Broken wheel rods where the lugnuts go?

[hummer05]

Has anyone had the rods that the lugnuts go on break or snap. I had a place take off my stock rims and add some aftermarket ones, when he took off my stock lugs, 3 of the rods snapped. I then went back with my aftermarkets on to have a tire taken off to rebalance the tire and 2 more rods broke. I called the dealer and they did not sound like it would be covered under warranty, any ideas?
Thanks

[hummer05]

Has anyone had the rods that the lugnuts go on break or snap. I had a place take off my stock rims and add some aftermarket ones, when he took off my stock lugs, 3 of the rods snapped. I then went back with my aftermarkets on to have a tire taken off to rebalance the tire and 2 more rods broke. I called the dealer and they did not sound like it would be covered under warranty, any ideas?
Thanks

[partsguy]

You are having after market wheels put on?The dealer will look at it as The people who are putting your wheels on did someyhing to the wheel studs.Did they break after you put the new wheels on?

[hummer05]

well 3 broke taking the stocks off and 3 more broke taking the aftermarket wheel off. the posts just snapped and got stuck in the lugs that came off. I know i will be arguing with the dealer on this, any idea of costs of replacing those

[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.

[partsguy]

No real big deal about 4.00 each stud maybe .5hr
to replace.quess I"ve never heard of the studs breaking on H2s, It's not a common problem.

[Yetti]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">well 3 broke taking the stocks off and 3 more broke taking the aftermarket wheel off. the posts just snapped and got stuck in the lugs that came off. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


Ok this more info then I had a second ago..

I think the the threads waded up if the lugs stuck in the lug nut... still caused by over tighting. they still eat it.

[hummer05]

so they could have overtightened them and then when they took it off again it just snapped like it did. I know when it happened they suggested i talk to the dealer, this should be fun. Is it that easy to break them, by overtightening with the air gun then when removing they snap

[LasVegas]

I use Discount Tire and although they use air/impact wrench to run lugs on, they actually do the final tightening with a hand torque wrench. I would say someone wasn't careful.

[Yetti]

The tire shop has opened a Pandora's box. The last guy who worked on it may have over tightend them, but the minute they removed them again it bacame their responsablity to repair it for you. the studs were not broken when it drove in to the tire shop, so they had better not be broken when it leaves.

[hummer05]

they certainly did not hand tighten them, i will be at the dealer on monday morning to have it looked at, since i am off on a trip this weekend, might not be to good driving with only 4 lugs holding on a wheel.
If they did over tighten them, could the others break off sometime in the future while i am driving?

[LasVegas]

Yes. The metal has been fatigued.

[Kevin B]

Hummer 05, I think you got hosed. If it were me I would not have picked the truck up like that (if you did). Do these nut jobs, pardon the pun, realize the liability they are facing letting you drive the vehicle??

I agree with yetti, they caused the issue by, most likely, over-tighting the lugs when they should have been removing them. If in fact they were crossthreaded from the factory don't you think they should have stopped after breaking the first one and used a breaker bar to see what was going on? As easy as these are to fix IMHO they should have done it for you to save you the pain.

[hummer05]

well i be sure to go down there on monday and talk to them. Can you think of any excuses they can use, other then them stating that there was a problem with the lugs (that they were defective)

[LasVegas]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by hummer05:
Can you think of any excuses they can use, other then them stating that there was a problem with the lugs (that they were defective) </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Probably a couple hundred but that doesn't change the fact that they broke while they worked on it. I agree with N2 you shouldn't have driven it off their lot. But, if they give you guff, tell them you're taking it to the dealer and if it appears they over torqued them, you'll get a statement from the dealer, have the dealer repair, and expect reimbursement from them at dealer rates.

[tower]

I wouldn't even drive it in. I'd put it on a flatbed and insist that they replace all 32 lugs.

There were a couple of horror stories when the H2 first came out about wheels spontaneously coming off and causing crashes. In reading your post, I am wondering if something like this might have been the nidus. Even if you need to pay out of pocket or pay the dealer (so that they take all liability) I would replace all the lugs.

Ditto Vegas, when I got a flat repaired, discount rotated all my wheels. Best puncture repair I have ever seen, inexpensive, efficient, tightened everything with a hand torque wrench, nice guys to deal with. The only drawback, they're usually very busy so there's a long wait.

[hummer05]

thanks for all your input, will have all lugs looked at and replaced if need be then go after them for over tightnening if that was the problem.

Once last ?, when they need to replace the lugs (rods) does that entail replacing the whole drum or are the lugs (rods) seperate.

[LasVegas]

Studs are individually replaceable.

[tower]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">...will have all lugs looked at and replaced if need be... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

How will you know? You are assuming that the damage to the lugs will be externally visible. WRONG! Having x-ray crysalographic studies done on lugs would be prohibitively expensive. They over-torqued them all, have them replace them all. These are cheap parts, the replacement of which could prevent serious damage and injury. Insist that they replace them all. If you're not that good at negotiating, pay for it (see my earlier post re: dealer) and recover from the vendor in small claims court or eat the cost. You will regret not paying this mall price if someone gets hurt as a consequence.

t~

[LasVegas]

Ditto tower