By Jeff Glucker
My cheap Montero is, as you know, proving itself to be a bit of the opposite as of late. Things are dripping. Slaves are revolting. And recently, a wheel stud decided to break away from its group. While test fitting a new set of wheels and tires, one of the six lugs on my driver-side front wheel snapped clean off. A quick glance of my mechanic’s guide (AKA YouTube) shows that this is actually a pretty easy fix. Unless you have a vehicle with captive rotors. Guess which kind I have…
What I also have is a friend with a lift. Richard Radcliffe, who is essentially the unofficial Chief Mechanic of Hooniverse, let me drive over to his spot so he could lend a hand with this repair. I assumed he would lend a hand. What he did instead was dive in and do 95% of the work. But I watched, and this process was quickly demystified for me. You see, I’ve never taken apart a wheel hub. I assumed that once I loosened a few bolts, there would be clips and bearings shooting off into the nether spaces of my garage. Instead, this was a straight forward process of removing the various layers that connect truck to brakes, wheel, and tire.
Lift it on up
Working on a vehicle that’s on a lift is definitely a much better experience than one on jack stands. That said, this is a repair I could’ve easily managed in my garage. Once the rotor and hub assembly was separated from the wheel, they were separated from each other. That allowed clear access to the busted wheel stud. A hammer knocked out the old stud. The simple method of applying washers and then the lug nut drew in the new stud. This was tightened together and the stud gradually took its new spot as a member of the Montero wheel hub party.
As easy as this fix proved to be, it was invaluable having someone with knowledge of how to handle the fix. Rather than turn to the Internet, my Haynes, or texting friends, Rick was on hand and I could ask him questions about any part of the process. And now my truck is ready to receive its new shoes.
Kamil Kaluski
I’m glad it’s done, but you did yourself a disservice letting Richard do 95% of the work. Shoot for a ratio of about 75% Jeff/25% expert. That is, until you become an expert, at which point it is perfectly fine to try to Tom Sawyer the job to someone else.
I was ready to dive in and get my hands dirty!
…and then it was done.
https://media2.giphy.com/media/jcxtvm2bsZDH2/giphy.gif
Footage of me as the truck was coming down off the lift…
Nice! There will be plenty of other wrenches to turn.
I do wonder how the aluminum foil figured into the process.
“And now my truck is ready to receive its new shoes.”
The highly anticipated forthcoming article in the Montero wheel stud replacement series: “A Discussion of Inappropriate Settings on Tire Shop Air Tools.”
You are going to love that Montero. I like the idea of a six stud axle on a mid-size SUV – redunancy is a good thing.
I’ve had a couple of busted studs in the last year and have concluded that removing with a breaker bar is much more likely to snap them than removing with an impact, especially if the monkeys at Discount Tire overtorqued them.