supertool

I found out that the place where I did my rotation did a crappy job and screwed (literally) one of the front wheel studs and lugnuts. Anyways, I am back in the Bay area, and not planning to go back to L.A. for a few months, so not much I can do.
Question: Do I need to remove the brakes to replace the stud?
Haynes says "remove the brake disk or drum". But is it really necessary to do that, or do they say so just in case. (the picture only shows drums)

Chunger

iTrader: (1)

I would say yes... the caliper and rotor are held in by only 2 bolts... not a lot of saved time by keeping it on... you may even damage the rotor...

supertool

So once I remove the two bolts behind the rotor holding the whole caliper assembly, can I just take it off without removing the brake pads? There is nothing aside from the caliper and the lug nuts keeping the rotor from coming off?

Chunger

iTrader: (1)

Oops! my bad... 4 bolts total... but still pretty easy

2 for the caliper (and pads) then 2 that hold the caliper bracket...
The rotor will then come off (you may have to liberate it...hehe)

supertool

Till I change my brakes in a 2-3K miles.
It's not too bad driving with just four nuts?

Daniel B. Martin

Buy a new wheel lug and lug nut. Note the splines on the shoulder of the lug. That's what keeps the lug seated in the hub and prevents it from turning when the lug nut is loosened or tightened.

Loosen all four remaining lug nuts one full turn. Jack the corner of the car. You won't be crawling under the car so a jackstand won't be required. Remove the wheel.

The brake caliper is fastened to the torque member with 2 bolts. Remove the lower of the two and swing the caliper up as far as it will go. Remove the brake pads.

The torque member is fastened to the steering knuckle with 2 bolts. Remove both bolts. Don't let that caliper dangle; use a piece of stiff wire to hang it from one of the strut spring coils.

Remove the rotor. No bolts, it just pulls off. Now you are looking at the hub.

Rotate the hub so that the broken lug is aligned with the cutout in the stamped steel baffle plate. The cutout is where the caliper was located before you removed it. Use a hammer and punch of suitable size to drive the broken lug inward. It will fall free of the hub.

Insert the new lug into the hole in the hub. Put some kind of spacer over the lug threads. The manual suggests 4 flat washers. Put a drop of oil on the threads and screw the lug nut backwards onto the lug. "Backwards" means to have the flat face of the lug nut bearing against the washers. Tighten the lug nut until it bottoms. That draws the lug into proper position in the hub. Remove the lug nut and washers.

Reassemble all of the removed parts. Tighten the five lug nuts to 80 foot-pounds.

This may seem like a lot of work but it really isn't. You can do this in less than an hour, without prior experience. If you've done this job before you can do it in 30 minutes.

MilfsMaxima

I just broke one on Saturday, you have to take off the caliper, the bracket, and rotor. Then knock it out with a hammer. Make sure you have a heavy hammer, makes life easier.

JMAX95

Ah yes, the broken stud problem. Daniel Martin helped me last time. Follow his instructions, you can't go wrong. Not a tough job; I'd say about 30 minutes going by the instructions.

supertool

Maybe you should write your own service manual for the Maxima. I would buy it.
I will do this later on.
Unfortunately, I have blind lug nuts, so I have to get some through hole ones. Also, the jack was missing when I bought the car used. So I will have to get one of these too. But I need one anyway.
Thanks.

Daniel B. Martin

You only need one open lug nut. Maybe it will come with the new stud you buy. Maybe you can borrow one from another car. You need it for only two minutes.

supertool

They only had lug nuts in packs of four.
That seemed like a waste of 3 bucks. So I bought a big nut to fit the stud, and a bunch of washers. Actually, with all the washers I bought, I probably won't even need open ended nut, because I can put washers so the blind one won't bottom out.
Also, the stud is about 2" long? Is that right. Seems pretty short to me, but is that the length it's supposed to be?
Thanks.

Daniel B. Martin

If it matches the four good studs already in your hub, it is the right size.

supertool

I haven't seen how long the good studs are.
I asked for 96 Max studs. That's the part pep-boys gave me.
I just hope it's right, because I don't want to be caught with my wheel disassembled, and bad studs.
p/n is 98353

supertool

Hi. I am trying to remove the lug nuts now, and it seems they are pretty tight. I am torquing around 150 ftlbs, and it's not coming off.
Are these guys way over-tightened? Should I proceed and put more torque into taking them off?
What's the procedure in this case?

supertool

I could go get a larger wrench, but how much torque is too much when removing the lug nuts?

Daniel B. Martin

There is no "too much". Those nuts have to come off sooner or later. Spray the nuts with WD-40 or equivalent, even if they are the closed-end type. Put a breaker bar with 22mm socket on the lug nut. Put a "cheater" (a length of pipe) on the end of the breaker bar handle. Step on the end of the cheater. Lefty-loosy, righty-tighty.

supertool

I removed the nuts, wheel and caliper. It took 10 minutes.
The rotor is very rusty, and won't come off.
I don't have bolts of dameter for those two little holes.
What diameter are those two bolts, do you know, and what methods can I use to take the rotor off?
Thanks.

supertool

Front wheel is done.
I also have one in the rear.
Any instructions for that one?
Thanks.

supertool

Thanks Daniel for your great help.
Finished front and rear. Finally found a bolt to pull rotor from hub.
Also, when I spun the rear wheel, the breakpads were rubbing against the rotor at one point of the turn. So I think the rotor is warped. Right? That would possibly account for some vibration and noise I have been hearing when driving in the past couple of weeks, which is proportional to the speed in frequency. I couldn't pinpoint the noise before, except it was coming from that side.
Anyways, the rear pads look like they will need to be changed soon, so I will let the brake technician fix the rotor as well.

Daniel B. Martin

As I recall, those threaded holes are M8x1.25. You oil the threads on the bolts, screw them into the threaded holes, and tighten them 1/4 turn, alternately. This will force the rotor off the hub.

Alternate method: hit the rotor inward with a rubber mallet. Rotate the rotor 1/4 turn, hit it again. Repeat as necessary.

It is good practice to remove the rotor before attempting to remove a broken wheel stud. However, I don't know that it absolutely has to be done that way. Use a punch with a diameter equal to or less than the diameter of the stud. With the rotor in place you should be able to pound the broken stub out.

Daniel B. Martin

Replacing a broken rear wheel stud is essentially the same procedure as replacing a broken front wheel stud.

Daniel B. Martin

Probably right. This could also be caused by a bent hub. Here's one method you could use to distinguish between the two.

1) Rotate the rotor to the area where it rubs. Mark the edge of the rotor in the "rub zone" with chalk or paint.

2) Remove the caliper and rotor. Rotate the hub 2/5 of a turn. Reinstall the rotor with the chalk mark in the same orientation as it was before you rotated the hub. Reinstall the caliper.

3) See if the rotor still rubs. (It will.) If it still rubs at the chalk mark, the rotor is warped. If the "rub zone" has moved to a new location 2/5 turn away, the spotlight of suspicion falls on the hub.


A bent hub will be felt with the brake applied or not. It produces the same kind of general vibration symptom as a bent wheel because it causes a perfectly straight wheel to wobble as you roll down the road.