Well... I just got my 01 Maxima last Wed. and my husband has already succeeded in temporarily dead lining it. The tires it came with were pretty horrible so we put the universal rims that we took off our old Mitsubishi we sold and put them on my Max because they have brand new tires on them. I thought he would put the original lug nuts back on and we would be on our way.

Apparently the original ones wouldn't fit so he put the ones that came with the rims on the car... I didn't learn about it until the day after when I already drove it about 50 miles. He caused all my wheel studs to strip. I can't get the lug nuts that Matched my car that I bought to go on most of them and the ones my husband put on come off while driving. The tires wobble horribly. I'm surprised I made it home when I realized what happened yesterday.

So I am now faced with the choice of either doing myself or going to a mechanic. Does anyone know the price range it would be for a mechanic to do it? I know each wheel stud is like 1.25 at the store so the only thing I am worried about is labor.

It looks easy to do just time consuming. Plus it's something I have never done before and that car is the car I take my daughter around in and I don't want to take any chances on safety.

 

It's pretty simple, you bang 'em out with a hammer/mallet and then put the new ones in watching to make sure you line the splines up by eye and tap them in. You can also use a spacer either a socket or washer and the nuts to suck 'em back in. I'm sure a youtube video is available. Labor on all of them here would be high so I'd do it myself but mostly because you never know how they treat your car when you take it in so I do everything myself. Usually takes longer and I may have to buy tools (still cheaper than paying someone) but I know it's done right and safe.

 

I hope I am not highjacking your thread, but I know how people are about posting new threads on here, so I said I would post here...

I plan to run two 1/4" spacers per rim on my factory 17's and I would like to know how much longer studs will I need to buy to accommodate this. Any suggestions on where I should look to purchase this?

 

For that much spacer, you only want one 1/2" spacer. don't use two 1/4" ones. Use ARP studs and you'll never have to worry about it. They're cheaper than the NISMO ones too.

They're not listed for Nissans, but they make them that fit. you need to pop one out of each front and rear hub and measure the knurl diameter with some calipers. (Nissan likes to use different ones and not tell you). If you've ever replaced hubs/wheel bearings on your car, then you need to measure them too, because I have seen aftermarket hubs use different size studs. i.e. 3 of the 4 hubs on my 3rd gen were NOT the OE spec size. I had to buy/return studs several times because I was too lazy to measure before I bought them..

 

Perhaps your husband should do the house cleaning and let you do the mechanicing. Removing the brakes will be the most time consuming part.

Make sure you get nuts to match the thread pitch (12x1.25?) And wheel design.

 

I know that doesnt help but seriously, how do you manage to strip 20 studs without noticing that the nuts do not fit ? I dont get it.

Call shops and ask around, and then have your husband pay for that, simple.