Broken wheel lug...

[BamZipPow]

Finally gitting around to fixing a broken wheel lug on my left rear wheel fer my 1993 T-100 2WD auto. Not sure how it happened since it was that way when I bought the truck. Got a replacement lug stud from Autozone fer about $1.29 plus tax. The local tire store wanted $28 plus parts to replace the broken stud. I figured I'd take a stab at fixing it myself... The stud is a M12-1.50.

I also picked up a decent sledge hammer (since I ended up "donating" my other one to a friend in need)...


Here's the broken lug...it's the one that's missing the lug nut.


I loosened the lug nuts, took the parking brake off, and jacked up the truck. Got the wheel off.


At this time, I would suggest (if you haven't already done it) that you rotate the broken lug to the 8 - 10 o'clock position fer the left wheel or the 2 - 4 o'clock position fer the right wheel. This is to make sure you have clearance to put the new stud in and the brake hardware isn't in the way. I made the mistake of leaving the wheel position in the 1 o'clock position fer the left wheel and had already removed the brake drum.

In order to put the auto trans in neutral, I have to step on the brake. This presses the brake shoes outwards since the brake drum isn't there to keep the shoes from expanding.
At least it didn't go too far and fall off the hub...

With a few whacks with the sledge hammer on the rounded sides of the brake drum, I wiggled the brake drum off...


Smacking the lug a few times with the hammer and the broken lug came out quite easily.


Here's the new stud vs the old broken one...


Drats...I have to rotate the hub...not a good thing without the drum being on...


New lug stud in...


I used one of my old acorn nuts with the bevel facing outwards to pull the lug in place...


Almost cinched up...


Just a little bit more...


Drats...the drum won't fit on so I can pull the rest of the bolt through...I'll have to turn the drum around so I can git it completed. I ended up putting another lug nut on so there would be enough leverage to tighten the nut without it skewing the drum...


After working an extra 30 minutes longer, I finally git the brakes recessed to the stage where I can git the drum back on. Whew!

I git the wheel back on, follow the proper bolt pattern and snug the lug nuts back on. Dropped the truck down off the jack and tightened them puppies up to spec. Since I didn't have another stock chrome lug nut, I just got a basic chrome one...


...and that's how I was supposed to take about 30 minutes to replace the broken lug stud on my T-100...

[nickswanjan]

Nice description with the pictures!

I was removing the rear tire on my 2001 RAV4 4WD the other day, and one of the nuts had been cross threaded by the tire shop, so of course it broke off even after trying to gently work it back and forth for a while.

1) Went to AutoZone, got a matching lug nut and stud for $1.25 each

2) Chocked all 4 wheels so it won't roll in neutral

3) Parking brake off, transmission in neutral (thanks for the tip!)

4) Jacked it up, removed the rear wheel

5) Rotated the broken stud to the 2 o'clock position

6) Now to remove the brake drum....tried whacking on it with a rubber mallet a bit, but no dice. Did some searching on other forums and found that there are two threaded holes where you can put in bolts and they push the drum right off. They were a little rusty so I brushed them out and gave them a drop of oil each. Found some bolts that fit, gently tightened the two bolts evenly, and it popped right off!

7) Tapped out the old broken stud (a regular hammer was sufficient)

8) Put in the new stud, put about 6 washers on it and used the new nut to draw it in slightly to hold it

9) Replaced the wheel, tightened the bolts in the proper pattern

All done! Total time was about 20 minutes - definitely would have been longer without your notes to start with.

Thanks again!

Nick

[BamZipPow]

I found out that I could've just jacked up the other side of the truck and gotten the other wheel off the ground to rotate the wheel since I have an open differential. Doh! Oh well...live and learn!

Glad this worked out fer yah. Did you torque the lug nuts to spec with a torque wrench? Very important if you don't want other problems to crop up because they were too tight.

[Brando8844]

BamZipPow I have an interesting tip for getting the brake drum off. (not that you seemed to have any problem) You can see 2 threaded holes between the lugs in your pic at approx. the 12:00 and 6:00 position:


You can thread a couple of metric bolts in the threaded holes on either side and alternate tightening them, they will easily pull the drum off. It helps when the shoes and drum are grooved.

Maybe this will help someone else out there some day

[BamZipPow]

What I should do is clean those holes out as well as the hub where the drum rests on. I've noticed that's where it usually rusts up and keeps the drum from coming off cleanly. Maybe some stuff like PB Blaster on there and some lube on there would help in the future.

Do you happen to know the size of the bolts and threads?

[93T100Cook]

Anyone know what size those bolts are to push the drum off? It looks like i will be doing a break job on the rears and i have no idea what I'm doing.

PS I think Bam needs his own TV show! Is there anything you haven't done on the T100 yet?

[BamZipPow]

Cleaned up and painted the 1998 T-100 rear drums today. Also did a quick test fer the bolt size...I pulled the battery tie down bolt and tried that. Presto! It's the right size and thread pitch. I'm guessing it's a M10x1.5? I'm headed to the hardware store and gonna see what fits in the threads up front. I'm thinking I'll need a good length fer the bolt...maybe about 3" or so?

Er...wait a minute...I noticed that there was a centering hole in the middle of the axle hub. I'm sure those threads can be used to wiggle the drum out but from what I'm familiar with "pulling" something out would be to bolt a puller into the bolt holes and then using the center bolt to pull the drum off!

So a standard puller should do...something like this $10 puller set...

[BamZipPow]

Okay...the real bolt size should be M8x1.25 in what ever length you need. I noticed that 40mm is the longest threaded bolt they have. All the other ones are only threaded on the end fer like an inch.