Well, had a really bad Wednesday afternoon.  Trying to beat a rainstorm, 2 wheel studs broke on my RF wheel.  I was able to pull over and check it out to see if I could make it home, I just went very slow. 

Anywho, my question is has anyone replaced wheel studs on the front wheels before?  I don't have much money right now to pay someone to replace them, so I would like to do it myself, but I don't want to get in over my head.  Anyone have some advise?  Thanks!

You don't want to beat on the front hubs as you'll also be beating on your bearings. I had 2 replaced - took the hub off myself and the machine shop charged me $10 to press the old ones out and install the new ones.

You'll need to remove the rotor/hub assembly first, which requires removing the brake caliper.
With the rotor laying flat on a piece of wood, or padded cement, knock the broken studs out from the front side. You may need a punch, depending on how much of the stud is still there.
Once the old studs are out, notice that they have splines, or fluting on the end that fits into the hub. This is to keep the studs from spinning around as you tighten/loosen the lug nuts. Try to start the new studs into the hub with the splines lined up as best you can...it'll make it much easier to install them.
You can take them to a shop and have them pressed in, if you do not have a press yourself, but you can also use the lug-nuts to pull them thru the hub.
Place the stud in the hole from the rear, and get a flat washer that will fit over the stud on the front side, put the washer on, then a lug-nut, but turn the lug-nut around backwards, so the flat side is up against the washer/hub. Then simply tighten the nut down, pulling the stud thru the hub. You can help it along by gently tapping on the back of the stud as you go, but that's usually not needed...the nut will pull it thru just fine, in most cases.
Once you have it all re-assembled, and the car back on it's wheels. drive around a while, and then re-tighten the lug-nuts, to be sure they are tight. Then check them again before every drive for a day or so, then you should be good to go.
Good luck....and Welcome to C3VR!!

[QUOTE=Adams' Apple]You'll need to remove the rotor/hub assembly first, which requires removing the brake caliper.
With the rotor laying flat on a piece of wood, or padded cement, knock the broken studs out from the front side. You may need a punch, depending on how much of the stud is still there.
Once the old studs are out, notice that they have splines, or fluting on the end that fits into the hub. This is to keep the studs from spinning around as you tighten/loosen the lug nuts. Try to start the new studs into the hub with the splines lined up as best you can...it'll make it much easier to install them.
You can take them to a shop and have them pressed in, if you do not have a press yourself, but you can also use the lug-nuts to pull them thru the hub.
Place the stud in the hole from the rear, and get a flat washer that will fit over the stud on the front side, put the washer on, then a lug-nut, but turn the lug-nut around backwards, so the flat side is up against the washer/hub. Then simply tighten the nut down, pulling the stud thru the hub. You can help it along by gently tapping on the back of the stud as you go, but that's usually not needed...the nut will pull it thru just fine, in most cases.
Once you have it all re-assembled, and the car back on it's wheels. drive around a while, and then re-tighten the lug-nuts, to be sure they are tight. Then check them again before every drive for a day or so, then you should be good to go.
Good luck....and Welcome to C3VR!! [/QUOTE]

Excellent!  Thanks everyone!

an impact wrench works wonders here too....when drawing on the stud with the lug nut... i would also recommend that the lug nut used to draw the wheel stud onto the hub, be discarded, its usually stressed out by the time you get the stud fully seated and tends(in my case anyhow) to strip out the threads on the lug nut....

Check the hole diameter to see if it is still OK.  Our rebuilder says most of the time the holes let the stud wobble, which increases the chances of breaking again. 

Larry

On the stud subject.... I bought a set of '78 alloy wheel lugnuts from Ecklers (they are discontinued by GM). They were evidently made from junk Chinese steel causing the threads to break off the nut either in use or when torqued. After about a year the nuts backed off one wheel and were retightened (I didn't realize then the threads were busted).

I had my wheels rotated and balanced for the Hot Springs trip and when the dealer tried to remove the lugnuts, 4 studs busted. On close inspection the threads were distorted on most of the remaining lugnuts.

I wonder if all these aftermarket pieces/ parts come from the same manufacturer. I think I am in an unsafe situation, especially the way I drive, and so are a bunch of other people who bought aftermarket lugnuts.

I have searched GM dealer inventory to find if any are left over and there are none. Does anyone know if any of these are made in the good ole USA anymore???


Dave

[QUOTE=Adams' Apple] You'll need to remove the rotor/hub assembly first, which requires removing the brake caliper.
With the rotor laying flat on a piece of wood, or padded cement, knock the broken studs out from the front side. You may need a punch, depending on how much of the stud is still there.
Once the old studs are out, notice that they have splines, or fluting on the end that fits into the hub. This is to keep the studs from spinning around as you tighten/loosen the lug nuts. Try to start the new studs into the hub with the splines lined up as best you can...it'll make it much easier to install them.
You can take them to a shop and have them pressed in, if you do not have a press yourself, but you can also use the lug-nuts to pull them thru the hub.
Place the stud in the hole from the rear, and get a flat washer that will fit over the stud on the front side, put the washer on, then a lug-nut, but turn the lug-nut around backwards, so the flat side is up against the washer/hub. Then simply tighten the nut down, pulling the stud thru the hub. You can help it along by gently tapping on the back of the stud as you go, but that's usually not needed...the nut will pull it thru just fine, in most cases.
Once you have it all re-assembled, and the car back on it's wheels. drive around a while, and then re-tighten the lug-nuts, to be sure they are tight. Then check them again before every drive for a day or so, then you should be good to go.
Good luck....and Welcome to C3VR!! [/QUOTE]

This part in Joel's reply is really important. I have found wheels lugs to have become very loose after a few days.

Stingrays point is very valid as well concerning the stressed lug-nuts. Either of these can damage the vehicle or you. It is definitely not worth the risk to overlook such simple procedures.

Good Luck with the install!