I have a recurring problem of my wheel studs breaking. It only happens on the rear wheels. They broke multiple times before, but they keep breaking. I thought it was maybe the previous owner ran spacers on the car to make the studs weak. So after i replaced the broken ones, more keep breaking. I'm pretty sure by now I have replaced all the studs. I'm wondering if they are breaking because I don't replace all of them when one breaks? If anyone can chime in some help that would be great. Thanks!

 

What wheels are you running AND what lug nuts (be specific if not OE lugs)? What is the torque spec you run the lugs down to?

 

I'm running ESM wheels with muteki sr48 open ended. Not 100% sure on the torque since I hand torque my wheels

 

Over torque your lug nuts all the time will snap your lugs. If your not use a torque wrench.

 

If you are tightening by "feel", you are most likely over tightening your lug nuts. The proper torque is 76ft/lbs
and the only way to insure that is to use a torque wrench. Investing in a decent torque wrench is a must if you are going to work on your car... Also be sure that you are using the correct lugnuts for your wheels.

 

Ditto.
Many reasons why;
is your wheel bent?
is the stud in correctly, who installed them?
are they oem studs? are the studs proper size, length?
and last but most IMPORTANTLY USE A TORQUE WRENCH ! You will NOT be able to hand tighten them to the manufacturers torque specs. Fleebay has craftsman wrenches for a good deal. I got mine at harbor freight 3/4 and then got an adapter for 1/2". The only reason why I got mine through them cause I got a hook up there and couldn't turn it down.
I hope this helps you out. Good luck and try to find someone who can look at your car.

 

thanks for all your help. I will look into getting a torque wrench

 

Also look at getting closed-end lugs; moisture likes seating in-between the lug and the stud and rusts them together. Then when you attempt to untorque the lug, you snap the stud.

 

definitely check for a bent wheels. over-torquing can cause problems but in all my years in the shop i have never seen it become a problem like your having. i have an impact gun with 1000ft/lbs reverse torque and it takes absolutely everything that gun has to break a stud and nut off a car when they are cross threaded stuck together. if you can, by OE studs if you weren't already. they usually sell dorman at parts stores and those things are crap. oh and get a proper stud installer

 

^Agreed! When in college, and I knew very little about cars, I had a local brake shop do my brakes. They torqued the lugs with whatever air impact gun, and they nor three other places could loosen them back up. So as I was driving cross-country (FL to OR), one by one my front studs started breaking off. After I lost the second one, I had to get it repaired. Took the place really doing a number on my Ford's alloys and drilling the remaining ones out so they could replace the hub. What a nightmare AND possible DANGEROUS situation!

 

76 lbs isn't as high as you might think, so hand tightening could be a problem if you are really overdoing it. If you use the stock lug wrench to tighten, I find it difficult to believe you could seriously over tighten enough to snap lugs over and over again, unless you are really leaning into it. Are you sure your wheels are 114.3 mm bolt pattern?
Oh, BTW Gville, I ran open ended lugs last summer, but back to the closed end for the winter wheels. Haven't had trouble yet, but I do see some surface rust at the end of the lugs, but not in the threads.

 

im assuming all these over torquing situations you all speak of are being done with a large breaker bar. I've worked in numerous shops and dealerships in my 12 years wrenching and never knew a single person to use a torque wrench to tighten wheels. Everyone just shoots lugs on with a gun and obviously that's gonna be more torque than spec. So maybe in that case it's a little different

 

I'm glad I never took my ryde to the shops you were working at. Lol.
Using an impact gun to take off lugs is the easiest way, if you have enough air. To put on with is incorrect. Ive watch shops and the reputable ones will do it correctly with a torque wrench. As I do the same.

 

^Discount Tire only installs with torque wrenches. Aren't they a semi-successful national chain? LOL!

 

hate to say it man but unless you are there watching the tech torque your lugs, you bring your car to discount tire, or your torquing them yourself i can almost guarantee your lugs have been shot on with an impact. i work at a dealership with over 40 techs and pretty much every single one of them have worked at one or two other shops in their lives and only one of them could remember a single technician they have worked with that actually used a torque wrench to tighten wheels on a regular basis. time is money to them.