1) Will I be okay driving with five lug nits until I get it fixed?
No state inspector would pass that, but I seriously doubt if you'd ever
have a problem running with 5. If it was on the front, it could warp
your rotors.
2) Suggestions for replacement procedure? I know they are a press fit,
but I
don't want to remove the axle.
Jack the truck back up, take off the wheel and brake drum. Take a punch
and hammer, and knock the remnants of the old stud out the back side of
the axle flange. Take the new one and slide it into the hole from the
back, and try to line up the splines of the stud with the marks left in
the opening from the old stud and pull it through as far as you can by
hand. Put 2-3 washers on top of the stud, then take a standard lug nut
(not the chrome capped kind) and turn it around backwards from the
normal way the cone shaped lugs are installed, and thread it onto the
stud and up against the washers so that the flat part of the lug nut is
flush with the washers. Put a socket with a 1/2" drive ratchet onto the
nut and crank on it until the stud is pulled all the way through and
sitting flush with the rear of the axle flange. Then back the lug nut
off, take off the washers, put the drum and tire back on, and torque the
wheel properly.
The reason for putting the washers on is simple. Most stud dont have
threads that reach all the way down the stud and when they are pulled
through, there can be a 1/8" or so of stud shank with no threads
showing. If you cranked the nut on there to pull the stud through and
it hits this unthreaded portion, it will just jam up there and wont pull
the stud through anymore. Plus, it'll be hard to get the nut back off,
too. By using the washers, you are using them as spacers so that the
lug nut pushes on them and the unthreaded shank is inside the washers
and the lug nut will never contact it.
FYI- for those who have never done this before, I'll explain the
front.
For those with 2WD before '97-Take the caliper off the front, remove the
outer bearing dust cap, cotter pin, castle nut,etc. and slide the rotor
off the spindle. Lay the rotor flat with stud side up on a piece of
wood or cardboard to protect the back. Knock the remnants of the old
stud through and out the back with a punch and hammer. Install the new
stud like explained above and reassemble.
For those with 4WD and with '97 and up 2WD that have separate hub
assemblies from the rotors-
Take off calipers and pads, remove caliper bridge if applicable, and
remove rotor. Knock stud out the back with punch. Many times the
spindle will be in the way, and there may be a dust shield behind it
getting in the way. Here's a couple tips-
-Many times the old stud comes out because its broken and short, but
the new stud is too long to be able to get the end in at an angle and
then push it all the way through. What ends up happening is that the
end that seats against the back of the flange is sticking just a hair in
the way. Simple way to fix this is to go to the bench grinder and grind
a flat area on the stud where it is interfering, and put the stud in so
the flat area allows the clearance to angle it into place.
-Sometimes this trick still doesnt work and it looks like you'd have to
remove the whole hub assemble because the dust shield is still in the
way. What you can do is make 2 parallel cuts across the dust shield to
make a tab, and then bend the tab out of the way to allow access to
behind the flange. Then, installation should be a breeze.
-Dont forget that you can spin the flange to move the stud to a
different position that may have better clearance then where the stud is
sitting at now. It sounds obvious, but when you are doing your first
one and have been scratching your head for 10 minutes wondering, it may
not be so obvious.
3) I'm getting two new FireHawk SS10's (225/70/15) tommorrow. Tires are
$69
apiece, $179 walkout with Road Hazard. I know we have a Firestone
retailer on
the list (Patrick E. I beleive). Is this a good per tire price, or am I
gettin' shafted.
Average retail price.
Patrick
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