Broken wheel rods where the lugnuts go?

[partsguy]

I agree with whats been said.Also pick and choose your battles with the dealer.Maybe someday you"ll break an axle, on the trails and the dealer will remember you as the guy who brought after market wheels somewhere else and bitched That the studs "that knot headed garage broke"should be covered.They will tell you off roading voids your warranty.Good luck and play fair.Clearly the tire place's fault,not the dealers.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Yetti:
I am thinking that the tire shop who did the work is the one who eats the bill on this. the reason being that I have been repairing vehicles for 25 years and the only way a lug stud gets damaged in the shop is if someone trys to remove it with an impact going the wrong way, basicly they over tightened it till it broke. Or they could have over tightend them while doing the reinstall. lug studs should be set as high as 100 ftlbs of torque depending on the type of wheel. its their baby now. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I doubt these studs were broke by overtightening. These are pretty hefty stud and lug assemblies. More likely they were cross threaded by the last person and when the tire guy took them off the seized up and then the gun broke em. Air guns make more power in reverse than in forward. But these studs dont just snap,it definately takes some effort. They should have told you there was a problem on the very first lug that was tight. Oh well thats just the way I see it.

[Dug]

hum05, unless you saw them break them taking them off , i wouldnt believe it. I've been around trucks and tires all my life and i would bet they overtightened them. The scary thing is the donk that did it , overtightened everyone one of them. So I personally would want to replace every stud. Make sure the next guy torques them correctly.

[hummer05]

hummee / dug

okay so it looks like i will get all 32 replaced, in case the others were weakend by the overtightening. When you say it was crossthreaded, how would that have been done.

I will more then likely have the dealer do the work and then as you mentioned know that it was done correctly and go after some or all of the cost from the other shop. (hopefully not too much$$$)
I did think that the air guns were set to stop at a certain amount of pressure and that you could actually hand tighten them further then a gun. But it did appear that all broke when taking them off not putting on. BUt the guys who were taking them off to put in the center caps were the same ones that tightened that wheel a few days earlier

hummer05

[tower]

H05,

I'm glad you're replacing all 32. I'm with Fred on not burning your bridge with the dealer. You can bitch to the dealer about the tire shop and ask them to help you out by replacing the lugs. They will appreciate that you respect their abilities above those of the local tire store.

I’m sure you know that cross-threading occurs when a nut is placed on a lug without the threads lining up correctly (slightly crooked) and then the nut is forced to cut new threads onto the lug (much like a die cuts threads).

It makes no difference whatsoever if the lugs broke because of cross-threading, over-tightening or production error. Your course is the same.

When OEM wheels are replaced with wider wheels (which require greater offset or track), there is greater stress on the CV joint (according to my Hummer service manager). There is also greater stress on the lugs. I have no first-hand knowledge of this stress breaking lugs, but according to the first URL listed below, this does occur.

http://www.off-road.com/chevy/tech/wheel/

http://www.usacomp.com/Offset.htm

http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/tech/offset.jsp

[LasVegas]

Hummer05... Don't want to be the bearer of bad news but the manual calls for.....front wheels: .8 hrs for one stud & .3 hrs for each add'l two. rear wheels: .5 for one & .1 for each add'l two. Rough calculations in my head is about 6 hours labor plus parts. Probably won't get out with less than $500 bucks.

[Yetti]

HummMe
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">But these studs dont just snap,it definately takes some effort. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't know what you know about air impacts, but mine makes 400 lbs of torque to tighten and 600 lbs on the loosen side. its very easy to snap studs, a lot easyer then you think.

[Klaus]

I have to wonder if the guy that snapped the studs was an old Chrysler mechanic, dreaming of the days of left-handed wheel stud threads.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Yetti:
HummMe
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">But these studs dont just snap,it definately takes some effort. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't know what you know about air impacts, but mine makes 400 lbs of torque to tighten and 600 lbs on the loosen side. its very easy to snap studs, a lot easyer then you think. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks Yetti you just prooved my point of a gun making more power in reverse. I know that it is very difficult to brake a chevy truck stud going forward. I am an A tech for a chevy dealer(ASE Master Technician,with L1 and X1 advanced ASE certs.) usually overtightening will strip the threads,gaul the wheel or cause the stud to spin in the hub. When a lug is cross threaded on it will tighten up,but going in reverse jams the threads and seizes the lug then that 600ftlbs. comes into play. Have a nice day.

[LasVegas]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Yetti:
HummMe
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">But these studs dont just snap,it definately takes some effort. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don't know what you know about air impacts, but mine makes 400 lbs of torque to tighten and 600 lbs on the loosen side. its very easy to snap studs, a lot easyer then you think. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Hmmm don't know where you all are getting these numbers but the service manual calls for 125 ft lbs torque tightening.

[hummer05]

well just got back from dealer and had them replace 12 lugs, they felt that the others showed no sign of problems and only the 8 that snapped or had stripping on them needed replaced. I said i would do all 32 but they were sure it was not needed, at least i can go back to them if another problem occurs. Hopefully its not a wheel coming of at 80mph.

They were not sure exactly what caused it. As you mentioned before the crossthreading and then the breaking on the way off was more then likely the cause. But i still dont know since some broke taking stock wheels of they obviously did not want to hear about the manufacturer cross threading them. That was a $375 learning experience.

so much for taking it somewhere so that i dont screw things up, things still get screwed up and i pay people to do it. Well i will try to recover some from the shop that did it, i have a letter and the old lugs showing somewhat of a story. not anticipating too much money back but at least it did not break the bank

[tower]

Don't beat yourself up about it too badly. There are good shops out there, you just happened to encounter a bad one. Don't hesitate to threaten to (and if need be) take them to small claims court. You can also complain to BBB, ASE, news stations, etc. If the hassle factor is high enough, they'll pay.

[ckhagman]

Driving back from Windrock, TN 2 years ago 2 lugs snapped off on 1 wheel. It could have been due to over tighten or not tigh enough lug nuts because if they were not tight enough the wheel could push on the lug and break the stud. I had all 8 replaced underwarranty due to possible stretching of the lug. Since it was a tire shops fault I would have had them pay for it.

[hummer05]

that was one other concern, as i was getting ready to leave the dealer, the manager stated he wanted to be sure the lug nuts were deep enough to allow the post to fit in and have them tight up against the wheel, the technician said they were, so as long as i dont die or kill someone with a wheel coming of the h2, i can at least blame that one on the dealer if it occurs in the future