I have a 2007 Forester with 170K miles (bought new). I have just found out that at least two out of the five lug studs on each wheel have stripped. Any good tips on replacing them?

Brass drift and a big fuggin hammer.

The basic procedure is pound out the old and use a lug nut and a couple of 1/2" washers to pull the new stud into the hub.

How about the ABS tone ring on the rears?

When you say they 'stripped', do you mean the threads are just messed up? Or do you mean they snapped off? Hm either way it is odd that it would be so many of them. If the threads are just messed up, a thread chaser or die can usually clean them up pretty well. Not sure what the later models are using but for a long time they were M12 at 1.25mm thread spacing.

I don't know specifics , but if it's in the way you will have to figure out how to remove it. Some of them are just bolted on, some are pressed on.

A lot of times when something is in the way behind the studs they can still be removed if turned at the right angle.

2 on every single wheel? that doesn't make any sense at all....weird.

 

first step is to just get a 12x 1.25 Die and chase the threads with it. they use a 1" socket to turn so you'll want one of those or the tool that for turning a die works as well - i've done it a hundred times. clean the threads up and you should be good to go.

 

if they're that bad i like to run a tap through the lugs too that way the threads on both are identical, clean, and smooth. same thing, get a 12x1.25 tap...or i'll mail you one, i think i have 3! Just kidding....harbor freight has a 40 piece tap and die set for something stupid cheap like $7 or $12 or something. excellent tools to have on hand for stuff like this, they've saved me a lot of money and time over the years.

 

if you really do need to replace the lugs - like he said knock them out. the tone ring requires disassembly of the wheel bearings to completely *remove*.

 

you could possibly unscrew it from the hub and have it dangle out of the way if there's not enough clearance to get the lug stud out.

Rear tone ring:

 

Remove caliper& rotor

 

Remove parking brake shoes.

 

Unbolt tone ring from hub.

 

You can then move the tone ring aside and have enough clearance to remove and install the studs.

Would it hurt to drill out the back of the studs a bit? Once you get the head off, you'd have a nice little centered hole that you could send a slightly smaller bit through.

That's more of a PITA than it's worth. Just pound it out with a hammer. These are small 12mm, they should come out pretty easy. I knocked all the studs out of my buddies 3/4 ton chevy hubs with a hammer to replace the brake rotors. Both front rotors, sixteen 5/8" studs in all, with 23 years of goin' to the lake and launch the fishin' boat rust around them. :-p

I have changed a few on my '99 and all I needed was a 3 lb sledge to knock them out and a lug nut with a couple of washers to pull the new ones in. Bought them from local auto parts place.

 

I did have to rotate the hub a bit to get the stud in a position to remove it but it was not that difficult.

 

There was a thread a while back about someone who had repeat stud failures that was eventually determined that a warped brake rotor (the face that contacts the wheel hub) was the cause. New brake rotor and no more sheared studs.