bl_easy Posted July 16, 2005 Share Posted July 16, 2005 So, today I was changing the ugly wheels on my '97 OBS to the WRX rims I bought on eBay . Everything was going well until I was removing the last lug nut on the front driver's side wheel. The nut was tight, and when I finally got it off, it took half of the stud with it. Aaaaanyway, I need to replace the stud and I have no idea how to do it! Any advise on how to replace the stud would be greatly appreciated. PS, would it be terrible if I were to drive around on only 4 lugs for a few days until I get it fixed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcspeer Posted July 17, 2005 Share Posted July 17, 2005 Knock it out with a punch and a large hammer, before you put the new one in put some oil on it so it will not be so hard to get in. After you get it started you can pull it on in to place with the lug nut. They may be a better way to do this but this worked for me and I have seen other people do it this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bl_easy Posted July 17, 2005 Author Share Posted July 17, 2005 Knock it out with a punch and a large hammer, before you put the new one in put some oil on it so it will not be so hard to get in. After you get it started you can pull it on in to place with the lug nut. They may be a better way to do this but this worked for me and I have seen other people do it this way. Thank you! However, would you be able to tell me how to get to the point where I can even do that? The back of the studs don't look very accessable. I understand that I need to remove the brake assembly to do this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerFahrer Posted July 17, 2005 Share Posted July 17, 2005 BEFORE YOU DO THIS: Be forewarned that you can damage your wheel bearings by pounding the studs out. Pounding the studs out and pulling the new ones through with the lug nuts is super-easy to do, but replacing wheel bearings 6 months later is definitely not: http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=39430 Me personally, I'd say just drive around with 4 lug nuts, the wheel won't fall off or anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tcspeer Posted July 17, 2005 Share Posted July 17, 2005 Yes you will need to take the brake caliper off, and you may have to take the rotor off also. There is two bolts holding the bracket on that holds the caliper, I think they are 17mm. be sure to use a box end wrench on them so you wont round them off, after you take these off the rotor will then come right off. Subyluvr2212 may be right about the wheelbearing, but I did not have to hit mine hard it came out easy. You can try it if it dont come out easy you can leave it. As for as pulling the new one in I dont see any reason this would hurt the bearing. You dont need a lot of room on the back you will knock it from the front side towards the back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMattyD Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 I have driven around for a short time with 4 out of 5 lug nuts. One of the lug studs broke in a fashion similar to yours. It happened on my wife's buick with rear drum brakes, and I couldn't get the rear drum off, so I eventually took it to a shop with better tools, they fixed it in a jiffy. It shouldn't be too expensive to fix if you want to let someone else do it. matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smurfmiata93 Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 Do you have ABS? If you do it gets more complicated. The tone wheel for the ABS is bolted to the back side of the hub and prevents driving the stud out without removing the tone wheel. You may need to remove the hub to replace the stud. I just finished replacing the right rear wheel bearing on my 99 OBW and when I was putting the wheel back on I found that I had damaged a stud while doing the bearing work. The proper procedure for the rear wheel is to remove the hub and r/r the stud and reassemble. Not wanting to rip everything apart again and risk damaging the bearings and seals, I am going to get a thread restorer file and a thread chaser die and try to restore the threads. Hopefully I have only damaged the threads at the end of the stud and there are sufficient threads remaining to hold the lug nut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jib Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 4 out of 5 should be just fine for a while, but there is a reason they use 5, not 4 and I'll bet it goes beyond appearance. Jack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 ha, i'll fire everyone up. i've driven on TWO on the front. and three for 240 miles from Charlotte, NC to Atlanta, GA. i've also driven with 4 for YEARS including off roading, 4 wheeling, towing, snow, mud...you name it. i don't recommend it, but i never had a problem with it. 4 studs sheared off on I85 in charlotte NC all at the same time. hmmm bad luck. so i wobbled to a closed gas station at 1am. i knew i couldn't make it to atlanta on one lug nut going 70/80 mph. so i searched and searched for a bolt that would work...bingo the brake caliper mounting bolts on an XT6 are the same thread and pitch as the wheel studs. so i cranked the remaining caliper mounting bolt nice and tight after scaveging one from each side to use on the wheel. they are very short compared to the studs and don't have to be pressed in as the shaft isn't fat at the head. so i had to hold the bolt in place with one hand to get the nut started and pull the wheel tight to the hub. continued on my way to atlanta and replaced them with new studs the next day. worked perfectly. banged all those studs out with a hammer and still drive that car to this day. rebuilt the entire front suspension and replaced the front bearings while i had it all apart they were good and tight. that's with lots of off road miles and such as well. all this to say knocking the studs out did'nt damage my bearings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMattyD Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 Oh, my good gracious!! Are you a CRAZY PERSON??? Everyone knows you made a big mistake... Luckily, you survived!!! Yeah, I guess you have to do what you have to do. Remember in the early days of motoring, the wheels fell off the car routinely, but they probably only were going 30 mph top speed. My question is how do 4 out of 5 whhel studs break at the same time?? Maybe they were over-torqued? Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bl_easy Posted July 22, 2005 Author Share Posted July 22, 2005 Possibly. Anyway, yesterday I was able to get the new stud in the front in less than an hour (starting with jacking the car up and ending at setting it down). The hardest part BY FAR was finding a stud with the correct thread pitch and knurl. AutoZone and Discount Auto Parts/Advance Auto Parts were pretty much useless there; they kept on telling me that the stud I was showing them that I removed from my car was the wrong one. Yeah, buddy, I'm sure. I ended up having to drive to the local Subaru dealer to buy a stud for $3.83!!! But, as fas as I'm concerned, it was worth it, as it slid right in with little effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthWet Posted July 22, 2005 Share Posted July 22, 2005 ...I ended up having to drive to the local Subaru dealer to buy a stud for $3.83!!! But, as fas as I'm concerned, it was worth it, as it slid right in with little effort. That is not so far off from what I paid last time I bought studs from an auto parts place... 16 of them for 2 wheels, plus $2 each to press in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OLS Posted August 18, 2005 Share Posted August 18, 2005 Did you have to take off the hub?? If yes, how hard was it?? I have the same problem on my 2001 Legacy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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