Defective lug bolt/studs?

[Kevin from K]

<?: prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" /></v:stroke></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:ulas></vath><?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></o:lock></v:shape></v:></v:shape> Last fall I lost the right rear wheel off our 3 month old 09 Cruiser 32QB. Limped it back to the dealer. They though the lug bolts or the nuts must have been defective to shear off like that. They repaired the damage and put on 4 new wheels under warranty. No questions, no hassle.



The 5er set at their lot all the rest of the winter due to the fact I could not get it home because of the snow.



Picked the unit up this spring and brought it home without problem. Then two weeks ago we were planning on a weekend trip so I decided to torque the lugs. The first nut I tried to back off was seized tight. Took every bit of my strength with a breakover bar to get the nut off the stud. Completely stripped the bolt/stud. Called the dealer and they said I could get it fixed locally and they would pay or I could bring it back to them.



I opted to pull the hub and have a new stud pressed in at a local machine shop. After I finished repacking the bearing and reinstalled the wheel I decided I still needed to check the torque on the rest of the unit. The next wheel again had a lug seized tight. Now I'm going to take it back to the dealer.



My question is if anyone has had any problems with their lugs, either the studs or the nuts? I'm not sure if this is a manufacturer defect or if it’s an installation problem.



This unit has less than 1000 miles on it and has been in the shop more than on the road. Feeling pretty frustrated and am a little apprehensive of taking on any kind of long trip. The dealer has been very accommodating but . . .



Any feedback would be appreciated.

[Stan]

I've been on this forum for about 4 years now and don't recall reading about shearing wheel studs. Is it possible the nuts were tightened too tight (over-torqued)? I know some tire dealers use the air impact wrenches on both steel and aluminum rims. Sometimes the wrench can tighten the nuts too much. When they place the torque wrench on the lug nut it of course clicks and the mechanic calls it "good". This is really a bad practice. Not sure what else would cause shearing of studs.

[cwit]

What Stan says is right but when they use a impact to do the install instead of hand starting the nuts you can get crossthreading. When you install studs you canuse a nut to pull stud into the hub, if you over tighten you can distort threads and streach studs. May be why yours broke in the frist place.

[Kevin from K]

I've had tire shops over-torque wheels before so I know what you are talking about. What is really wierd is that it is just one stud each on two different wheels. No way to tell what happened with the wheel that came off. My first thought was that the dealer cross-threaded the nuts when they replaced the wheels. I guess I'll let them sort that out. No camping this weekend.



Thanks for your responses.

[DUNWRKN]

There were people posting about a problem like this some years ago. I was wondering about this and I know that some shops leave the tire and wheel on thehub when they lube wheel bearings. When I had my bearings packed they removed all the lug nuts and when they put them back on, they used a hand torque wrench. Any time I have a wheel removed from any vehicle or trailer that I own, I have them use a hand torque wrench and most of the time I'm watching them. I had to replace the brake rotors on my pickup once because of a pneumatic wrench being used and I decided that once was enough.

[pulpwood007]

Originally Posted by Kevin from K

I've had tire shops over-torque wheels before so I know what you are talking about. What is really wierd is that it is just one stud each on two different wheels. No way to tell what happened with the wheel that came off. My first thought was that the dealer cross-threaded the nuts when they replaced the wheels. I guess I'll let them sort that out. No camping this weekend.



Thanks for your responses.

I had the same experience on my 2010 29RK. I had pulled the wheels off several times each time re tightening with a torque wrench to 100lbs. In Jan I broke 2 wheel studs (1 on each wheel) trying to get them off. Very strange!

I replaced both. Very easy job. I am now using a very small amount of lubricant on the studs and tightening to 80 lbs. I keep a close watch on the lug nuts checking them every 200-300 miles.

I also bought a 12 volt impact wrench to remove the lug nuts. This makes removal of a stuck nut much easier. If you don't have one of these at least use a 4way and not a breakover socket wrench.