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How to Remove Front Wheel Bolts?

21066 Views 34 Replies 15 Participants Last post by  gday_c70
My solution is in Post #27.

Installing longer rear bolts, Post #30.

-----Original Post-----

When I had my new tires mounted, the place stripped one of my wheel bolts....

How in the world do you get the front wheel bolts off? There's no opening in the back for the bolts to pop out.

Just in the process of taking the wheel off, there's now only one thread on that bolt that actually grabs the lug, so I need to get this fixed tonight!

Worst case, is it safe to drive 3 miles to work in the morning with only 4 wheel bolts holding the wheel on?
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Yeah, you'll be fine for weeks on 4/5 lugs. Just check em every now and then.

Seriously! No joke.

But I don't actually have any advice to fix your problem... :D sorry.
I guess I could remove the hub to get the bolt out and replace it... How would I do that? (I'm eating dinner and being lazy with searching ;))
Dinner at 9pm? Hell I'm close to bed! Lol ima geeezerrrrr....

Again, no clue... Where's TG?? Lol
I'm no help.
Dinner at 9pm? Hell I'm close to bed! Lol ima geeezerrrrr....

Again, no clue... Where's TG?? Lol
I'm no help.
Normally I eat dinner around 6:30 and try to be in bed no later than 10... But I'm on summer break now and went to a Chinese Buffet after church, I wasn't hungry until now :p
First, it's no problem at all to drive with only 4 nuts so don't panic.

2nd, I don't quite understand your problem. 4 nuts screw off/screw on just fine? You have one stud (pressed into the hub) with no threads?
You are going to need a new front hub/bearing. I don't believe there is enough room to just swap out the stud in place. I know plenty of people have run into this so if someone knows otherwise please chime in. Old thread.
You are going to need a new front hub/bearing.
That's not what I wanted to hear! What a stupid design...
2
Looking at this, I see no reason why I couldn't remove the hub, insert a replacement bolt, put the hub back on, and then proceed to tighten the bolt down normally...



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MNIWT, you are correct. New studs need to be pressed out / pressed in but your hub is fine. As others have stated, don't worry about only having 4 out of 5 lugs for a few miles ... or a few days. Just get it taken care of when you can.

[ edit ]

Just read the old thread above and apparently, I'm wrong. They can't simply swap out the studs ... seems crazy to me :confused: I can't imagine a good indy could not hook this up somehow.
So what's the trick in removing the hub?
So what's the trick in removing the hub?
Hopefully, nothing to do with fire.
The front bearing/hub assembly must be pressed out and in using a hydraulic press. It is possible for the DIY to do but it does require a press. The rears are a simple bolt-up but don't seem to fail as often.

I too had a front wheel stud break a couple weeks ago leaving only about three threads for the nut to catch. My Volvo service advisor confirmed that "technically" the studs are not replaceable/available from Volvo -- they specify replacement of the bearing/hub assembly -- but he said that his techs have been able to snake in a replacement stud on occasion. I believe it is an M12x1.5 but I don't know how long it is.

As it happened both my front wheel bearings were going and I had them replaced last week so my stud was fixed as a result. Front wheel bearings seem to be a common problem on our P1 cars. Many seem to fail before my 104K mileage mark. They aren't inexpensive, but I shouldn't have to do it again. Fortunately my dealer participates in the Costco 15% parts and service discount program.
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Did they just do your tires or did they do it a while ago and you just now found it? If it was just done, take it back to them and show them what they did and make them pay to have it fixed (new hub/bearing). I've had to do that before after tire monkeys screwed stuff up.
Hey man, I've been there and it's extremely frustrating. It was the exact same story. . . went to the dealer, they used impact wrench, over torqued, when removing the bolts by hand very carefully two of them I just stripped off and one could not be removed at all. I was very frustrated . . . anyway, long story short, if you drive carefully it should be fine for you to drive to your shop on 4 bolts. That's why they have that many, in case one or two fails.
Hey man, I've been there and it's extremely frustrating. It was the exact same story. . . went to the dealer, they used impact wrench, over torqued, when removing the bolts by hand very carefully two of them I just stripped off two of them and one could not be removed at all. I was very frustrated . . . anyway, long story short, if you drive carefully it should be fine for you to drive to your shop on 4 bolts. That's why they have that many, in case one or two fails.
i can't believe all of this is happeneing to us. stripped lugs...
So what's the trick in removing the hub?
No trick - pretty straightforward actually. You have to take the knuckle off, and the hub is press-fit into that. You need metric sockets, a good breaker bar, a BFH, and some patience. PB Blaster is always good to have if fasteners are really stuck. I wouldn't want to use a torch for most of this job, and luckily never had to go that route.

