A lug stud (I’ve also seen them called wheel studs - take your pick) on my wife’s car has been mangled, likely by cross-threading, and I think it needs to be replaced.
It’s a 2000 Honda Civic LX, and the bad stud is on the right front.
Ultimately, the info I seek may boil down to this: Can the stud be removed from the hub without removing the hub itself from the steering knuckle?
From what I understand, the stud can be fairly easily whacked/pressed out of the hub, and new one inserted in the hole and seated with a nut. However, it seems that there’s a possibility that the steering knuckle may not allow clearance, requiring the hub to be taken off (it’s press-fit into the inner race of the wheel bearing, I believe). I have a factory service manual for the vehicle, but it doesn’t seem to comment on this. I’m hoping someone might happen to know, for this make/model/year.
I have other, unrelated, work to do on the car which will involve removing the caliper. If it’s only a few more steps to replace the stud I’ll attempt that myself - it’ll probably be easier than getting the vehicle back to the shop that I think screwed it up. If I have to remove the entire steering knuckle and get a shop to press the hub out, though, I’m going to go lean on the shop.
Any advice would be appreciated. (I’ve never replaced a lug stud on any vehicle before, so my knowledge is pretty limited.)
I can’t coment for that model or year, or type for that matter…
But I have done it on the front end of a Chevy 4x4 truck. I did pull the hub. Whacked the old one out and pounded the new one in. Really wasn’t a problem.
Have you ever pulled a hub before? You’re getting into bearings and seals.
Could you just try to knock out the stud? If it doesn’t go, just reseat it. If it does go you will have room for the new one.
I have never pulled the hub on this vehicle. The front brake rotors on my Mazda B-Series pickup are integral with hubs, and I have removed them a couple of times to repack the bearings. When I had them off it was pretty obvious how the studs fit in, even though I had no cause to do anything with them.
Removing the hub/rotor on the truck is pretty simple - remove a cotter pin, unscrew the wheel nut, and the whole thing slides right off. On the Civic, the hub is press fit into the inner race of the wheel bearing, while the bearing itself is press fit into the steering knuckle. I believe the wheel bearing is pretty much a sealed unit on the Civic, but I’ve never seen one firsthand so I’m not sure.
The factory service manual gives instructions for removing the hub, and they involve removing the entire steering knuckle from the car & having the hub pressed out (& back in) by a hydraulic press. Some online how-to’s I’ve read have indicated that the hub can be pounded off with a hammer in situ, but most of those take care to point out that this isn’t quite what the manual recommends. :eek:
I’m sorry I don’t know for certain, but on most front-drive cars of this type it’s not possible to extract the stud with the hub in place. Usually you can determine this by removing the rotor and carefully examining how much space is between the stud and the steering knuckle. Once the stud is loosened past its splines that grip the hole in the hub, it can be only be cocked a bit on its way out, which may or (more likely) may not allow it to clear the knuckle. You can try to test-fit a new stud – you won’t have an empty hole for it to go into, but by finding the part of the knuckle that gives the most clearance you can usually eyeball it and get an idea if it’s possible. Keep in mind that it will need to enter the hole nearly straight on, probably at an angle of less than 20 degrees.
Generally it will be possible without complete removal of the hub. If you can get the hub to come out 1/2-1 inch you’ll probably have room to replace the stud. However, this would require something a slide hammer* for (partial) removal, then hammering the hub back on until the axle nut can be installed to pull it home. This is not recommended because the hammering (both in and out) stresses the bearing in a way that proper pressing out does not, and often leads to bearing damage and premature failure. However, it’s not unusual for the bearing to come apart even when separating the hub from the knuckle with a press (this is with the knuckle/hub assembly removed from the vehicle), so it won’t necessarily cost more than your time to try this.
*A slide hammer, properly attached to the hub with nuts – not the lug nuts – on two good studs, can bring the hub out without damaging it. Using a regular hammer to whack on the hub is likely to bend or break the hub. I wouldn’t try it.
Yesterday I took the caliper, caliper bracket, and rotor off, and managed to observe firsthand that there doesn’t seem to be clearance with the hub in place.
Since this isn’t looking to be a very simple fix, my next step will be to speak to the shop which last put the wheel on.
It sounds like removal (complete or partial) of the hub from the bearing sometimes trashes the bearing even when it’s done “properly” - am I reading your post correctly on that?
Yes. Often the inboard inner race will stay on the hub, pulling out of the bearing assembly. If the bearing as a whole is in good shape, and great care is taken to not let any dirt get into the opened bearing, it may go back together and work just fine. Not the sort of thing I’d like to guarantee, though. I believe the engineers expected that a new bearing would be installed any time the hub was separated from the knuckle.
After following that link and reading the thread I’m very happy that I have my problem and not Tuckerfan’s. I’m out of town this week, but come Saturday I’ll be having a word with the shop.
I’m out of town this week, but come Saturday I’ll be having a word with the shop.