Honda Civic wheel studs

Need a little help from you Civic gurus. My son went to replace the brakes on his 2001 Civic and one of the wheel studs broke. Another one broke when he tried to remove the wheel to repair it today. it appears the previous owner or his mechanic overtightened the wheels at some time or cross threaded the nuts, ruining the nuts and studs.

Looking on the world.wide.web, it seems the correct way to replace the studs is to remove the whole flipping steering knuckle to press out the hub and bearing. There is not enough clearance to remove the studs while on the car. Is this correct and are there any short cuts? I saw on the youtubes where some guys grind down one side of the head of the stud and grind down the knuckle to make some clearance. I don't like the sound of this, but if it keeps me from having to buy a new wheel bearing and ball joints and spend the better part of the day (or weekend), I might consider it.

Rant on: I cannot believe that anybody today would design car this way, but I'm no automotive engineer. And at this point I will say neither are Honda's. It still remember the Accord front brake rotors that have to have the hubs removed to replace them.

Rant off.

if you're not going to do the grinding (not my preferred method) then the take apart is it

This is why you NEVER use a impact gun to install wheels. If there isnt enough space, there isnt enough space, pull the hub. There is a damn good reason why the knuckle is as thick as it is, removing material is a profoundly unwise thing to do.

Take the rotor off and punch out broken stud. Then grind a flat spot on the head of the new one until it slips past. usually only about 1/8"

I'm kinda, sorta in the same spot as you with my civic. My wheel stud now spins where it was pressed in. Still trying to figure a way to get my wheel off to get a new hub on.

Yep, had to do the same thing to the s2000. It's a good time to replace all the studs and put new wheel bearings in it. Luckily I had a friend that had a press so it only cost me a six pack

stan_d wrote: Take the rotor off and punch out broken stud. Then grind a flat spot on the head of the new one until it slips past. usually only about 1/8"

So you have done this with success?

DukeOfUndersteer wrote: I'm kinda, sorta in the same spot as you with my civic. My wheel stud now spins where it was pressed in. Still trying to figure a way to get my wheel off to get a new hub on.

a tight fitting 6 point socket and a breaker bar will allow you to snap the stud off.. just push down really hard and fast and it will break like a dried up stick..

Yes I have.

DukeOfUndersteer wrote: I'm kinda, sorta in the same spot as you with my civic. My wheel stud now spins where it was pressed in. Still trying to figure a way to get my wheel off to get a new hub on.

Drill, make sure you keep it centered and straight, slowly move to larger and larger bits until you are near the minor diameter of the stud, then jam a screwdriver in the hole and snap the nut off.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: This is why you NEVER use a impact gun to install wheels. If there isnt enough space, there isnt enough space, pull the hub. There is a damn good reason why the knuckle is as thick as it is, removing material is a profoundly unwise thing to do.

I assume you're meaning shop powered impact guns ? I use my battery powered gun all the time ... (with a torque stick) and then re-torque with a torque wrench) ... or would you call this the same as "not using an impact gun" ?

Had pretty much the same problem with a 77 Accord.

Had a buddy who is a machinist. He cut the shoulder off a new stud and threaded the remainder for 7/16 UNF, (I think)

Tapped out the broken stud, tapped in the new threaded stud, loctited a jam nut on the backside of the axle flange.

Worked fine for the remaining 5 years I owned the car.

Rog

emodspitfire wrote: Had pretty much the same problem with a 77 Accord. Had a buddy who is a machinist. He cut the shoulder off a new stud and threaded the remainder for 7/16 UNF, (I think) Tapped out the broken stud, tapped in the new threaded stud, loctited a jam nut on the backside of the axle flange. Worked fine for the remaining 5 years I owned the car. Rog

That's a lot of damn trouble to avoid doing it the right way...

When the machining is free, the cost is a new stud and jam nut.

That car required a full dis-assembly of the hub to press in a new stud.

Car was a DD and used occasionally for AutoX

Effective, safe and durable.....what's not to like?

Well, it is a Honda. Just kidding. Stud replacement is not a common thing so replacement is not made easy. OH, wait.

dillysidave. doesn't your friend know that all Hondas have metric thread ? sure could make things confusing.

In reply to wbjones:

If you take the time to start them on by hand, and then use a tq stick, and know how to use it, it isn't a problem. Its when some tire installer is in a hurry and just rams em home with a 500ft/lb gun that things become problematic.

missed the part about using a gun to start them ... yes I alway start by hand ... and even if I don't use the tq stick I still "stop" the gun early and tq by hand

and yeah I've been screwed by the incompetent installer before ... that's why if I'm not going to my normal tire place I try to hand carry the rims to the installer and then take them to the car and put them on myself ...

was just making sure there wasn't something I was missing

emodspitfire wrote: When the machining is free, the cost is a new stud and jam nut. That car required a full dis-assembly of the hub to press in a new stud. Car was a DD and used occasionally for AutoX Effective, safe and durable.....what's not to like?

And then the next poor sucker (or you if you keep the car) has to deal with a bodged repair later.

Doing it the right way isn't hard. Pop 3 ball joints and the axle, press the hub out, press the stud out, press the new stud in, press the hub back in with a new wheel bearing, reinstall. Soup.

Car had 120k when I sold it for $500.

I'm thinkin the buyer had a pretty good handle on the risk....

Just sayin'

DILYSI Dave wrote: Doing it the right way isn't hard. Pop 3 ball joints and the axle, press the hub out, press the stud out, press the new stud in, press the hub back in with a new wheel bearing, reinstall. Soup.

But the bearing apparently likes to leave the race firmly attached to the hub and there no way to easily get it off. So it isn't exactly soup. Problem is the car is 50 miles away and all my tools are here.

In reply to spitfirebill:

Perfect excuse to buy a small oxy acetylene set and a good air chisel. Heat a small spot of the race cherry red and zip it right off.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: In reply to spitfirebill: Perfect excuse to buy a small oxy acetylene set and a good air chisel. Heat a small spot of the race cherry red and zip it right off.

Already have the torch, but no bottles.