Borrow a "front end service kit" from AutoZone, it should have the special tools required to take balljoints and tie-rod ends apart without tearing boots.

Remove your caliper (2x 15mm bolts), and rotor. Hang the caliper up with some wire or rope, I attached mine to the coil spring. This is to keep from damaging your brake line. The rotor will come off with some persuasion, it's only held on by pressure from the lug nuts. Give the centre part of the rotor a few whacks with a BFH and it should loosen. Do NOT hit the outer part of the rotor at all, do your best not to touch it so it stays clean and damage-free.

Once the rotor is off, use your balljoint/tie-rod end tools and disconnect those joints. If the boots are torn, you will have to replace the parts on re-assembly.

There's a bolt in the centre of the hub - remove it. It will want to spin with the axle, so stick a prybar between the wheel studs and use the floor as leverage to keep the wheel from turning. It's a low-torque bolt and should come out easily. Once it's out, put a long brass punch into the hole and tap it with your BFH to loosen the axle - it shouldn't be too hard. You want to keep the axle from dropping down, so tie it up to the coil spring as well - those CV joints can be damaged when they get pulled apart or overextended.

There's a cable connected to your hub - it's the ABS sensor. Disconnect it by pushing in the plastic tab and pulling the connector out.

The last step is to disconnect the bolt that holds the steering knuckle to the strut tower. It's on there tight, use a socket and a breaker bar. Once it's off you can wrestle the whole knuckle off the tower, and then worry about getting the hub pressed out. Before you walk away, make sure your axle and caliper are hung securely from the coil spring - you don't want to have to replace an axle or brake line!

When you put it all back together, put some anti-seize on the mating surfaces of the rotor, some blue Loctite on the caliper bolts, and make sure you torque everything to spec.

I don't think I missed anything but I'm going from memory here (did it last night). Good luck!
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Thanks for the write up! I'll give it a go...
No trick - pretty straightforward actually. You have to take the knuckle off, and the hub is press-fit into that. You need metric sockets, a good breaker bar, a BFH, and some patience. PB Blaster is always good to have if fasteners are really stuck. I wouldn't want to use a torch for most of this job, and luckily never had to go that route.

Borrow a "front end service kit" from AutoZone, it should have the special tools required to take balljoints and tie-rod ends apart without tearing boots.

Remove your caliper (2x 15mm bolts), and rotor. Hang the caliper up with some wire or rope, I attached mine to the coil spring. This is to keep from damaging your brake line. The rotor will come off with some persuasion, it's only held on by pressure from the lug nuts. Give the centre part of the rotor a few whacks with a BFH and it should loosen. Do NOT hit the outer part of the rotor at all, do your best not to touch it so it stays clean and damage-free.

Once the rotor is off, use your balljoint/tie-rod end tools and disconnect those joints. If the boots are torn, you will have to replace the parts on re-assembly.

There's a bolt in the centre of the hub - remove it. It will want to spin with the axle, so stick a prybar between the wheel studs and use the floor as leverage to keep the wheel from turning. It's a low-torque bolt and should come out easily. Once it's out, put a long brass punch into the hole and tap it with your BFH to loosen the axle - it shouldn't be too hard. You want to keep the axle from dropping down, so tie it up to the coil spring as well - those CV joints can be damaged when they get pulled apart or overextended.

There's a cable connected to your hub - it's the ABS sensor. Disconnect it by pushing in the plastic tab and pulling the connector out.

The last step is to disconnect the bolt that holds the steering knuckle to the strut tower. It's on there tight, use a socket and a breaker bar. Once it's off you can wrestle the whole knuckle off the tower, and then worry about getting the hub pressed out. Before you walk away, make sure your axle and caliper are hung securely from the coil spring - you don't want to have to replace an axle or brake line!

When you put it all back together, put some anti-seize on the mating surfaces of the rotor, some blue Loctite on the caliper bolts, and make sure you torque everything to spec.

I don't think I missed anything but I'm going from memory here (did it last night). Good luck!
BW - great write up. you should start a new thread with this so that it can be stickied.
B_Warren, if you don't mind I may take some pictures and your write up to compile a new thread. I'll give you credit for it.
No problem! I actually have a bunch of photos on my blackberry, just have to figure out how to upload them. I'm documenting my CBV R&R, after having to pull an axle when I stripped a screw :S

I'll look into uploading some pics later on, when I'm not at work.
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