So today I take the Prelude to the shop to have the breaks done. Got new front rotors and front and rear pads. Awesome I tell myself.

I know my mechanic. Hes good. Hes damn good. He doesn't mind at all that I stand around and talk to him while he works. He tells me whats up, and what needs to be fixed, and what can wait.

Today while he was removing the right front wheel, one of the lugs is stripped on the bolt, and wont come off. He says to me that I can try and lube it off, but more than likely the thing is going to break.

I tell him to go for it, and of course the thing breaks off. Which is awesome, because to put another bolt in there you have to take the entire assembly apart, which takes about another 2 hours.

He says that he'd repair it for me if I want, but riding on 4 lugs instead of 5 isnt going to make much of a difference, and its a pure cosmetic thing, and unless I just have some cash sitting around, he wouldnt bother.

Hes never told me anything wrong so far, but is this true? Is it safe?

 

Four lugs is probably enough, but I wouldn't drive on it like that for a prolonged amount of time. There is a reason why they used 5 lugs and there are reasons why they work together that way.

Depending on how through your states inspection process you that could make you fail.

Good luck..

 

I'd have it replaced, it's not a "pure cosmetic" thing.

I feel that if I take my car to have work done on it and the mechanic breaks something, they should replace it free of charge. Maybe I have the wrong mindset though.

The fact that you stand around and watch him puts in you in an odd situation though, because you told him to go for it when he knew it was going to snap.

 

unfortunately, its a mechanical thing, and really not his fault. I dont think he should have to replace anything that isnt his fault. After talking it over, Im going to replace it, but not just yet.

 

The one bad thing about being "buddy buddy" with a mechanic is a situation like this.

If you weren't his friend, he would have never tried to explain it away, and you probably could have talked your way into having it fixed.

I understand your position though, if I paid someone to work on my car I'd like to know them too.

Replacing that stud requires separating the hub. That means that you will ruin the wheel bearing, a new one is $65 from honda. Good luck w/it

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mgags7 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Replacing that stud requires separating the hub. That means that you will ruin the wheel bearing, a new one is $65 from honda. Good luck w/it </TD></TR></TABLE>

You don't have to separate the hub to remove the wheel stud. Remove the caliper and brake rotor. Rotate the hub around until the broken wheel stud is on the front side of the knuckle. The bad stud can be hit with a big mallet or small sledge hammer and driven out of the hub (might take a while). Slide the new stud in and get it in far enough so you don't damage the thread of the stud on the hub, then hit it good to get it further into the hub. Use an open ended lug nut and tighten the wheel stud into the hub, use an impact wrench to tighten it down. If for some reason you have trouble getting the wheel stud into the hole, you can probably use an angle grinder and shave off a portion of the head on the wheel stud if the head is blocked by the knuckle (dragging against it) and can't get the angle just right without damaging the threads on the wheel stud.

 

word.

i installed my extended wheel studs without having to separate the hub.

 

That method "works" but I don't like it.

Wheel studs are meant to be pressed straight in, the raised splines on the base grip the best when pressed in. If you use a lug nut to pull it in, it will most likely spin, and will not grip as it should.

You could, however, make some rig to pull it without turning the lug nut, just thread one on, then maybe something like a slide hammer would work, or maybe something with another bolt in it that would press against the hub in another section, tighten that down and it would pull the stud thru.

 

Thanks for the INFO!

Awesome!

Ill let him know.

Also, I get all my work done from him by the hour, not by the book, meaning if the book says that it takes 5 hours to do, and he can do it in an hour, he only charges me an hour. I got my timing belt, water pump, tensionometer and all kinda other little **** done about a month ago for 300 bucks, not the 900 every other place wanted to charge me. So a broken stud is nothing in comparison.

 

Also, does anyone know where I can find a diagram of the wheel hub and assembly?

 

in the service manual

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ConanDan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Also, does anyone know where I can find a diagram of the wheel hub and assembly?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Also here: http://www.slhondaparts.com

 

its easy take the wheel assembly off . get a hub socket a breaker bar + cheater bar and then get a big hammer knock out the broke stud go to honda or auto zone get a replacement stud use a impact wrench and a nut that fits the stud do that until the teeth of the stud are embed into the hub and put everything back together ive done it once on my car and plenty of my friends'

 

Ive checked it out. Are you guys sure that you can knock out and replace the stud without separating the hub? I dont see a spot where you can do it.

Are you sure that you arent talking about a 4th gen or something? Considering I have a 5th gen SH

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ConanDan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Ive checked it out. Are you guys sure that you can knock out and replace the stud without separating the hub? I dont see a spot where you can do it.

Are you sure that you arent talking about a 4th gen or something? Considering I have a 5th gen SH</TD></TR></TABLE>

The knuckles aren't identical, but the design on that portion is very similar.

 

i know on my 98 SH if u go to knock the studs out it will hit the back of the hub.
I know for a fact the the knuckle itself is different between the two cars(base and SH), idk if that is the reason he cant get them out. Or you guys are doing something alittle different ?

 

4g SI knuckle:


5g Base knuckle:


5g SH knuckle:


Rotate the hub around until it's in between the two brake caliper bracket mounts. It should come out through that.

 

A few things. If he is the only guy that services your car then chances are that he cross threaded the lug nut the last time he removed the tires and he should replace the stud. Other wise its not his fault the stud broke and the cost should be yours to pay. It is not neccesary to remove the hub and pressing in the studs is also unneccesary. The lug nut method works fine and in fact there is a tool available whose purpose is the installation of wheel studs. It is not a "cosmetic thing" to have 5 lugs instead of 4. It is regarded as being a safer methond of securing a wheel because it spreads out the stress load of the wheel studs. But 4 studs will be fine until you can afford to repair it...

 

take the the hub assembly off you dont want to warp your rotor