Roggie

Over the past year and half I have been breaking my wheel studs practically everytime I rotated or as of lately, they have been breaking off just driving down the road. I've used various torque wrenches and torque sticks and they were still breaking.

So of course I was talking with my co-workers about this problem and one of them suggested I should have them tested for their torque stregnth and were they start to stretch. It turns out that my one co-worker's son is a mechanical engineer that has access to a machine shop at his work and he said he could test a "new",never installed stud to see if they were bad.

Well that was back in the fall and here it is the second week of February and I finally got the results from my co-workers son. He told me that the stud that I sent was "starting to stretch at only 110 ft lbs. of torque and was developing a hair line crack".

I don't know what to do with this fact finding information, but I called my Dodge dealer and told them my findings, and they just shrugged their shoulders and looked at me like I had two heads. I did order another stud to have it tested and see whether the previous stud was just defective or whether Dodge has a more serious problem.

Sorry about the long post, but I thought maybe some of you would like know my findings. I'm waiting for documentation to go with the test results in case I want to take this to the next level.

Roger

TedT

Wow, thanks for going to the trouble to check this out. Sounds like it's time to get the feds involved.
Ted

stroker101

i would try lubricating the studs with a lubricant, then installing the lug nuts followed by the torque wrench. see if this helps. the lubrication will help yield a more accurate torque value

Spooler

When was the last time you had your torque wrench calibrated?

enafzige

Since your signature lists 18" wheels, I assume you're running aftermarket? Did the problem start after changing to the aftermarket wheels?

I had the same problem. I broke several studs off of each side of the front wheels. After a little probing around, I found out why...on the factory studs, there are some spur-retaining washers found on every other stud that serve no purpose other than during the initial assembly process.

Look closely in the pictures and you can see them, or better yet pull a wheel off and you'll see what I'm talking about.





It's hard to see in the pictures, but you'll notice some of the studs appear to have a lot more "hole" around them than others...these are the ones without the retaining washer.

Take a chisel and bust the washers off. The rear wheels need to be done the same way too.

I replaced my with a good set of Dorman studs from RockAuto, and have had no problems since. It's very easy to change the studs. Simply remove the wheel and brake caliper, and turn the hub. There's enough clearance at one spot to drive out the broken stud, and drive the new one in.

--Eric

--Eric

stroker101

could it be that the aftermarket wheels are not hub centric, but rather lug centric which is what's causing the problem? meaning, the lug nuts are trying to center the wheel and causing stress to other studs while tightening?
just throwing that out there.

(from experience on my 06 g35 sport coupe. aftermarket wheels suck compared to factory)

patdaly

I have seen this before as well, mostly with aftermarket studs.

As the Mfgs. aggressively cut costs, little things slide closer to the minimum spec.

I would be replacing them with a good, known aftermarket stud such as Dorman.

BigIron70

Looks like you maybe using anti-seize on threads, that's a no no on wheel studs. That will increase torque value streching the studs until they fail. Torque value is calculated with no lubricant on these studs.

Roggie

Well I never use ant-sieze because that's a no-no. As far as torque wrenches go I used my Snap On torque wrench that was recently recalibrated and also a torque wrench from the machine shop that my friend did the testing in.

As far as wheels are concerned, I do have aftermarket wheels on my truck, but thats not the problem. The problem is that studs are starting to stretch at 110 and breaking before I even get 135, so the type of wheel that I am using doesn't even matter. Remember, this was BRAND NEW still in the package, NEVER installed when I had the test done.

I did call a freind of mine that works for Dodge and he gave me an e-mail address for the engineering dept. for Dodge, so I shot them an e-mail, hopeing to get a response.

Roger

enafzige

If the retaining washers are still there, I think that is your problem, but no hard feelings here no matter what you want to do. However, the factory wheels have reliefs cut out for these washers, and aftermarket wheels do not.

Look around on some other forums. There's at least a half-dozen people who have had the exact same problem you and I have had. EVERY person who has busted the washers off has NEVER had a problem again.

FWIW, I've been torqueing mine to 150 ft-lbs since I took the washers off, and no problems.

--Eric

Roggie

No hard feelings from me. My point was that stud that they tested was never installed on the truck, therefore the little washer doesn't even come into play yet.

Roger

rich

i run loads over 20k and run my dodges hard and change the tires with a 1inch impact like i do on my semis and have never had a broken stud . what is that ya'll are doing different then me it has stock wheels

hotrod929

Do you have to take the rotor off to get the star washer thingys off? Im about to put aftermarket wheels on my 06 and dont want this problem. THanks for the help

HotRod

A.D.

No, when you remove the wheel you will see them on the stud. They hold rotor in place during assembly.