absolutely critical to have all lug nuts in place and torqued properly when using aluminum wheels.

[Canadian 4X4]

The marina i work at has an 77 k10 and they had a dealer change the steering arm but when we got it back and drove about a mile I noticed that one stud was broken. The chev dealership said they couldn't get that stud because it was an extra long, personally I don't think this sounds right would it not be a standard stud for a k10? The truck is a 400/350/203 and i think its a 10 bolt front axle. the truck also has aluminum rims and i think they have been referred to before as turbine rims? the tires are 31x10.5 I don't know if that makes it a 15x8 rim?
Thanks In advance

[malibu795]

mine are torque either with a 15" breaker bar and my 200lb but haning on it or a IR 1/2 impart (500lb working tq) which will max a 250lb tq wrench
i also keep my THREADS not the seating surface coated with antisease..

only time i have had on come off is because i didnt double check making sure that i had all them tight basicly missed them.

i have mangeg to twist couple bolt off while back with a 15" bar wiht no cheater pipe. mainly rusted up nuts and bolts from open face nuts

[Lt.Del]

With aftermarket wheels and lug nuts it's a good idea to periodically recheck them also.

Yeah, live and learn.  In 27 yrs of driving, I've never had a problem like this.  I still think the shop stripped some of the nuts because they torque them tooooooo much. I have had to buy lug nuts often after taking it to the shop due to stripped nuts that won't tighten anymore. I think the young bucks who the shop uses don't know about the cross pattern thing and i am always afraid they will warp the aluminum wheel.  I hate shops!! I think i mentioned that before.  I trust myself 100%, never trust anyone else.

It's funny--the guy at the store kept saying, "I think you oughta call a tow truck".  I said no way.  With a hammer and a few good swings, I'll remove two studs from one side and tighten them into the other axle. I destroyed a lug nut because I wanted to ensure I wouldn't damage the ends of the studs or threads so I screwed a lug nut on the studs and actually struck the lug nut to pop the studs loose. Sure enough, about a half hour later, I was back on my way.

It's a given about the cross pattern, I've always done that too, tighten them while spinning the wheel with wrench on it, then go to opposite side and do same thing, then spin the wheel while cranking hard on the wrench the opposite way to tighten each one.  Then set it down and tighten more.  Never a problem.  

[VileZambonie]

Read the post here on fasteners for everyones safety http://forum.73-87chevytrucks.com/smforum/index.php?topic=14811.msg115195#msg115195

Canadian 4x4 you can get your studs at any decent auto parts store. I'd stay away from that dealer!

[VileZambonie]

A+ for not having to have to call the tow truck!