Broken wheel stud?

[Ashes]

Had a right front flat this morning so have gone to change the tyre after finding a screw in it and seems I have a broken stud.
I'm not sure if I did it or it happened at the last service. The wheel nut spins but doesn't come off and it won't pull out.

Am I ok to drive on it until I can get it to a mechanic or do I risk further damage? It may have been like this for a few months or just today.

What's involved in a stud repair on the D3?

[Ashes]

Thinking a bit more about this and it is probably the nut cover that is damaged rather than the stud. Now need to find a way of making it bind to remove the nut. Any ideas?

[101RRS]

Or is the stainless outer cover on the actual wheel nut spinning when you try to undo the wheel nut.





Never use a rattle gun on them or a multi point socket - always a hex socket.

EDIT = just spotted your followup post - I carefully put a X cut across the top of the cover with a angle grinder with a cutting blade - then used a small cold chisel to peel back the cover as in the pic - the real nut under the cover is 1mm smaller than with the cover on.

[BobD]

I attacked mine with a cold chisel to get the .5 mm thick cover off when I couldn't fit a socket on it in a remote area trying to change a flat.


As Gary said, you must never use a multipoint socket on these nuts. I use an impact socket which has 6 flat sides on mine but if anyone ever uses a multipoint socket on it the nut will be ruined.

[Ashes]

Thanks.
So...Dremmel with a cutting disk and then a 21mm impact socket for the nut should do the trick?

[tadpole]

I had similar experience with the outer stainless cover rotating making it impossible to remove the wheel nut. Unfortunately I was on the Madigan line with a group of friends so had to endure plenty of unhelpful comments from the Tojo owners. Used a cold chisel to cut the cover off. Have since replaced all of the standard stainless covered wheel nuts with solid chrome plated nuts to ensure no further problems.

[Mungus]

This sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen!


Tadpole, got any pics? Where did you the the solid chrome plated wheel nuts and are they exactly the same dimensions as the OEM?

[BMKal]

This sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen!

Not really. Just make sure that you ONLY ever use 6 sided (impact) sockets on the OEM nuts and they will never give you a problem. A bit of copper coat / never seize or similar on the studs whenever you have the wheel off will also go a long way toward making things easier when you are out in the middle of nowhere with a flat tyre.

I always carry one in my toolbag with my ratchet drive, and there is a spare socket in the glovebox, plus a couple out in the shed at home. My local tyre place only ever uses impact sockets (I checked). He even uses a torque wrench when doing up wheel studs - first time I've seen that in a tyre place.

The biggest risk of damage to OEM wheel studs is usually from someone else working on your car.

[tadpole]

This sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen!


Tadpole, got any pics? Where did you the the solid chrome plated wheel nuts and are they exactly the same dimensions as the OEM?

Hi Mungus. I don't have any pics. I purchased a full set (20) on Ebay at a cost of GBP49.99 and postage of GBP20.64 (total GBP70.63). Supplier was a company "nuts4wheels" and I did check their website nuts4wheels.com but the nuts for D3 are not listed. However I then checked Ebay for wheel nuts D3 and they are listed there by the same company. They have a number of offerings depending on quantity. They fit perfect and look great. I can now use a 22mm standard socket for the first time and I now carry both a breaker bar and torque wrench. Small price for peace of mind. Let me know if you still want pics and I will oblige.

[Ashes]

I cut the cover off with the Dremmel this morning and got the nut off. Given our D3 is 10yo now and this is the first one that has had a problem I don't think it is a huge issue. Have ordered a replacement through rover parts. Different issue out in the wild though without a cutting tool I guess.