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jbhurley92
Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2019
Posts: 145
Location: NC
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 Posted: Tue May 13, 2025 4:05 pm Post subject: Wheel Studs snapped stuck in Jacksonville FL |
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Coming from Charlotte to Daytona for Rockville driving my 85 vanagon which I just finished a Subaru swap in record time and 0 testing hopped in and drove perfect till my wheel studs snapped.
But if it's not something going wrong motor wise leaving me stranded it's my wheel studs snapping!
I have the longer T3 studs for Mercedes wheels but if anyone knows where I can pick up stock ones and a wheel id buy that also! If anyone knows of somewhere I can get a hand please let me know? |
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MarkWard
Samba Member
Joined: February 09, 2005
Posts: 18575
Location: Retired South Florida
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2025 4:15 pm Post subject: Re: Wheel Studs snapped stuck in Jacksonville FL |
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Got a picture? If the front studs are threaded in, then lug bolts should still work and be fairly straightforward repair. If the rears broke, that’s a bigger job. What do you carry as a spare? I’d also reach out to Christopher at T3. He can likely overnight something to you, if you cover the freight. I can’t speak for him though.
Bigger question is
So which end and how do you break 5 lugs? Plus how did you not have a feel for something coming apart? I don’t know any shops near Jacksonville. A VW dealer might be your best bet. |
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jbhurley92
Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2019
Posts: 145
Location: NC
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2025 4:20 pm Post subject: Re: Wheel Studs snapped stuck in Jacksonville FL |
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| MarkWard wrote: |
Got a picture? If the front studs are threaded in, then lug bolts should still work and be fairly straightforward repair. If the rears broke, that’s a bigger job. What do you carry as a spare? I’d also reach out to Christopher at T3. He can likely overnight something to you, if you cover the freight. I can’t speak for him though.
Bigger question is
So which end and how do you break 5 lugs? Plus how did you not have a feel for something coming apart? I don’t know any shops near Jacksonville. A VW dealer might be your best bet. |
Was the rear broke 2 of the 5. I have a Mercedes spare on the back of the van.
Felt it start shaking violently out of no where pulled over saw the remaining 3 nuts hanging on by a thread and 2 snapped. |
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Abscate 
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 23598
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2025 4:27 pm Post subject: Re: Wheel Studs snapped stuck in Jacksonville FL |
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Tighten the three, run it for 1, 5, 10, 50 miles home, checking a witness mark on each of the three studs at each interval.
I’ve trailered home stuff on 2 nuts out of 5, my record.
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jbhurley92
Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2019
Posts: 145
Location: NC
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2025 4:33 pm Post subject: Re: Wheel Studs snapped stuck in Jacksonville FL |
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[quote="Abscate"]Tighten the three, run it for 1, 5, 10, 50 miles home, checking a witness mark on each of the three studs at each interval.
I’ve trailered home stuff on 2 nuts out of 5, my record.[/quote
It may come to that but I'm 400 miles from home. Going to Daytona for welcome to rockville still an hour and a half from there. This happened in Jacksonville so I have it at Firestone right now. |
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Christopher Schimke
Samba Member
Joined: August 03, 2005
Posts: 5519
Location: PNW
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2025 5:05 pm Post subject: Re: Wheel Studs snapped stuck in Jacksonville FL |
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I just sent you an email asking some questions regarding your situation. Happy to help, but need a bit more info.
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?Waldo?
Samba Member
Joined: February 22, 2006
Posts: 9925
Location: Where?
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2025 5:51 pm Post subject: Re: Wheel Studs snapped stuck in Jacksonville FL |
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Wheel studs don't just snap without something being significantly wrong. They were either defective, the wrong studs for the wheels, or not torqued correctly.
I like to do some shakedown driving before taking trips specifically to avoid those types of situations.
Running three on a tire will work, although (hopefully it goes without saying) you would want one of them with a blank on either side... Better though, would be to run 4 on two tires. Torqued correctly that would work fine in a pinch. |
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jbhurley92
Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2019
Posts: 145
Location: NC
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2025 6:54 pm Post subject: Re: Wheel Studs snapped stuck in Jacksonville FL |
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| Christopher Schimke wrote: |
| I just sent you an email asking some questions regarding your situation. Happy to help, but need a bit more info. |
replied |
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jbhurley92
Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2019
Posts: 145
Location: NC
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2025 6:55 pm Post subject: Re: Wheel Studs snapped stuck in Jacksonville FL |
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| ?Waldo? wrote: |
Wheel studs don't just snap without something being significantly wrong. They were either defective, the wrong studs for the wheels, or not torqued correctly.
I like to do some shakedown driving before taking trips specifically to avoid those types of situations.
Running three on a tire will work, although (hopefully it goes without saying) you would want one of them with a blank on either side... Better though, would be to run 4 on two tires. Torqued correctly that would work fine in a pinch. |
Probably what I'll do is tell Firestone tomorrow to remove one from the passenger and put with on driver finish my trip and order all new ones. |
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1988M5
Samba Member
Joined: January 23, 2016
Posts: 821
Location: Tucson, AZ
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2025 7:19 pm Post subject: Re: Wheel Studs snapped stuck in Jacksonville FL |
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Glad you're trucking on! I'm curious of the root cause of the failure. Some oddities of the wheel conversions are tapered vs acorn engagement. Then the hub centric vs lug centric piece. please fill us in once the dust settles.
