Ooops! Snapped a stud!

[philndz]

Despite the snow on the ground, it was a nice day for some general cleaning and maintanence on the Vibe. I needed to wash the car and rotate the tires. I was also waiting for this warmer day to thread a new funnel-ram-air up into the engine compartment....my previous one was cheap materials and was starting to wear out. I got a new air filter to put on at the same time. I put some new high power bulbs in my upper fog lights last week too.....they make driving backroads at night into daylight. So everything went very well w/ the Vibe and i was impressed to not see much visual evidence on the cars finish from a harsh winter and a 3000 mile trip to quebec. (I did use the bra for the quebec trip) But as I got the last wheel mounted and started to tighten the lugs.....SNAP.....i busted a wheel stud...i was only using a lug wrench....oh well, gonna get it fixed tomorrow! Everyone needs to wash their vibes up....it was very rewarding to get all the grime off the car....now i dont want to drive it in the snow!

[lombard]

Yeah, I just rotated my tires too. I'm really surprised I didn't end up with at least one broken stud. My last tire rotation was done at the dealer, and they obviously used a mondo impact wrench to tighten the lug nuts. I had a 1 and a half foot cheater bar on my ratchet, and even bouncing my 180 pounds on it didn't break the nuts free. I actually broke the ratchet. After using the lug wrench that came with the car (again with a cheater bar), I finally got them free.It's amazing how loose the spec'd 76 ft-lb seemed when I was tightening them...

[philndz]

Quote, originally posted by lombard » I actually broke the ratchet. Hehe...I think that would have really made me mad...b/c i only have one and then i would be stranded....not being able to get the wheel on my car in order to go out and buy a wrench!i dont measure mine....but im sure 76lbs feels loose!

[russ257]

that stinks, whats the printing on the bottum of your air dam?

[Stang2Vibe]

Is the lug torque spec really only 76 ft/lbs? Usually they are around 100 ft/lbs on modern cars. If it really is 76, then I should loosen mine. I do have a torque wrench, so when I rotate my tires, I'll use it on the lug bolts.

[NSimkins]

Quote, originally posted by Stang2Vibe »Is the lug torque spec really only 76 ft/lbs?Yes, it is. The first and only time I had my Vibe into service for maintenance at the dealer, I swear they had to have torqued the lugs to 100+ ft/lbs because they were a real pain to remove afterwards. Now that I torque them properly, I haven't had one issue removing them yet.

[Nervous_Dog]

Are you doing the repair yourself or are you taking it somewhere to be done? When I snapped one I figured it would be easier to have someone else fix it since I don't have many tools. The dealership wouldn't cover it under warranty and told me repairs would run $117!!I left and had Belle Tire fix it for >$40.Just my $.02

[MadBill]

Quote, originally posted by philndz » ...i dont measure mine....but im sure 76lbs feels loose!I think the message is pretty clear here, phil! BTW, the stock studs snap at ~110 lb-ft.(and while I'm up here on this soapbox: Ahem, Lombard! Ratchets are not designed for breaking loose stubborn fasteners! You're supposed to use a breaker bar to crack them loose, then the rachet. (on the other hand, Craftsman and a number of other brands have an unlimited warranty and will cheerfully replace the mangled mechanism for free. (I've had at least 6 in mine at about 5 year intervals, usually after a friend/relative has borrowed and abused it...)

[JohnC]

While the soapbox is out...always use a torque wrench when tightening lug nuts! Uneven/overtightening will warp the rotors. Good mechanical practice is to make three passes, say 25,50 then 76 ft.lbs. Then one more pass at 76 ft. lbs. If you have aluminum wheels you should retorque them after driving about 100 miles. And make sure the mounting surface patches are clean and rust free, along with the stud threads. There I feel better now.

[philndz]

the print on the airdam said hyper-formance...it was the name on my strutbrace and it came w/ a decal...i think its worn off and missing a couple of letters in that pic....i scraped the remains of it off last week....must be cheap vinyl. yes, i should measure torque!now...i hand torqued all my bolts about the same....now only one broke but the strange thing that has me really perplexed is that when i drove home from school today....after doing 4 miles since the tire rotation....i found one wheel w/ 3 of its lug nuts that were WAY loose...i could spin them with my fingers!! Whats the deal....i put them on TOO tight and then i find them loose!?i've always done my own tire rotations and such and never ever had an issue before.

[threekrows]

Not uncommon on aluminum wheels.Thats why they say recheck them.My service manager lost a rear wheel on his pickup more than once after changing to aluminum wheels.Sorry,had to put that in...my boss,the guy that tells me what to do,losing a wheel off his truck....

[philndz]

Quote, originally posted by threekrows »Not uncommon on aluminum wheels.Thats why they say recheck them.My service manager lost a rear wheel on his pickup more than once after changing to aluminum wheels.Sorry,had to put that in...my boss,the guy that tells me what to do,losing a wheel off his truck....I have always done a re-torque on aluminum wheels b/c they expand and contract...but it has always been recommended to me to do it after 50-100 miles...this was 4 miles!!!I have also never had an issue when i did a re-torque before. Here i was thinking, "man i put those on too tight maybe i should go loosen them" and they already about to pop off the wheels!!I was very surprised!Well i have tightened them back up....i'll just keep my eye on them i guess.

[Stang2Vibe]

Quote, originally posted by MadBill »BTW, the stock studs snap at ~110 lb-ft.Bill, let me guess. You were doing more mad science experiments on the Vibe with the torque wrench and discovered this yourself??? LOL. I'm not surprised. But I am surprised that I haven't already snapped off about 12 of them with the way I torqued them on.