Needing some advice here...

Working on the truck over Thanksgiving, I went to remove the front wheels, and there were 3 studs that were sheared off!

There were 2 studs broken on the passenger side front, and one on the driver's side. Any thoughts as to what could have caused this?







I have never pulled heavy with the truck (max gvwr of 21k one time), and have never abused it offroad.

An air gun has never touched these lugs, coming on or off. I've always torqued them with a 1/2" drive torque wrench to 120 ft-lbs. The break doesn't indicate that the lugs were over-torqued; rather, the break is a clean shear break.

Since 3 of the studs have already broken, I'm somewhat reluctant just to replace them without finding the root cause.


Thanks, Eric

 

OUCH! Glad you found them before something more serious happened!

Have you contacted Dodge or DOT (can't think of the specific acronym) about the studs? I would think it might be a bad lot of studs (raw materials, heat treating, etc.), and DOT may have something on it in their database.

I understand your desire to find the cause, and I have no good idea as what it might be. You could have the studs tested in a lab, but that wouldn't be cheap.

I see that you're running aftermarket wheels. Have you checked them to make sure they aren't damaged or if they could have possibly contributed to the broken studs? Just a thought . . .

One thing I would highly recommend though, would be to have all of the studs replaced - just in case there was an issue during manufacturing.

Good luck and let us know if you do uncover a cause. It could be a valuable lesson for everyone.

EDR

 

Failure like that can occur when fasteners are not “torqued” enough. That “clean break” is a result of fatigue. This happens more than people realize.

I think the spec is 135 LB*FT for the 2500 and 145 LB*FT for the 3500. 120 is a bit low, but maybe something else contributed? Is your torque wrench calibrated?

At this point the rest of your studs have probably been subjected to the same cyclic stresses as the broken studs, so I’d replace them all.

 

if what i see is neverseize on the threads there's your problem... torque specs are for dry threads

 

Thats sucks man at least you found them before soemthing bad would have happened.

Dodge wheel nuts are famous for coming lose.

 

Just for everyone's information, I found the problem.

There are some little spur retaining washer clips that thread on the studs to hold the rotor on during assembly. These MUST be removed when running aftermarket wheels, or broken studs will ensue. The factory wheels have reliefs cut out, and are hubcentric, so there's no interference.

Most aftermarket wheels are lugcentric, and do not have the reliefs cut out. There are 4 of these clips on each front wheel and 2 on each rear wheel.

--Eric

 

The rule of thumb when working with broken wheel studs is to change the studs on either side of the broken stud. So the side with 2 broken studs will need 6 studs, the other side is 3. Good that you found out the route cause.

 

Yep! I found that out luckily, before I mounted my XD Hoss' up, I dont know why, but I came across a thread the week before I was going to put them on, and saw a post about those clips. Guess I got lucky, because I dont think I would have noticed either

Sucks to have it happened, but at least you know what happened and shouldnt have the problem again...

 

Thanks for the posts. Good info for the rest of us.

 

And I thought I had some power..... You're rippin the studs off!!!!

 

BIG trouble on 08 2500. I took off my American racing "summer wheels" to put on stock wheels with snow tires on thanks giving and found 8 broken studs 4@lf 3@rf 1@lr!!!! I was blown away, my tire guys changed all 32 studs(free). Took truck to Dodge to see what they would say, they blamed "lugcentric aftermarket wheels". Wow, so do i sell'em, i'm thinking they should not go back on in the spring????Help, I don't wan't to lose a wheel going over the mountain.

 

It is the aftermarket wheel mounting surface. Get them off the truck, until you figure out the exact cause.

 

I just had this happen to me. I currently have 3 lugs that popped off this week. I took it to the dealer and they ordered the lugs for me. Said he had never seen it.... I told him that is a BS line, he said it would not be a warranty item, I also told him BS. I asked to talk to the service manager. He said he would approve it for warranty but the regional chrysler person is at my dealership.... He said that guy may not pass it through because of the aftermarket tires. I told him I had 3 other tires that were just fine, it is only happening on one tire. I will argue with him too if I have to but order the parts and lets get it done.... After 10k miles on these rims and tires why would they just pop off? Something is not right. I have a cap over my lugs so I had 2 of them in hand to show him. He could tell it was not from being stressed or over tourqed.... I told him I tqd them to 135, he said thats within the specs for the 140 and his variances.... I even carry the wrench in my truck so I could show him, I have to use a deep socket to get the lugs out and use the wrench every time and keep it ready just in case I have a flat....

Anyway, I will take pictures in the morning to post of the actual damage. The parts are ordered and the dealer agreed to do it at a discounted price, employees discount, if i have to pay out of pocket. Will be $200 for all 8 lugs to be changed including parts and labor.

I will keep you guys informed on what I find. There are a few people that have had the same issue. I had 95k on my other 2500 without a problem with aluminum wheels and 35" tires, which is what I have on this 3500. So far I have 35k on this truck.

this is on my 2009 megacab 3500 4x4

 

Here is a line of pics.
#1 is my truck in colorado for a full picture of it. I have driven it over long distances in many conditions and terrains with no problems until this week. I put the lift/tires on 5 months ago and have put around 10k miles on it since then.

#2/3/4 are of what I found in the rim cap floating around.

#5 is of the damaged hub

 

Hate to say but it is your rims causing your problems. You give it some more time your other wheels will give you a problem to.
Who you should be ****** at is the manufacture of the aftermarket wheels.
This isn't just a Dodge problem with aftermarket wheels I replaced studs on a superduty for the same problem. I have yet to run across broken studs on a factory wheel.