BK
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jbhurley92
Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2019
Posts: 145
Location: NC
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| Posted: Tue May 13, 2025 8:06 pm Post subject: Re: Wheel Studs snapped stuck in Jacksonville FL |
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| 1988M5 wrote: |
Glad you're trucking on! I'm curious of the root cause of the failure. Some oddities of the wheel conversions are tapered vs acorn engagement. Then the hub centric vs lug centric piece. please fill us in once the dust settles.
BK |
Will do no telling how old these are.
I've had the van for 7 years I think and they were on before me. |
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jbhurley92
Samba Member
Joined: October 02, 2019
Posts: 145
Location: NC
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| Posted: Wed May 14, 2025 7:35 am Post subject: Re: Wheel Studs snapped stuck in Jacksonville FL |
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[quote="Christopher Schimke"]I just sent you an email asking some questions regarding your situation. Happy to help, but need a bit more info.[/quote
If you could give me a call at 9102345370] |
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zerotofifty
Samba Member
Joined: December 27, 2003
Posts: 3505
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| Posted: Wed May 14, 2025 8:34 am Post subject: Re: Wheel Studs snapped stuck in Jacksonville FL |
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| ?Waldo? wrote: |
Wheel studs don't just snap without something being significantly wrong. They were either defective, the wrong studs for the wheels, or not torqued correctly.
I like to do some shakedown driving before taking trips specifically to avoid those types of situations.
Running three on a tire will work, although (hopefully it goes without saying) you would want one of them with a blank on either side... Better though, would be to run 4 on two tires. Torqued correctly that would work fine in a pinch. |
Torqued correctly four on a wheel wont be safe if they is defective or are the wrong studs for the wheel.
Failure analysis need be done before driving with the remaining not busted studs to ascertain it is safe to drive. Total loss of vehicle, and loss of life are possible outcomes.
If a family member of one who got killed as a result of someone else driving knowingly with less than full number of studs, That person may and should sue them for every penny they have. Prison time is appropriate too. Dont run with studs that are suspect, specially if you have less than a full set. The life you take may not be yours.
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MarkWard
Samba Member
Joined: February 09, 2005
Posts: 18575
Location: Retired South Florida
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| Posted: Wed May 14, 2025 9:18 am Post subject: Re: Wheel Studs snapped stuck in Jacksonville FL |
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| I read it just had an engine swap. Perhaps a wheel was removed and set back in place hand tight and forgotten. It happens. |
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?Waldo?
Samba Member
Joined: February 22, 2006
Posts: 9925
Location: Where?
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| Posted: Wed May 14, 2025 9:37 am Post subject: Re: Wheel Studs snapped stuck in Jacksonville FL |
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| zerotofifty wrote: |
Torqued correctly four on a wheel wont be safe if they is defective or are the wrong studs for the wheel.
Failure analysis need be done before driving with the remaining not busted studs to ascertain it is safe to drive. |
Like MarkWard mentioned, I assumed the most likely scenario of the lugs not being torqued properly. The fact that they worked fine for 7 years prior supports that assumption, but if the studs are in fact defective or the incorrect lugs were used, then driving with them is indeed irresponsible. |
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Sodo
Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2007
Posts: 10526
Location: Western WA
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| Posted: Wed May 14, 2025 12:52 pm Post subject: Re: Wheel Studs snapped stuck in Jacksonville FL |
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Agreed, wheel studs are frikkin' strong.
They are often heat-treated high-carbon steel, like a grade-8 bolt.
| ?Waldo? wrote: |
Wheel studs don't just snap without something being significantly wrong. They were either defective,
the wrong studs for the wheels, or not torqued correctly. |
If the studs serrations don't fit tight enough, sometimes they are tack-welded.
When you can, take a look at the stud heads, see if they have been welded.
Sometimes the wrong stud doesn't go ion tight enough,
and a common fix is to add a little 'tack weld' to prevent the stud head from spinning under torque.
If this option is chosen, the tack weld should be as small as possible, and just hot enough to achieve sufficient penetration.
All this weld has to do - is prevent the stud from spinning, a task similar to the press-fit of the serrations.
The little tack weld weld should be done with the stud "tight".
Studs are often high-carbon steel and as such are not considered "weldable".
If welded all around, a high-carbon steel stud head could crack near the weld upon cooling
and of course it's ready to break off.
Here is a pic of a broken stud, ---->the head was welded all around.
I heard the towing bill was more than $1000 for this incident. 
Here's a pic I found on TheSamba of tack-welded studs.
This is significantly better than welding all-around the head.
But IMHO this is still too much welding on a high-carbon steel bolt.
I'd just put one good tack,
AND|.... in a location where a cutoff-wheel can get to the weld in case you ever need to change the stud.
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